Congressman SAMUEL S. STRATTON, [Telegram] CORPUS CHRISTI, TEX., October 4, 1972. Chairman of Subcommittee of Military Retired Pay Revisions, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.: With respect to our many sacrificial years of service and winning the military land sea and air battles of the hot and cold wars to maintain and preserve this Nation for all its citizens we urgently request your support and as chairman of the Subcommittee on Retired Pay Revisions your recruitment of the support of Congressmen Alton Lennon, James Byrne, Alvin O'Konski and Alexander Pirnie in winning our battle for full recomputation of the military retirees pay request this be made a part of your subcommittee record. Respectfully, ROBERT L. JONES, President, Chapter 7, National Association of Armed Forces Retirees. Mr. FORD. Mr. Chairman, as you know, at your direction we have had a study prepared by the Library of Congress entitled "U.S. Military Retirement Pay: History and Analysis of Key Legislation, 18611958." This should be made a part of the record. Mr. STRATTON. Very definitely. Without objection the entire study will be included in the record at this point. Included with the study is a summary which will be useful to those who do not have time to review the whole document. This study was prepared by several members of the Foreign Affairs Division's National Defense Section under the direction of Mr. Hugh W. Wolff, specialist in national defense. The major portion of the research and writing was done by Mr. Edmund J. Gannon and Mr. Bert H. Cooper, analysts in national defense. Very substantial contributions were also made by Mr. James R. Price and Mr. Allan W. Farlow, analysts in national defense. On behalf of the subcommittee I express our appreciation to all of them. U.S. MILITARY RETIREMENT PAY HISTORY AND ANALYSIS OF KEY LEGISLATION, 1861-1958 DECEMBER 8, 1972 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS NATIONAL DEFENSE SECTION FOREIGN AFFAIRS DIVISION (17321) U.S. MILITARY RETIREMENT PAY: HISTORY AND ANALYSIS OF KEY LEGISLATION, 1861-1958 INTRODUCTION This paper has been prepared in response to a request from the staff of the House Armed Services Committee for a summary of the major Federal legislation enacted between 1861 and 1958 affecting the pay scales of military personnel retired for reasons other than disability. The purpose of the paper is to summarize not only the various measures governing such pay but also the pertinent debates in both houses of Congress and the actions taken in committee, with particular attention to the relationship between retired pay and active duty pay. It is hoped that this report will assist the House Armed Services Committee in its consideration of the many bills expected to come before the Congress addressed to the problem of "recomputation" of the pay scales for retired military personnel. The term "recomputation," as used in this paper, refers to the adjustment of retired pay-usually upward-at the same time that changes are made in the level of pay for active duty personnel. Under legislation effective since 1958 retired pay has been adjusted periodically on the basis of changes in the government's cost-of-living index. Those who advocate "recomputation" believe that retired pay should be tied directly to active duty pay and adjusted concurrently with and in proportion to each change in the pay of active duty personnel of equivalent rank and length of service. This paper is in two parts. Part I covers the period from 1861, when the first legislation was enacted establishing a policy for nondisability retirement applicable to all military services, to 1908. Part II covers the period from 1909 to 1958, when Congress, in a significant break with previous practice, authorized a flat percentage increase in retired pay for all ranks based on the increased cost of living. Throughout this paper the authors have included only legislation having a general application to non-disability military retirement practices and pay levels. A great deal of legislation dealing with other aspects such as the return of retired officers to active duty, promotions for retirees, and the like, has been omitted. Some of the legislation studied, particularly in the earlier years, contained language on retirement pay that appears ambiguous today, and the committee reports and floor debates did not always shed light on the legislative intent of these provisions. However, to a great extent it has been possible to overcome this uncertainty over pay policy by referring to contemporary records such as the Army and Navy Registers, which recorded the annual pay rates for both active and retired military personnel of all the services. Also, significant court decisions and administrative rulings have been cited where appropriate. SUMMARY I. EARLY BACKGROUND 1861-1908 During the period from 1861 to 1899 legislation affecting the basic provisions of military pay and allowances was generally enacted separately for the Army and Marine Corps, on the one hand, and for the Navy on the other. Pay scales for the Army and the Marines were identical, but those for the Navy were quite different and were not brought into accord with the other two services until the Act of March 3, 1899. Similarly, there were marked differences in legislative provisions governing non-disability retirement, which for most of this period was a privilege accorded only to officers. Non-disability retirement for the purpose of eliminating older officers from the active list and providing opportunity for the advancement of younger men dates from the Act of August 3, 1861, "An Act Providing for Better Organization of the Military Establishment." Although applicable to all three services, this act treated the Navy separately from the Army and Marine Corps, and the terminology was of course different from today's usage. For example, officers who were "wholly retired" under the 1861 act received a year's pay and allowances and were dropped from the register. In other words, they were discharged with severance pay. "Retired" officers, on the other hand, were in all cases |