MILITARY COMPENSATION BACKGROUND PAPERS: COMPENSATION ELEMENTS AND RELATED MANPOWER COST ITEMS THEIR PURPOSE AND LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND AUGUST 1976 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE THIRD QUADRENNIAL REVIEW OF MILITARY COMPENSATION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock No. 008-040-00076-1 INTRODUCTION This publication presents the legislative and regulatory history of the various elements of military compensation and related manpower cost items. It includes five year costs (outlays) for each item, reproduced from the President's budget as presented to the Congress. In cases where the item does not appear separately in the budget, the cost figures are compatible with outlay costs of the President's budget. The individual papers are factual descriptions current as of July 15, 1976. They are not, and are not intended to be, statements of Department of Defense policy or future intentions. The purpose of the publication is to serve as an authoritative and factual reference for all who are interested in military compensation. It is a product of the Staff of the Third Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC). The Third QRMC was tasked to perform a comprehensive review of the total military compensation system, including pay, benefits, and special and incentive pays. It was also required to assess what elements of military personnel costs should be appropriately categorized as compensation. In supporting the QRMC, the professional staff found it necessary to have accurate historical and descriptive information on a large number of personnel cost elements which were being considered for inclusion in that study. The staff found early in the review that much of the readily available descriptive material was neither sufficiently complete nor adequately researched to provide the depth and accuracy desired. Consequently, one member of the QRMC Staff, Mr. Herbert A. Bartholomew of the United States Marine Corps, undertook the required research. This volume is the product of his efforts. It would be misleading, however, to leave the impression that the creation of such a reference book stemmed completely from the needs of the Third QRMC. Many offices and agencies are already using many of the separate papers as "fact sheets". Each of these papers was distributed individually prior to the publication of this volume, and such pertinent comments and suggestions as were received from its readers have been incorporated into this edition. Among those who are today showing interest in the background papers in this volume are: OASD (Legislative Affairs) о OASD (Public Affairs) In addition, a number of private organizations, such as the Brookings Institution and RAND, were users of these background papers. Thus, the need for such a publication is manifest, particularly during a time when so much attention is being devoted to the manpower part of the Defense budget. If it serves to correct some prevalent misconceptions on military compensation, to provide solid factual information on the individual items, and to ease the work of future researchers who may wish to investigate the same ground in greater depth, it will have fulfilled its purpose. We anticipate updating and changing the various papers from time to time, whenever the situation warrants. Hence, comments from the users of this volume, whether they be in the nature of corrections or of additions of pertinent data that may have been overlooked, are welcome. J. R. Talbot Third QRMC |