Soldiers’ pay raises under threat
Military pay raises should now be getting smaller, says a new report commissioned by the Defense Department.
At the same time, the Pentagon is proposing a cap on pay hikes to take effect in the next couple of years.
Service members are paid enough, says the report, which is not the first report to attack military pay and benefits, but it is one that supports an active Defense Department initiative.
To learn more about the report’s recommendations — and why it says soldiers make enough already — see this week’s Army Times.
4-star in trouble for lavish spending
The first commander of the new U.S. Africa Command, Gen. William “Kip” Ward, improperly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lavish travel and other items for himself and his wife, and tasked staff members to run personal errands, according to a Defense Department Inspector General’s report.
The four-star general took long trips supposedly for official business, but spent only a small part of the time working, and he brought unauthorized people with him, the report alleges.
Now Ward is no longer in that job and he might be demoted. He says in the report that the allegations amount to “character assassination.”
Read the whole story in Army Times this week.
Insider threat increasingly fatal for U.S. soldiers
Attacks by Afghan troops who turn their weapons on U.S. troops have more than doubled since last year, and senior U.S. military leaders are stepping up efforts to try to contain the threat.
A string of attacks this month brings this year’s total to more than 30 “green-on-blue” attacks so far, military officials said, compared to 12 last year.
Find out what U.S. military leaders are doing about it. Read Army Times’ story this week.
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