This month marks the fourth anniversary of a dreadful event — the attack at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan where 13 service members were killed and 45 wounded in our disastrous withdrawal from that country. The event also serves as a reminder of an injustice that effects our injured combat veterans — an injustice that Congress must correct now.
Under current policy, 54,000 combat-injured veterans who are forced to medically retire with less than 20 years of service lose a dollar of earned Defense Department retirement pay for every dollar they receive in Veterans Affairs disability pay — an unjust offset that essentially serves as a “wounded veterans tax.”
Reducing the retirement pay of a combat-disabled veteran to save money in the Defense Department personnel account is simply wrong. Saving money on the backs of our service members is not how a nation should treat those who volunteer to represent their country and risk life and limb.
This injustice can be remedied by passing the Major Richard Star Act. The bill is named in honor of Major Richard Star, a U.S. Army veteran who died after being diagnosed with lung cancer linked to toxic burn pit exposure.
Military retirement pay is earned through years of service. Disability pay is compensation intended to help make up income veterans might lose in the future due to service-related injuries or health conditions. Reducing one because a combat-injured veteran receives another is not in line with the purpose of either earned benefit.
Many detractors of the Major Richard Star Act say the bill is too expensive at an estimated $8 billion over 10 years. This represents 0.1 percent of the current Defense Department budget — a small price to pay for compensating veterans.
“Let me say this to the ‘cost cutters’ of the world,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a strong supporter of the act. “We’re coming together on a bipartisan basis. You can ‘slash and trash’ elsewhere, but not on the backs of our heroes.”
Despite the Major Richard Star Act’s widespread bipartisan support each year in both the House and Senate, the legislation has yet to be included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This year the proposed legislation currently has 76 Senate co-sponsors and 298 House co-sponsors. It remains one of the most co-sponsored bills in either chamber. Last year the proposed legislation had 74 co-sponsors in the Senate and 326 in the House.
It’s time for Congress to put these sentiments into action and move forward with this long-sought fix on behalf of tens of thousands of combat-injured military retirees.
A few weeks ago, Blumenthal, along with Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), announced they are filing The Richard Star Act as an amendment to the annual must-pass National Defense Authorization Act.
Blumenthal said passage of the legislation would correct one of the “deepest injustices in our present veterans’ disability system.” He said veterans “are being penalized for being wounded….it’s about simple justice and fairness.”
How does a piece of legislation that will correct a clear injustice that has garnered so much support in both the Senate and House fall apart each year? There is an apparent “say-do gap” for many lawmakers — lawmakers who “say” they support the bill when it is proposed but who fail to raise their hand and vote yes and “do.”
Political leaders such as Blumenthal, Crapo and Warren are telling their colleagues to “do” what they “say” about supporting a piece of legislation. Hopefully, partisanship is not a consideration on this issue. Partisanship has absolutely no place in deciding how to properly compensate veterans who were injured in a war, doing what their country asked them to do.
A perfect example is Army veteran Dan Nevins who was forced to retire after losing both his legs in combat in Iraq. After 36 surgeries and an 18-month stay at Walter Reed National Medical Center, and a painful and lengthy recovery process, Nevins soon discovered that he was prohibited from receiving both his full retirement pay and disability compensation.
Nevins says his message to Congress is simple: honor the country’s commitment to veterans. “We should keep our promises,” he says.
Keeping the all-volunteer force strong requires meaningful support of the warfighter. Those in uniform must understand that our nation will keep its promises and not attempt to cut costs by unfairly limiting their service-earned benefits. Passing this legislation would serve as a message that those in Congress intend to keep this promise — not just for current veterans but for future generations as well.
Tom Jurkowsky is a retired Navy rear admiral who served on active duty for 31 years and a board member of the Military Officers Association of America. He is the author of “The Secret Sauce for Organizational Success: Communications and Leadership on the Same Page.” He has served as an adjunct instructor at Anne Arundel Community College in Annapolis, Md.
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