Commissary cut proposal

Sure lease 'em all to Walmart or Target.

Then they become K-Mart or BiLo

Then they become Bob's 5 & 10

Just kidding (sort of) but we have all experienced the government/ military procurement process.
 
If you are approaching from a business perspective, I am not sure why you don't agree with me and say sell/lease the commissaries to grocery store chains. Closing the commisaries does not equate to no money. You still need to maintain the building at low levels...electricity, gas, and parking lot. The idea that you just close the doors and walk away without maintenance is not realistic.

I think we are disagreeing while agreeing. The challenge of an internet forum is that we can only discuss a piece at a time. I guess I didn't take a position on "sell/lease" comssisaries/ BX/PX. I am all for it. Times have changed, so unless some isolated location, the DoD shouldn't provide full range of life support to service and family members and retirees.
 
No one is forced into paying into a plan. One of the things MANY of use have to decide is.... do I save now or play now. If anything, making this decision in uniform will better prepare them for a time when your entire paycheck is taxed, where retirement isn't just handed out.... it's contributed to, and where you have to budget for food... and toys.

It's a step closer to the real world.... and it makes that eventual transition to the real world easier. But yes, it may mean less spending money.

Ok, I've been reading this discussion and the other thread regarding Military Pay and Retirement. It seems that there is a discussion that the military should better mirror the civilian sector, and as stated above, better prepare for the transition to the real world.

So here goes. Instead of baby steps, take the whole leap. This will have a larger impact on the enlisted ranks since they make up the bulk of the military, of course the same would go for the officers.

1. Almost no civilian company offers 30 days vacation to new employees, for unskilled workers there is often no vacation for at least the first year. Eliminate the 30 days leave at the point of enlistment. The Military can be generous and offer 7 days at the point of enlistment, 14 days after 4 years, 21 days after 8 years and 28 days after 12 years. This will result in less time away from work and would cut down on the number of service members needed.

2. End the current medical system. Most civilian employers do not pay 100% medical. The military could pay 100% for the service member, the dependents would be on a standard plan like most employers offer. The Military would pay a percentage of the cost for dependents, dependents plan would cover Dr. Checkups, there would be co-pays and a deductible, once the deductible has been met then the plan covers 80% of the costs.

3. Get rid of all Commisarys, PX, Class 6, on base movie theaters, bowling alleys, and charge standard rates for green fees and other activities. All dependents would have to pay a membership fee for the Rec Centers.

4. Lower the BAH rate to 80% of the current housing cost and make it part of the service members pay. Tax both BAH and BAS. No civilian company gives tax free housing. BAH would still vary depending on location but would now be just part of the over all paycheck and be taxable....just like the real world.

5. Stop promotions based on TIS, make promotions based off merit.

6. End the 20 year retirement completely, no re-working it or lowering it to 40%. Start a 401K as the only option. Require 4 years of service before they are vested in the plan. Start out the first year with a 1% matching, increase the percentage each year until they reach the max of 5% matching. No retention bonus at 12 years, either you like what your doing or take the option to leave. Of course now that the 20 year retirement is gone, the military should encourage workers to stay until retirement age if they meet the job requirements, just like civilian jobs. Granted many civilians will not stay at their current job from start to retirement, but civilians are allowed to start a new job at any age, so get rid of the age requirements for the military, just like the real world.

7. Unless the service member has a service obligation due to attending an Academy or a ROTC Scholarship, get rid of the service obligation altogether once the initial enlistment obligation is complete. No more re-enlistment for a certain number of years, just like in the real world the service member can quit, be laid off, or be fired just like everyone else.

Do just these changes and you would align the Military with the real world civilian sector. The Military would be just like any other 40 hour work week civilian job and make the transition from the Military to the civilian world seamless.
 
LMAO right now!

Want to save costs converts GS jobs back to defense contractors.

I get it GSs are cheaper than contractors, BUT that is short term, long term we screwed ourselves. GS employees cant roll vacation days, but they can roll sick days. We joke about the fact that he can retire at 62 due to the fact he will have 3 years of sick days stocked. Our other joke is as a GS he is now safe...think tenure.
~ Contractor world that is not true. We as tax payers will now double pay for 2-3 years if Bullet leaves at 62.

While we are on this roll...off topics but on topic...benefits...Due to ACA aka Obamacare, I now have to spend more time on my taxes because TriCare is self reporting for health care....thank you very much!

Closing the commissary is going to happen in the next decade or two. Jmpo but the savings for the DoD are insanely small when it comes to the budget!
 
"Be all that you can be"

"I never promised you a rose garden"

"Its not just a job, its an adventure"

If parity develops between civilian and military "jobs" than I guess anything will work in peacetime. Not so much in wartime.

Of course, one slogan whispered on occasion might compel some to join: "Join the Navy and ride the Waves"

(I apologize, in advance for any offense I may have caused)
 
Of course, one slogan whispered on occasion might compel some to join: "Join the Navy and ride the Waves"

Haha, I haven't heard that one in years.

I guess you could add "Our uniforms look Spiffy"
 
We joke about the fact that he can retire at 62 due to the fact he will have 3 years of sick days stocked.
Our other joke is as a GS he is now safe...think tenure.
~ Contractor world that is not true. We as tax payers will now double pay for 2-3 years if Bullet leaves at 62.

Pima, your DH might want to talk to HR. Federal employee accures 4 hours of sick leave every pay period (26 per year) or 104 years. A normal work year year comes out to be 2080 hours, so it will take about 60 years without ever taking sick leave to accure about 3 years of sick leave (6240 hours) (someone could double check my math). Also, sick leave is not paid out when a federal employee retires or is the federal employee allowed to 3 years of sick leave without a legtimate medical reason. Lastly, unused sick leave is credited as years of service for retirement pay computation. A general formula is 1% for every years of service. So if a federal employee has 20 years of service and 1 year worth of sick leave, his retirement pay is average of last high 3 years of pay (I think) x years of service x 1%. So I don't see where double pays comes up.
 
Honestly, that is so far out we don't care...notice the WE JOKE comment Thank you for the insight though.

As far as double pay comes up. It is the fact that he can use sick, leave and comp pay. Assume that equals even 6 months. The govt will be paying 6 months Bullets salary and the new hire replacement.
~ I can't tell you how many use sick days every other Friday and Monday so they can have a four day work week. That would not fly in the contracting world.

GSs impo are equivalent to tenured professors....insanely hard to fire!

Bullet was forced under Obama to go GS, he was a contractor.
~ I am hoping we will leave the GS world soon enough!
 
Honestly, that is so far out we don't care...notice the WE JOKE comment Thank you for the insight though.

As far as double pay comes up. It is the fact that he can use sick, leave and comp pay. Assume that equals even 6 months. The govt will be paying 6 months Bullets salary and the new hire replacement.
~ I can't tell you how many use sick days every other Friday and Monday so they can have a four day work week. That would not fly in the contracting world.

GSs impo are equivalent to tenured professors....insanely hard to fire!

As a GS employee, I don't like how you are stereotyping GS employees.

GS employees are not impossible to fire. My organization fires GS employees regularly or forece them the resing in lieu of termination. My theory on why GS employees are hard to get fire - (1) union, some agencies agree to unreasonable union contracts and once the agency agrees to the contract, they are stuck (2) lack of professional and experienced GS supervisors, when an outsider becomes a senior GS supervisors, especially political appointees, they usually don't get any training or don't have time or don't care to learn the GS discpline system, so when there is a discipline problem they just to take the easy way out, and (3) under utilization of agnecy Human Resources, each agency should have labor relations/management employee relations specalist that specalizes in dicipline issues. Many cases, supervisors come to the specalist late or don't come to them at all.

I would tell you that supervisors at the organization that abuses are happening are not doing that job. OPM is clear that if a sick leave abuse is suspected, supervisors can required medical documentation to approve sick leave usage.

The only way government will be paying for Bullets salary for 6 months is if Bullet will abuse the system and/or his organization is not following the rule. Maximum annual leave carry over is 240 hours and maximum accural of 208 hours per year. So the maximum annual leave Bullet can have is 448 hours or 11 weeks if he retires December 31. He can get an exception to get lost annual leave restored, but that depends on the agency. Comp Time expires after a year and Bullet shouldn't be earning or having a large amount (several hundred hours). Lastly, if I was Bullet's superviosr, I will deny excessive amount of sick before retirement without proper medical reason (i.e. I don't feel good so I am taking the whole week off vs need to two weeks to recover from a surgery). Also, financially GS employee retiring should not burn their sick leaves before retirement and it's creditable towards retirement. Used to be sick leave wasn't creditable towards retirement so GS employees supposed to to many "mental health" sick leave days just before retirement. My understanding is not so muh now as sick leave is creditable towards retirement.
 
We are getting way off topic. I am sorry if I offended you. I am very proud of my DH and his position. Bullet has used 1 sick day in the years he has been a GS, so he is not abusing the system. Again this issue is so far down the road we can't even see where the stop sign is located....not talking a few years, talking closer to two decades!

As a spouse, I was just saying I understand that in short term aspects GSs cost less due to the bids, however, in the long term with the cost of benefits I am not positive that any real savings occur. I just see it as an accounting aspect.
 
I'm torn on GSs. A majority of the GS employees I worked with at CGHQ were great. CGHQ is about 50/50 military to civilian. Some of the civilians have prior experience, many don't. The GS employees I worked with provided stability. While the uniformed members moved in an out every two to four years, civilian employees didn't.

Now here's the problem with contractors (and I think I can say this because I was one... for a short time, with DHS). Within agencies, employees are moved on and off accounts. They'll bounce around between different agencies too. Each time you have someone leave an account, you lose their knowledge. Now, this movement isn't totally unfare. Contractors make less than the contract. They get a fraction of the contract awarded. So, there's some incentive to find a better deal. Also, contractors aren't "invested" in the project or program. Yes, the agencies are.... for survival purposes. I never felt like I was an employee in the DHS office I was contracted to. I had more DHS experience than most there, but I was a contractor. And when I left my firm, I left the firm... not the DHS office I was contracted to.

You will some GS employees who are horrible. Well, I've worked for some pretty horrible leaders, in the Coast Guard and at the Pentagon. It's not easy to "fire" a colonel or captain.

So I'm not sure if attacking GSs is fair. There are horror stories of bad GS's who seem to last. I had to deal with an especially horrible GS at Arlington National Cemetery. Even people in her office (and she was pretty junior.... just in the wrong place) couldn't stand working with her.

You have to take the bad with the good. The stability a GS employee offers helps offset the movement of contractors and uniformed members. Sometimes there's friction. Often times it works out just fine.
 
Back
Top