It's just the way the system works. The pay period may be 1st and 15th, but they actually close out the pay period about a week prior, and by the time they struck the deal DFAS was already closed, thus they had to assume that there would be a shut down.
As bad as it maybe for our children, imagine the soldiers serving AD, because my guess is if the cadets only got 1/2 a lot of service members tomorrow will also only be getting 1/2. Hard to make a car payment, rent/mtg and buy food if you been shorted several hundreds, or thousand. I am sure some will be tapping into the their bank floater to make ends meet until May 1, or using their tax return.
I do agree the military got shafted here, but looking into the future I suspect this will be the nicest of the shafts they will endure. The budget for 2011-12 will be where the pain will appear.
Still willing to bet that pay raises will be on the top of the list since it is currently above COL increases. I also think you will see no increases in per diem, PCS allowance, and they will remove the current level of only 20% costs paid out of pocket if you live off base for BAH.
We may also see all SA's reduce their numbers to below the 4400 mark, like the AFA initiated with the class of 15. Plus, cancellation of OCS or SERB's, which would create a RIF for younger age groups.
The real problem with the budget for DOD will be that you can't take money from the operational troops, which means you have to find it in other ways. That could even mean a slow down in pipelines for specific schools, because if they slow it down that would mean less costs in training and less costs in bonuses. Think about it, even a student at UPT will get flight pay. Every penny is going to be pinched so they don't have to touch the operational budget.