CBO Testimony: Statement of Christopher Jehn, Assistant Director National Security Division, Congressional Budget Office on Military Pay and Benefits before the Subcommittee on Personnel, Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate.

The Congressional Budget Office CBO recently completed analyses of military pay and benefits. In answer to the first question, CBO found that the Military Retirement Reform Act of 1986 known as REDUX is not having a discernable, widespread effect on the retention of midcareer personnel. In answer to the second question, CBO found that the 13 percent pay-gap figure cited in the press does not accurately measure what it purports to and that, in general, the whole notion of relying on a pay-gap estimate to set pay raises is inappropriate. CBO did not examine overall trends in retention and can neither verify nor dismiss reports of growing problems. CBOs analysis indicates only that if the services are indeed experiencing serious retention problems, the Military Retirement Reform Act is not the cause, and repeal of that act may not solve the problems. Similarly, CBO did not estimate how large a rise in military pay is needed. Instead, the analysis indicates only that estimates of the so-called pay gap are not a useful guide for policy.