During World War I, Navy Capt. Willis Winter Bradley Jr. saved his fellow shipmates by making sure an explosion in the ship's gun emplacement didn't cause any further damage or threaten more lives. Bradley received the Medal of Honor for his brave actions
The Pentagon says that it's finally ready to pay troops the "economic hardship bonuses" that Congress authorized last year to help offset rising prices and higher costs of living across the country.
But the sums troops will get seem unlikely to make a major impact, putting renewed attention on lawmakers to do more. A senior defense official told Military.com in an interview Friday that troops in the most junior ranks -- E-1 to E-3 -- will automatically see the bonus in their paychecks starting this month and going through December but, on average, they will be getting only $20 a month.
"The monthly bonus amounts, on average, will total approximately $120 [over the six months] ... and they're based on the funding Congress has made available," explained the official, who spoke with Military.com on the condition they remain anonymous.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, concerned that service member pay was not keeping pace with the private sector or inflation, included $43 million in the latest defense spending bill to provide the bonuses for anyone up to E-6 in rank.
Though Congress authorized the bonuses in December in the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, it didn't provide funding for the benefit until late March, when lawmakers finally passed a bill to fund the Pentagon through the remainder of fiscal 2024, leading to the Pentagon's slow implementation[2].
The defense official explained that, broadly, the Pentagon took that appropriated $43 million and decided how many service members it could pay before the money ran out.
The result is that the bonus will go only to those up to the grade of E-3, not E-6 as allowed by law, and will benefit around 266,000 people.
"We chose the paygrades because of the amount of money that Congress appropriated and what we could pay and what would fit within that appropriation," the defense official said.
The official also noted that, even though service members receive two paychecks a month, the bonus will be paid at the end of each month.
"While it's welcome news that the department will provide some junior enlisted service members with temporary bonus pay, as authorized by [last year's] NDAA, more must be done," Justine Tripathi, a spokesperson for the House Armed Services Committee, told Military.com in an emailed statement, noting that this "is why the [upcoming] NDAA provides junior enlisted service members with a 19.5% pay raise[3]."
Conversely, in June, the Senate unveiled a proposal to hike E-1 to E-3 pay by 5.5%, while service members of all ranks would get a 4.5% pay raise next year.
The House and Senate will have to negotiate a compromise version of their respective bills before this year's NDAA can pass into law, and the prospect for the larger hike is murky.
The White House has raised strong objections[7] to any targeted boost to junior enlisted pay before an administration study on military compensation is finished, which leads to questions whether the House's plan, along with its ambitious pay raise to junior troops, can survive.
ASPEN, Colo. — Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, one of the Trump administration officials under constant security because of Iranian threats, said Wednesday that it was time for the Biden administration “to do better than just playing defense.”
U.S. intelligence and security officials say Iran is intent on revenge for the 2020 killing of Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani[3], which Trump ordered as president.
“To me, it’s personal as well,” Esper said at the Aspen Security Forum, an annual conference in Colorado that draws U.S. policymakers, journalists and others. “Because I’m in that group that’s on their hit list, and so like a few of my colleagues, I carry around a very robust 24/7 security protection detail that watches over me and several of us."
“It’s going on for years now … and we got to do better than just playing defense,” Esper said, citing an earlier, foiled plot against John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser. Esper said additional plots have been uncovered but did not elaborate.
“So this administration needs to do a far better job in terms of how we deal with this problem,” he said, adding that officials need to figure out how to go after those behind the plots.
National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said Tuesday that the Biden administration considers “this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority.”
Besides Esper, other high-level Trump administration officials who also receive protection following Soleimani’s assassination include retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retired Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, who headed U.S. Central Command and was in charge of the Soleimani operation.
The Biden administration also has repeatedly extended 24/7 protection to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top Iran aide, Brian Hook, due to credible threats on their lives from Iran.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations called the accusations “unsubstantiated and malicious.”
In a statement Tuesday, the mission said that while it sees Trump as a “criminal” who should be punished in court for ordering Soleimani’s assassination, “Iran has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice.”
BOSTON — Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira[1], who pleaded guilty in March to federal criminal charges for leaking highly classified military documents, will now face a military court-martial.
Teixeira admitted to illegally collecting[2] some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets and sharing them on the social media platform Discord. He is facing military charges of disobeying orders and obstructing justice.
The U.S. Air Force said in a statement Wednesday that he will be tried at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts but no date has been set. An attorney for Teixeira didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
At a May hearing, military prosecutors said a court-martial is appropriate given that obeying orders is the “absolute core” of the military. But Teixeira’s lawyers argued that further action would amount to prosecuting him twice for the same offense.
Teixeira, who was part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, worked as a cyber transport systems specialist, essentially an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks.
Teixeira was arrested just over a year ago in the most consequential national security leak in years.
He pleaded guilty[3] on March 4 to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under a deal with prosecutors that calls for him to serve at least 11 years in prison. He's scheduled to be sentenced in that case in September.
Authorities in the criminal case said Teixeira first typed out classified documents he accessed and then began sharing photographs of files that bore SECRET and TOP SECRET markings. The leak exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russia’s war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements in Ukraine and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. Teixeira also admitted to posting information about a U.S. adversary’s plans to harm U.S. forces serving overseas.
The stunning security breach raised alarm over America’s ability to protect its most closely guarded secrets and forced President Joe Biden's administration to scramble to try to contain the diplomatic and military fallout. The leaks embarrassed the Pentagon, which tightened controls to safeguard classified information and disciplined members it found had intentionally failed to take required action about Teixeira’s suspicious behavior.
During World War I, Navy Capt. Willis Winter Bradley Jr. saved his fellow shipmates by making sure an explosion in the ship's gun emplacement didn't cause any further damage or threaten more lives. Bradley received the Medal of Honor for his brave actions
