December 26th, 2024 – 4:00 PM
David Crowder – WRGA News Director –
Military families received an early Christmas present, with the passage of a 14.5 percent pay increase for junior enlisted personnel.
The pay raise was included in the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act.
“This is crucial for military quality of life and it’s long overdue,” said. Georgia U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff. “Junior enlisted service members are way underpaid and are having trouble affording the basics like housing and food. We’re talking about 10 to 21-year-old Americans, oftentimes with young families and maybe their first child, who have joined the military and are struggling financially.”
According to Ossoff, the pay raises are not just about doing the right thing;, they are also about national security.
“We are not paying junior-enlisted military personnel what they need to survive, get by, and to start families,” he said. “We can’t recruit young people to serve and we can’t retain those who do sign up. That is a national security issue. That causes a recruiting crisis. The Defense Authorization is a big bill that we need to pass every year to authorize all of the military’s activities, operations, and construction projects. However, I really wanted to highlight this provision. This was my top priority.”
The NDAA will also deliver a basic pay increase of 4.5% to all service members, while the most junior service members across all branches of the Armed Forces will receive an additional 10% increase in pay.