A "must read" and call for action >> 

Are you aware of the career "IED" that Congress & DoD does not want you to know about?

Shhhh....
The military provides briefings, orientations and classes for every subject from sexual harassment to digging a straddle latrine, but makes no effort to educate the troops about the possible effect about USFSPA upon their retirement benefits or, for that matter, its very existence. As noted by the Supreme court, "such a division has the potential to interfere with the congressional goals of having the military retirement system as an inducement to enlistment and re-enlistment and as an encouragement to orderly promotion and a youthful military". When is the last time your military leadership briefed you?

Attention Active Duty/ Reserve and Guard Members of the United States Armed Forces
This is a “must read” and call for action to preserve your future retirement benefits.

How Divorce Affects Members of the Military, Guard and Reserves, Coast Guard, The Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and The Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

In 1982, the United States Congress passed a hastily conceived law as an amendment to the 1983 Defense Appropriation Act, that was not well known within the military community. This law, Title 10 United States Code 1408 is called the Uniformed Services’ Former Spouses’ Protection Act, the USFSPA. The Federal law is applied to all Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, PHS and NOAA members in the process of a divorce, to have their retainer/retirement pay treated as common property by state court judges. The law, in effect, gives the state court judges the power to treat retirement pay as tangible property and award a portion of the retired pay, up to 50%, to a former spouse. Additionally, a court can award alimony and/or child support which can approach, and has indeed reached a 100% loss of retirment pay. No other government agency is affected by this law, just those mentioned above. It must be understood, that military retirement is a benefit awarded to a service member for retained services, where a former service member can and will, be recalled to Active Duty in time of need. Military retirement is not a pension; members do not contribute to any pension fund, but only a benefit of service.

Today, the United States Armed Forces has a greater divorce rate than civilian society which is currently greater than 50% and although the Department of Defense is a strong advocate of “family values” their respective treatment of those members facing divorce or who are divorced, is one that is shameful. DOD and Congress have turned their backs on this major problem, placing at risk, the very foundation of our military system, sustaining military careers. Regardless of rank, divorce is an across the board, traumatic event. State court judges seemingly are automatically court awarding retirement/retainer benefits to former spouses without regard to circumstances surrounding the divorce or the financial hardships the court awards place on service members. Such court awards will eventually result in a military that is weaker because retention rates will diminish, experience will go away after six to eight years of service, and although the DOD remains loyal to family values, the very freedom of the country will suffer, simply because of the USFSPA.

This law, when originally passed, identified some significant qualities such as identifying that women were not treated equally, whether in the military or, as a spouse. However, over the last 25 years, significant changes in attitudes and laws have significantly balanced the scales of equality and cannot be applied in today’s society. Society in the United States has changed and our laws, especially the USFSPA, needs to be repealed. A few examples that demonstrate the unfairness of this law are:

1. If a service member divorces at 8 years service and stays on to further their career – the former spouse goes his/her own way. The former spouse may remarry while the military member continues an upward progression in their respective careers. However, when it comes time for retirement, say 12, 15, or even 20 years later – the former spouse will be entitled to receive by a court award, up to 50% of the service member’s retirement pay based on the rank at retirement, not the rank at divorce. Thus when the non-military ex-spouse remarries, a third party will also benefit from the service member's retired pay.

2. A former spouse remarrying another military member and subsequently divorcing for a second time can be awarded 50% of each member’s retirement pay.  Now, the former spouse who was married to two service members, is drawing 100% retirement pay while the two veterans, who served without question, served with honor, duty, and a commitment not exceeded by any other profession today, go on in life with half of what they rightfully earned.

3. A third and final example is a former spouse receiving a court-awarded portion of retired/retainer pay who commits a felony and is found guilty of the felony. The former spouse will continue to receive their portion of the military member’s retirement/retainer pay but, had the service member committed the felony – their pay would have automatically been stopped, because they remain subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice whereas the former spouse does not.

Where is the fairness in the treatment of retired/retainer pay as property for the service veteran? When states have “No Fault” laws – then there is no fault and more than likely as shown by the statistics, state court judges automatically award 50% of the retired/retainer pay to a former spouse just to clear the docket due to the many cases before them. THIS MUST STOP!

Since the mid-1980’s, the United States of America has been involved in conflicts throughout the world, some lasting over a few years, others lasting only months. The divorce rate has not decreased since the passing of the USFSPA, it has significantly increased and continues to rise. There have been 22 changes to USFSPA since inception. However, only one has favored the service member.

If you think this will never happen to you - think again, the statistics are against you!