List Members
This posting is slightly off topic, but I ask for your help in righting an
injustice done to U.S. military retirees and those on active duty and in the
reserves who have chosen military service as a career.
This injustice is the "Former Spouses of Military Service Members Act", this
law recognized military retirement as property divisable by the court
pursuant to the divorce of a military member. The law, while ensuring former
spouses were compensated for their contribution towards the common military
career, went too far. The most grievous provisions of this law are as
follows:
1. The former spouse is entitled to "up to" half of the value of a retirees
pay based on the rank and years of service at retirement, regardless of when
the divorce occurred. If the divorce occurred after 10 years of marriage
while in service and the military member was then an E-6 or O-4 and went on
to serve another 15 years achieving the rank of E-9 or O-6, the former
spouse's entitlement would be based on the highest rank achieved and the
total length of service.
2. Currently, the former spouse remains entitled to the retiree's pension
even if the former spouse remarries.
HOWEVER, THE SPONSORS OF HOUSE BILL HR-1983 Uniformed Services Former
Spouses Equity Act of 2001 (Introduced in the House) seek to correct this
injustice and amend the law to:
1. Establish the former spouses entitlement to a percentage of the
retirement based on the rank and length of service at the time of the
divorce.
2. End the former spouses entitlement to the retiree's pension upon
remarriage.
I URGE EACH OF YOU TO CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR AND DEMAND
THEY MOVE HR 1983 OUT OF COMMITTEE (HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE) AND
BRING IT TO A SUCCESSFUL VOTE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
The inequities in this bill are patently obvious. The men and women who make
the US military a career put their ass on the line each and every day and
while the spouses do contribute to our efforts, the percentage of a
retiree's pay now allowed is way out of balance to the contribution.
HR 1983 will correct the inequity. I again urge you to write your
Representative and Senator's urging their support for HR 1983. The web
address for the House of Representatives and the Senate are below.
www.house.gov/writerep/
www.senate.gov
Yes, I do have a personal stake in this. I am an active duty Army Lieutenant
Colonel and was divorced after 11 years of marriage. I was a Major at the
time of the divorce and am now competitive for full Colonel. I fail to see
the equity in her entitlement to compensation for my achievements during the
balance of my 13 years of service.
Please, I urge your support for all career miltary and retirees. Oh, this
also pertains to Reservists as well, a former spouse is also entitled to
half of their retired pay as well.
Thank you for your patience and consideration, if you feel inclined to
support my efforts here, please pass this email on to anyone you feel may be
moved to assist in this effort.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 08 2001 - 10:58:56 PDT