Q: Will I get paid while the
government is shut down?
A:
The short answer is under a recently passed law active duty service members
(including reserve
components on annual training) will get paid, but inactive duty members (including reserve
components on weekend drill training) will not.
components on annual training) will get paid, but inactive duty members (including reserve
components on weekend drill training) will not.
Congress
passed H.R.3210 “Pay Our Military Act”, on Oct. 1, authorizes service
members on
“active service” to be paid during the government shutdown. The act provides that:
“active service” to be paid during the government shutdown. The act provides that:
(a) In General- There are hereby
appropriated for fiscal year 2014, out of any money in the Treasury not
otherwise appropriated, for any period during which interim or full-year
appropriations for fiscal year 2014 are not in effect--
(1) such sums as are necessary to
provide pay and allowances to members of the Armed Forces (as defined in
section 101(a)(4) of title 10, United States Code), including reserve
components thereof, who perform active service during such period;[underline
included by ROA]
Active
service includes active duty and full time National Guard duty. It is important
to note that active duty is different from "active status. Active status
includes any member of the reserve component not on an inactive status list or
in the Retired Reserve. Active duty applies to reservists on full-time active
duty (including annual training, but not weekend drill periods). Full time
National Guard duty is any training or other duty, other than inactive duty
(which includes weekend drill periods), during which the Guardsman rates pay
from the federal government.
The
Army and Navy have put out policy outlines before the law was passed, but the
services will still determine who will be paid, when. ROA is providing feed back to the offices of
Reserve Chiefs, but service leaders are the final determiners of how money will
be allocated. Bottom line is individual
Reserve our guard members who have annual training (AT), active duty for training orders (ADT), or Active Duty for Special Work (ADSW or
ADOS) orders that start Oct. 1 or later should contact your gaining command or
operational support (or training) officer to get confirmation.
UPDATE:
On
Tuesday, the House introduced and passed, H.R. 370. The new bill, now up for
consideration in the Senate, provides funding for continuing several government
functions during the shutdown. Among them is the provision to fund inactive
duty training (IADT) overlooked by the previously accepted H.R. 3210, Pay our Military Act.
From
the H.R. 370: “providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3230) making
continuing appropriations during a Government shutdown to provide pay and
allowances to members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces who perform
inactive-duty training during such period”
But
don’t bank on passage, Senate leadership has stated that they are not
interested in piecemeal legislation to partially end government shutdown.
3 comments:
How in this day of Total Force and operational reserve does the word "active" still get included in everything. If the sponsor of the original bill would have simply said service, there would be no need for H.R. 3230? Better yet, if we only had two status (i.e., active or inactive), then we wouldn't always be over analyzing what is active service; however, ROA of all associations isn't in favor of two duty status.
This effects more than just pay. It effects READINESS too. As Reservists, we already don't have enough time to get everything accomplished that is required and expected. Now we're even further behind the power curve in getting Soldiers trained, medically ready, and deployable. This is inexcusable on behalf of our civilian leadership.
What needs to be emphasized is that Air Force Reserve Medical Squadrons have an active mission every drill weekend, and at March 2 drill weekends per month, with 90 to 150 physicals. This is not just training but a live requirement to keep deployers and pilots medically ready and qualified to do their work. We are hardly "inactive" when we are seeing patients and newcomers Saturday and Sunday, two drill weekends a month.
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