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Wednesday, July 06, 2016

DENNIS PATRCIK: AN OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR JOHN HOEVEN

The 4th of July celebration has come and gone and what a proud festival it was – especially for those of us who were prior military! Those of us who served share a bond in life and death that no one who has never served will ever understand.

You will recall our conversation at the ND Republican Convention this spring. You understood correctly that all veterans were covered medically by the Veterans Administration (VA) even though that system is broken. However, you said you were not aware that military retirees typically receive their medical care through the Department of Defense (DoD) either directly at military medical facilities or at civilian facilities accepting the flexible DoD-sponsored TriCare medical programs. In the case of active duty military, of course, they predominantly receive their care at military medical facilities.

Because you were not aware that military retirees receive their medical care through DoD programs like TriCare and military facilities, if available, it was not surprising that you were not aware that veterans’ medical care as opposed to active and retired military medical care came from two different budget sources – the Veterans Administration budget for veterans and the DoD budget for active and retired military service members.

At this point, please no lectures on the Defense Budget, otherwise known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Having served three years on the Army Staff developing the training portion of the Army’s contribution to the Defense Budget, I have an intimate understanding of the process. As you know, the various military service staffs exist to acquire from Congress the men, money and material necessary to meet their respective services’ defense missions and other obligations. It is the President, as Commander-in-Chief, who assigns the strategic objectives that translate into military missions. Congress is responsible for funding – or challenging -- those missions through the authorization and appropriation process.

This segues to the topic of the budget sequestration in 2013 and automatic budget cuts throughout the federal government. A 50% cut was imposed on the Department of Defense. The other 50% was spread across all other domestic federal departments with exemptions granted to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security (the biggest of the big spenders which, when combined, are bigger than the DoD budget which is only 3% of GDP). The result has been a reduction in military defense capability drifting toward pre-World War II levels. At the North Dakota District 2 convention your representative touted the veracity of sequestration. You did so yourself addressing the State Convention. Unfortunately, under sequestration, military health care takes a direct hit.

This leads, in turn, to the topic of force readiness in an all volunteer environment. The end strength of each military service depends upon retaining good people and recruiting good replacements to offset attrition. With the increased burden on service personnel and their families from consecutive frequent deployments, near-static pay, continually reduced services and abridged medical care (all budget driven), who wants to volunteer? Who wants to pay for their medical care for the privilege of serving? In fact, many mid-level non-commissioned and commissioned officers are choosing to “hang it up.” They have served honorably, but enough is enough. Their talent and depth of experience cannot be recruited. It can only be developed over years of active service and training. A required reduction of the force on the way down to pre-World War II levels because of sequestration coupled with inadequate training and equipment would seem very imprudent in an exceedingly dangerous world.

This leads, finally, to the topic of reintroducing the draft. This is one way to reconstitute the force. Keep in mind that Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has recently opened all billets including Army Infantry, Rangers, Special Forces, Navy Seals, Marine Corps Infantry and more, to women. The 2017 NDAA currently before congress would require all females between 18 and 25 to register for Selective Service. That paves the way for women to be drafted into the Infantry, Armor and Artillery in a national emergency. Is this the unintended consequence you support along with sequestration?

This is a long way from my opening remarks regarding the different funding mechanisms for active duty military, retirees and veteran’s health care. This should not come as a surprise given your lack of awareness of separate budget processes. It is always the unintended consequences, in this case of sequestration, that come back to bite us. My discussion merely reflects the logical progression of considerations.

Certainly you have done good work supporting reformed medical care in the Veterans Administration, but that effort is a long, long way from bearing fruit. Active and retired military should not be dumped into a broken VA system with promises that things will improve someday.

In conclusion, please rethink your position on sequestration and its impact on the active force as well as the medical needs of military retirees. This is no time to waffle.

 

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at P. O. Box 337, Stanley, ND 58784 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

 

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