Legislative Alert #08-11: Retirement credit for Reserve Component members under Sec. 647 of the FY08 NDAA Retroactive to September 11, 2001

LEGISLATIVE ALERT #08-11 September 12, 2008 The Issue: Retirement credit for Reserve Component members under Sec. 647 of the FY08 NDAA Retroactive to September 11, 2001 Immediate Action Required: Contact your Senators and urge them to support Senate Amendment #5327 to S.3001, to be introduced by Senator Chambliss that would include service after September 11, 2001 as eligible for reducing non-regular service retired pay Section 647 of the FY08 the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) H.R. 4986 established that non-regular members of the Reserve Component would receive their retired pay earlier than age 60, by three months for every 90 days of continuous mobilization in support of a contingency operation or presidentially declared stateside emergency. The original legislation was to be retroactive to September 11, 2001 in recognition of all who have served so honorably in the Global War on Terror (GWOT) following that tragic event. However, when the bill emerged from conference, the retroactive aspect had been stripped from the legislation making it effective for Fiscal Year 2008. Contact your Senators and urge them to support Senate Amendment #5327 to S.3001, to be introduced by Senator Chambliss that would include service after September 11, 2001 as eligible for reducing non-regular service retired pay TAKE THE FOLLOWING ACTION: By using the “Write to Congress” feature on the NGAUS Web site at www.ngaus.org, you can IMMEDIATELY e-mail your elected representatives. A sample letter is included in our “Write to Congress” feature. You can e-mail the pre-written message or edit the sample letter as you desire. This is the quickest and most effective method of expressing your views to Congress. Also, contact your friends and family and urge them to "Write to Congress" as well. For more in-depth information and background visit our web site at www.ngaus.org. Please direct any questions concerning this issue to Pete Duffy NGAUS Deputy Legislative Director Army Programs Manager at 202-454-5307 or via email: pete.duffy@ngaus.org.