ROA Executive Director Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Jeff Phillips is published in The Hill as an opinion contributor.
When an active-duty U.S. Navy officer retired after 20 years, her retirement check arrived as expected, about 30 days after her retirement date.
Yet when Lt. Col. Jackie Brich retired, the Air Force reservist heard nothing for more than six months. And she was lucky. One military retiree, commenting on an August 2018 Navy Times story on reservist retirement pay backlogs, responded, “One year and no pay yet.” Another wrote, “I’m at 10 months and holding.”
Holding the bag, that is.
It’s a bag too often empty because of balky technology and outdated processes that affect members of the Reserve and National Guard — and wouldn’t be tolerated for active-duty troops.