December 12, 2014

A recently released Military Times survey shows that troops are beginning to feel burned out, underpaid and unsupported by senior leadership.

These findings come from nearly 2,300 active duty personnel participating in a survey between July and August of 2014.

Only 56 percent of surveyed servicemembers indicated their quality of life is “good” or “excellent.” This pales in comparison to the 91 percent of respondents in a similar 2009 survey.

More than two thirds (70 percent) believe their quality of life will further decline in future years.

On senior leadership, only 27 percent viewed senior military leaders of having servicemembers’ best interests in mind. More than half of respondents felt that way in 2009.

Views on military compensation and health care have also dipped.

In 2009, 87 percent of respondents indicated their pay and allowances were either good or great. In 2014 only 44 percent took the same view.

For health care, the numbers plummeted from 78 percent to 45 percent.

Despite the grim outlook, DoD officials continue to report that recruiting and retention remains high. But underlying problems are easily masked by the ongoing drawdown.

This survey – echoed by similar surveys conducted by Blue Star Families and the Navy Retention Study – should serve as a bellwether for the health of the all-volunteer force.

These surveys highlight what MOAA has said for years: short-sighted cuts to compensation and benefits prove to be a slippery slope—once started, cuts historically continue until they damage recruiting and retention.

“It’s not surprising servicemembers would show increased signs of disappointment with current compensation,” said MOAA’s Deputy Director of Government Relations, Col. Mike Barron, USA (Ret). “2009 and 2010 saw the last pay raises that exceeded private sector wage growth. Those plus ups were critically needed to eliminate a 13.5 percent pay gap that existed between troops and their private sector counterparts. Since then, today’s active duty force has had two straight years of pay caps that represented the smallest pay raises in 50 years. Their health care benefit has been eroded with the elimination of Prime Service Areas and servicemembers will soon see out-of-pocket costs for their housing.”

High operational tempo and the uncertainty of the drawdown leave many servicemembers and their families wondering what tomorrow will bring.