IntenseDebate - jmcalli

8 years ago @ MilitaryAdvantage.Mili... - DoD: Reshape 'Blended ... · 0 replies · +2 points

The way TSP currently works is the servicemember chooses the funds.

8 years ago @ MilitaryAdvantage.Mili... - DoD: Reshape 'Blended ... · 0 replies · +1 points

As currently set up, the TSP G fund is guaranteed to retain value but it also won't appreciate much over time, as the equity based TSP funds have the potential to do. If you want to invest with guaranteed zero risk, you won't find much better than the G fund. Congress could change it, but that's the way the G fund works now.

8 years ago @ MilitaryAdvantage.Mili... - DoD: Reshape 'Blended ... · 0 replies · +4 points

From Govexec, 1 May 2014: "The House voted Thursday to freeze its own pay for the sixth consecutive year. Lawmakers approved 402-14 a $3.3 billion fiscal 2015 spending bill (H.R. 4487) funding the legislative branch, which includes a provision to freeze congressional salaries at current levels."

8 years ago @ MilitaryAdvantage.Mili... - DoD: Reshape 'Blended ... · 0 replies · +4 points

TSP interfund transfers (IFTs) typically occur the day placed, if requested before noon Eastern Time.

If a weekend and/or holiday occurs, and the request is made after 12:00 Eastern Time, it can take 3 or 4 days.

I am in the TSP under FERS and I re-balance my account periodically as I get closer to retirement and my tolerance for risk changes. I have never waited more than 4 days to get confirmation that a transfer occurred and the funds' values were always locked in when I estimated they would be. It does take a little planning but it's not hard.

8 years ago @ MilitaryAdvantage.Mili... - DoD: Reshape 'Blended ... · 0 replies · +1 points

No.

11 years ago @ MilitaryAdvantage.Mili... - Are Servicemembers Ove... · 0 replies · +11 points

Ralph Moerschbacher said he was a retired officer in the Air Force and wants us to believe he got paid $88 a month in 1969. If we are to believe that, he started out as an E-1 in 1969, not as a commissioned officer. In any case, he surely didn't stay an E-1 very long and was most likely in basic training where he couldn't spend the money anyway. As a newly minted O-1 he would have received $386.40 a month. Pay checks aside, comparing the economy in 1969 to the economy of today is a non sequitur. A gallon of gas in 1969 was 35 cents and the unemployment rate was 3.7%. Times have change dramatically and you can't tell someone in the military today that they are over paid based on what you "scraped by" with in 1969 if indeed you were "suffering" (I wasn't). As a single E-5 sailor in 1970 I was doing pretty well. That's my second point (which got cut off when I tried to post it).

11 years ago @ MilitaryAdvantage.Mili... - Are Servicemembers Ove... · 2 replies · +15 points

Ralph Moerschbacher, I disagree with both your facts and your opinions. I received E-5 pay in 1970 and it was considerably more than $88 a month. If you were an E1 in the Air Force in 1969 you received $123.30 a month, plus $60 BAQ. If you were in an air crew you received an incentive allowance on top of that. As a retired O-3, you probably NEVER received a paycheck as low as $44 during your entire career. In 1969 an O-3 received $561 a month, plus $48 BAQ, plus flight pay.

13 years ago @ Defense Tech - Will the Afghan War Su... · 0 replies · +2 points

I think the "enemy within" is you!

13 years ago @ Defense Tech - Will the Afghan War Su... · 0 replies · 0 points

The President didn't make a rash decision to fire McChrystal. He consulted with advisors in both political parties and in the military. Politically, he had no choice - to leave McChrystal in command in Afghanistan would have compromised his presidency and his authority as Commander in Chief. You accuse Obama of being foolish, but if he hadn't fired McChrystal, you would have accused him of being a weak leader.

Obama made the only decision he could under the circumstances. He could have done a lot worse to McChrystal than accepting his resignation. The UCMJ is clear on this. Obama was not just acting "within the regulations put forth by the UCMJ." The UCMJ is the LAW and McChrystal violated it in a high profile manner. If Obama hadn't disciplined McChrystal, the Chairman of the JCS probably would have stepped in (and may have done so privately).

Obama may not be perfect but he isn't stupid and he isn't rash. Afghanistan is Obama's War. And even if McChrystal had not made contemptuous comments to Rolling Stone, Obama appointed McChrystal to be the commander in Afghanistan, so Obama would have been completely justified in firing him for any loss of confidence.

13 years ago @ Defense Tech - Will the Afghan War Su... · 0 replies · +2 points

I think he's about to enter the world of retirement.

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