Evening star., 1949-10-02
F0rrestal Hand Guided Pay Raises

VI JOCLuI L.
At long last, Congress has
approved the Career Compensa-
ion Act of 1949.
The action not only restores
.srvice pay scales to a level ap-
oropriate to other economic
surroundings, but it also con-
5titutes a living memorial to the
vision and efforts OF the late
James v. Forrestal.
At first Secretary of Defense.
Mr.. Forrestal, devoted himself.
probably more than is generally
realized, to improving the eco
nomic standards Of officers and
men. The military pay bill is
based largely on a critical study
which he conceived and turned
over to a four member Civilian
Advisory Commission. headed
by Charles r. Hook, board
chairman of Armco Steel Corp.
AS early as 1947 the military
had prepared a justification for
extensive pay increase, but Mr..
Forrestal foresaw the need for
a thorough overhaul of the pay
system, including pension and
disability benefits. He had the
political wisdom to assign the
job of studying and then selling
the results to a calculating Con-
gress to a group of respected
civilians-three outstanding in
dustry leaders and a Catholic
educator.
Cost 1904 100000
To quote the Senate report,
"The purpose of the bill is to
establish for the uniformed
services a compensation pattern
which will tepd to attract and
retain f1rst-class personnel in
the armed services, Coast Guard,
Coast and Geodetic Survey and
the Public Health Service"
To do this the new law raises
the standard permanent pay
for all grades of the 100000
officers and enlisted men of the
seven services, except the re-
cruit who keeps the same pay
of $75 a month plus free bed.
beans and brogans." At the
same time. by abolishing or
pairing certain special pays.
repeating wartime allowances
paid to dependents Of enlisted
men and severely restricting
benefits paid on account of dis
ability, many thousands, parti-
cularly enlisted men, will receive
no increase. Some may suffer
an actual cut in take-home
pay, as compared with 1948
and before, when the CT en-
joyed a full tax exemption and
the officer was allowed $500
tax free.
The ultimate level cost to
Uncle Sam of the net adjust
ment beginning 1853 is esti-
mated at $3o4. .000,0 900 more
than the current payroll. Costs
for the first fiscal year, ending
June 20. 1850. will be about
$275, 100000 They will rise to
$348. 900 900 for 1851 and $316,-
900, 900 for 1852. since wartime
dependents allowances will be
paid on a decreasing scale dur
ing this time and will not be
completely eliminated until 1858.
Based on Responsibility
The Hook Commission decided
that the pay structure which
had remained fundamentally
unchanged for four decades
and had been barnacled with
inequities and special privi-
leges. had to be completely re-
vised. Flouting tradition, the
commission set a salary pat
tern, matching pay with rela-
tive responsibility. Pay rates
at career points in military
service were arrived at by COM
parison with wages and salaries
paid by a score of top-notch
industrial firms for like work.
Representative key jobs were
placed in parallel with or SLOT
ted into private pay structures
to come up with dollar-and-
cents figures for service jobs.
The new rates established in
cluded not only the base pay
but "fogeys" or length of -serv-
ice increases and money equiv
alents of allowances for food
and housing.
For the first time. it was pos
sible to contrast total military
pay with total civilian pay. The
new law, even, though continu-
ing the allowances in modified
form. sets up a cleaner" pay
schedule which finally permits
the soldier and sailor of any
rank to figure out his check.
The commission rejected q
fiat percentage increase to
meet rises in living costs or to
match industry's round Of wage
hikes. That device, although
strongly favored, would have
perpetuated and aggravated
the conditions Of inequality
and would have ruined the
golden opportunity to remodel
the antique structure. As a
result, percentage increases
vary considerably, depending
on responsibility for rank or
grade and length Of career.
The highest increases, in
general, go to top rank officers
and enlisted men, since the old
scale offered practically no
dinerential for their increased