About 44,000 military personnel stationed at 22 locations around the world will lose their imminent danger pay starting Monday. This is the result of those locations having been decertified as militarily hazardous.
The change is expected to save the Obama administration $108 million per month — an insignificant sum when comped to the total defense budget. But it will mean up to $225 less in the pockets of service men and women, which could represent “a car payment. A couple weeks of groceries. A month of utilities,” noted Stars and Stripes, which reported:
The following land areas and the airspace above them were decertified: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia and Serbia.
The following land areas were decertified: East Timor, Haiti, Liberia, Oman, Rwanda, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
The following sea areas were decertified: Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf (including the airspace above the Persian Gulf).
Although the change was announced in January, its actual implementation comes at a bad time for the Obama administration with respect to its relationship with the military. Here are a few examples.
The White House has been dragging its feet addressing the recently disclosed Veterans Administration scandal. VA hospitals around the country have systematically covered up waiting times as long as a year or more for veterans seeking urgently needed medical care.
The White House’s lack of response to Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi being jailed for inadvertently crossing the border into Mexico has been described by former Congressman Allen West as “very embarrassing.”
Officers have been speculating since late 2013 that the Obama administration has been purging the military of its most senior staff members, according to The Blaze.
Yet against these events, President Obama continues to declare his pride and respect for the military.
“As your Commander-in-Chief, I’m proud of your service, and grateful for your sacrifice,” he said at his Veterans Day address in November, according to the White House website.
The late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once famously said, “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”
The same might apply to respect, something normally exhibited by deed and not word. If you feel you have to tell people you have it, then quite probably you don’t.
