Everett H. Pratt, Jr. 02/04/00 Lieutenant General, USAF, Retired HQ AFPC/CCU, 500 C Street West Ste 11 Randolph AFB, TX 78150-4713 Dear Lt. General Pratt: I read with both interest and dismay your letter dated 21 October 1999 to General Ryan (HQ USAF/CC) printed in the January 2000 Afterburner newsletter, which is posted to the Internet at http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/afretire/afterbur/janburn0.doc General Pratt, you stated that, " . . . many factors have contributed to recruiting and retention problems", but you failed to identify any of them. Continuing, you stated, "that some of the problems can be attributed to anecdotal comments and misinformation related to our troops from a variety of sources, both active and retired". Wrong!!! Sir, the problems recruiters are facing are far from being "anecdotal" (an often amusing incident or event). Rather the problems are specific and serious, having to do with tangible factors of economics, job opportunities, money, and lack of respect and appreciation toward those who serve in uniform. It has been suggested that retention (or recruitment) authorities delve in spewing out "misinformation" in a deliberate (and now desperate) attempt to mislead career individuals to stay in and therefore maintain required total force numbers. Any such malicious propaganda (or even the appearance of such a 'system') that bends the facts in order to trip-up-the-troops would be totally destructive to maintaining the career all-volunteer force. General Pratt, there are two significant problems which are causing retired veterans to STOP their support of recruiters and to influence young individuals AGAINST a career in uniform. They are the medical benefit problems caused by Tricare and the loss of retired (pension) pay under the Uniform Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA). Many veterans are making statements that they will no longer act as the 'hidden recruiter force', which in the past had influenced relatives and high school students to try military service. They have suggested, "that a return to the draft would provide a more representative slice of our society, the 'opportunity,' to do their part in defense of this nation rather than to have it all fall on the backs of volunteers". You are correct, however, that the "defense of America is the responsibility of each and every one of us" but this would also require those who are our nation's youngest citizens to "step (up) to the responsibility of (performing uniformed) service". Where will you find them Sir . . . those individuals who are both highly educated (to maintain and operate our high tech weaponry) yet also so exceedingly foolish that they would spend the best years of their lives in a 'profession' whose leaders can not even guarantee stated benefits? General Pratt, I am at a loss to believe that you have no knowledge of HR72 (the proposed legislation in the House of Representatives to reform the USFSPA) and of Representative Steven Buyer's (R-IN) adamant attitude to not press for the elimination of this antiquated, contradictory, and discriminatory law. Interestingly, Mr. Buyer has been consistently negative with regard to any legislation supporting the military, in spite of the fact that he is on the House Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs committees and is chairman of the sub-committee on Military Personnel. Tell me, Sir, with Congressional leadership such as his, how do you intend to proceed to, "help (recruiters end) the current recruiting and retention dilemma"? Are you also NOT aware of the overdue DoD review of the USFSPA? Further, I find it amazing (no pathetic) that no one in your staff has had the foresight to use the Internet to ascertain if there are any difficulties out there in 'cyber (military-career) land'! Could this be the "misinformation" you mentioned in your letter to General Ryan, which you are being fed . . .or, is it "misinformation" that you are feeding General Ryan and us? Sir, I want to trust my government and its leaders (seeing as how I have spent 23 years in the 'blue-suit'), but I'm not only troubled that I was led astray, but you're making my 'head spin' in confusion as to what (and who) we are to believe! You mentioned the "intangible benefits of military service" and that they are "incalculable". You are wrong, General. The benefits are completely calculable. Just ask any no-fault divorce judge how they are able to magically hocus pocus retired pay (pension) into property for a lifetime deduction regardless of the remarriage of the ex- spouse. Find out how the percentage of deduction is based upon the rank of the military veteran at retirement and NOT at the rank of the career individual at the time of divorce (a windfall profit). Discover how the DFAS "10/10 year" rule values the non-uniformed service of the civilian spouse for her ten-years of homemaker skills, with an automatic garnishment versus the required twenty-year minimum time that a uniformed member must accomplish to qualify for the retainer pay. . . . that the divorce court judge can then take away as property . . .while the IRS taxes it each month as income!! The DFAS 'rule' literally temps a spouse to divorce for profit! DFAS is acting like a 'puppet' of the county divorce court. Since when has the federal government been involved in supporting divorce? Currently, the pentagon has allowed a 4.8% pay raise and Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) but neither is protected from the USFSPA threat! How about an official definition of what the monetary fund is that a retired 20-year veteran receives each month from the government? Is it INCOME or is it PROPERTY? General Pratt? If it is property, then when I die, I get to will it to my next of kin . . .correct? Like one would a house or land or any other type of property . . .right? Or does my government intend to do the 'puppet' act again, dance to the judicial alchemy of the divorce court judge, and magically change it back into INCOME? What kind of 'yo-yo' game . . . is this? I was 14 years career (a TSgt newly stationed to Ramstein AB, Germany) when the USFSPA was made law in 1982. This law should never have effected those ALREADY in career status but regardless, the troops should have been briefed of the USFSPA threat. I did not find out about it until I was served divorce papers in 1996 (5 years after I retired). If I live to be 75, I will have lost nearly $100,000 in assets due to the ability of the divorce court judge to make my retainer pay into property, and all because of the poor wording of the USFSPA, and this does not include alimony and child support! Presently, I receive 35% of what I was promised for a 23-year military 'profession'. That is too scary a financial plan for anyone (who has an operative brain) to consider! However, a far worse example is that of Vietnam POW Captain Bob Strim who after being repatriated in 1973 found himself in a divorce court and lost 42.9% of his military pension to a cheating spouse. How the USFSPA was backdated to effect him is totally beyond my comprehension but demonstrates the utter disrespect of the civilian legal system towards those who serve a career in uniform. See the Pulitzer Prize wining photo and story of Captain Strim on the internet at http://www.seacoast.com/~gordont/baghdadb.htm. Sir, your career (mid-level rank) sergeant is the backbone of the military yet their integrity and dedication is being trashed by the downtown no-fault divorce court judge's practice of making marriage a business and divorce as easy (and lucrative for the lawyers) as a blue-light 'special-sale' at K-Mart. Veterans are being disrespected in the courts as they flounder in a vain search for justice and accountability. There can be NO accountability in NO fault divorce because it allows NO determination of "deserving" (a word originally used in the USFSPA law). Any spouse married to a military member can initiate the divorce 'machinery' which will guarantee her upwards of 50% of the veteran's pension as property just by saying, "irreconcilable differences". The divorce judge has hidden agenda in that their concern is not for justice (or the value of career military service) but for their own welfare coffers. These no-fault divorce judges practice a blatant conflict of interest opting to make the veteran's pension into property and thereby ensure that the spouse stays clear of their county welfare funds. Honorable military service has become the scapegoat for the judge's inability to perform justice and the fruition of a county's welfare organization to operate in the black. God help you, if you are veteran who has served this country honorably and is faced with no-fault divorce your pension is unprotected! It is difficult to understand how anyone who is career military can watch what is happening to retired veterans and continue to serve knowing that the same financial problems will befall them when they retire. Presently, over 90,000 retired veterans have been financially hamstrung by the USFSPA and this amount grows by more than 300 each month. With a marriage rate of 90% (for those between the ages of 19-35) and a military divorce rate at more than 50%, those who retire stand more than a 50/50 chance of losing a percentage of their pension as property at the hands of a no-fault divorce judge. I surmise that when the problems of the USFSPA are revealed that more and more career individuals will get out regardless of how much taxpayer money congress throws at them in an attempt to carrot-and-stick (coerce) them into remaining in uniform! Certainly, any effort on the part of veterans of the Air Force Retirees Council would do grievous harm if the truth of the USFSPA 'problem' is covered up and/or ignored. But in all honesty, I am confident that you, Sir, would not allow such a situation to manipulate your good judgement. If our leaders are sincere about the importance of retaining quality individuals for the maintenance of the all-volunteer career force than those same leaders must find a way to direct the Defense Finance Accounting Service to allow garnishments for ONLY alimony and child support and NOT for property. Only the no-fault divorce court judge is allowed such POWER (to treat retired pay as property) even though the IRS, Comptroller General, Bankruptcy courts, DFAS, and even the state taxing authorities treat it (or define it) as only INCOME. Sir, it is one or the other . . . not both! Accompanying your letter (and General Ryan's) in the Afterburner is the article, Air Force Retiree Council responds to recruiting, retention challenges, whereby your Council "solicits our ideas and comments". Veterans will be pleased to read that the "Retiree Council intends to assist in any way possible to help (alleviate) the current recruiting and retention dilemma". Therefore, the above information about the USFSPA should help you "flesh out some of the ways retirees can help recruiters" in order to insist on the elimination of the USFSPA law. This will demonstrate to the career force that military leadership is concerned, that retired benefits will be made secure, that our government can be trusted, and which will (in-turn) END the retention dilemma. George Washington is purposed to have said it best: The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars (and peace-times) were treated and appreciated by their nation. Choose, General Pratt, the USFSPA and the draft (and all the other unseen problems that will follow) OR the all-volunteer force, guaranteed benefits, and a lessening of retention difficulties. The correct choice is often the most difficult to make, but I can assure you sir, that this honorably discharged retired 23 year USAF veteran will NEVER be responsible for turning anyone toward a recruiter while knowing the problems of the USFSPA and Tricare exist! Truth to the Troops! Thank you General Pratt, and I look forward to your reply! Sincerely, Gordon Tatro, MSgt, USAF(Ret) (1968-1991) PO Box 123, Leeds, MA 01053 Tel: (413) 584-6892 E-mail: gordont@map.com Web Page: http://www.seacoast.com/~gordont/ CC: Copies forwarded to MANY recipients PS: General Pratt? Do you know if your wife (or General Ryan's wife) knows about the USFSPA?!?!?