CLUKEY v. PISCATAQUIS SHERIFF'S DEPT.6/4/1997
ess enacted the statutory definition of the term "pay," Pub.L. No. 87-649, § 1, 76 Stat. 451 (1962), several years prior to its definition of the term "regular compensation," Act of Dec. 16, 1967, Pub.L. 90-207, § 8, 81 Stat. 649, 1967 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News (81 Stat.) 720-21; Act of Sept. 19, 1974, Pub.L. 93-419, § 1, 88 Stat. 1152 (codified at 37 U.S.C. § 101(25)). The history of military pay legislation suggests an evolution from the view that military allowances for food and lodging are reimbursement for a necessary expense of military life, to the modern view that these allowances are intended as compensation and an inducement to enlist.
[ 6] The BAS and BAQ were originally codified in the Career Compensation Act of 1949. Pub.L. 81-351, 63 Stat. 681, 1949 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News (63 Stat.) 815, 825-26. The purpose of the Act was two-fold: (1) To "establish a uniform pattern of military pay and allowances, consolidating and revising the piecemeal legislation that had been developed over the previous 40 years," Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677, 681, n. 6, 93 S.Ct. 1764, 1768, n. 6, 36 L.Ed.2d 583 (1973); and (2) "to establish for the uniformed services a compensation pattern which will tend to attract and retain first-class personnel in the armed services . . . ." S.Rep. No. 733, 81st Cong., 1st Sess., reprinted in 1949 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News 2089; Frontiero, 411 U.S. at 679-80, 93 S.Ct. at 1766-67.
[ 7] In 1967 Congress instituted regular military pay raises for the purpose of keeping pace with pay raises for civilian government employees, Act of Dec. 16, 1967, Pub.L. 90-207, § 8, 81 Stat. 649, 1967 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News (81 Stat.) 720, and "to insure that the uniformed services will continue to retain in sufficient numbers the skilled manpower so indispensable to the maintenance of our national security." S.Rep. 808, 90th Cong., 1st Sess., reprinted in 1967 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News 2319-20. The 1967 pay increases were calculated as a percentage of an individual's "regular compensation," defined to include "basic pay, quarters and subsistence allowances (either in cash or in kind), and the tax
[ 8] In 1974 Congress enacted legislation to distribute the pay increases to the BAQ and the BAS. Act of Sept. 19, 1974, Pub.L. 93-419, § 4, 88 Stat. 1152 (codified at 37 U.S.C. § 1009). The legislative history of this enactment suggests that the allowances were considered at that time to be an important element of compensation and an inducement to enlist in the modern all-volunteer military. The purpose of the enactment was explained in the Letter of the Assistant Secretary of Defense to the President of the Senate, March 30, 1973:
The President's goal of an all-volunteer force adds a new
dimension to our annual appraisal of the adequacy of military
pay. Military pay in general may be quantitatively determined
to bear a reasonable relationship to the pay for similar work
levels in the civilian economy. However, the question of
adequacy can only be addressed in terms of whether military pay
levels allow us to compete successfully in the labor market for
the numbers and quality of individuals which fulfill Department
of Defense manpower requirements. . . .
. . . he basic characteristic of the present system of
limiting adjustments exclusively to equal percentage increases
in basic pay has caused most members to perceive their
allowances at substantially below actual expenses in the
economy. This reinforces a basic premise that so long as
members of the armed forces are compensated under a basic pay
and allowances system, it will be necessary to adjust
periodic
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