WASHINGTON, D.C. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced a budgetary plan to cut Department of Defense spending and raise revenues Wednesday, which would include charging admission to access military installations.
These proposals will cut wasteful programs, said Hagel at the daily Pentagon briefing, and raise valuable revenue to keep the U.S. military the best fighting force in the world.
One of the most controversial elements is charging a daily admission fee of $10 for junior enlisted, $15 for NCOs, $20 for junior officers and Senior NCOs, and $25 for senior officers. Pentagon Office of Budgetary Analytical Logistics and Life Studies (BALLS) estimated the daily fees will raise $2.3 billion annually.
We feel that military members should be grateful for their outstanding pay and benefits, said Hagel, and take that success and spread it around a little. In these times of tight budgets, our military members need to take ownership of their own programs to ensure our success.
Critics of the plan include Former Vice President and Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, who says its unfair to have military members pay for admission to their own job, which sounds like a tax to just having a job.
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