2009 Military Pay

The Obama administration has called for a 2.9 percent increase in basic pay (over 2009 basic pay rates) for military members, effective January 1, 2010. 2.9 percent is the minimum President Obama could have requested under current law, as this percentage would match, but not exceed, average private-sector wage growth. Under law, each year ’s increase must at least match the private-sector wage growth as measured by the Labor Department’s Employment Cost Index.However, every year for the past several years, Congress has approved a military pay raise slightly larger than that requested by the President, and 2010 is no exception. Both the House and the Senate has agreed to include a 3.4 percent across-the-board military base pay raise in the 2010 Defense Authorization Act. This makes a 3.4 percent raise (1/2 a percent above President Obama's request) pretty much a sure thing.