Military compensation committee hears proposals Published July 21, 2005 By Army Sgt. Sara Wood American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The Defense Advisory Committee on Military Compensation met here July 20 to hear presentations about the current state of military compensation programs and recommendations to improve them.Covered were retirement compensation, health benefits, special incentive pay, quality of life and reserve component compensation. Each area was covered by a subcommittee of two advisory committee members and a special consultant.Each subcommittee examined the current state of the program, its strengths and weaknesses and possible alternatives for improvement. Some of the notable recommendations were changing the health-care system to mitigate future costs by either modifying cost sharing or instituting new benefits; consolidating special incentive pay and changing the levels of payments to reward performance; and changing the Reserve compensation program to make it more like the active-duty program.The committee is tasked with creating an architecture for the entire military compensation system. This gave committee members an idea of key issues that need to be addressed, said retired Navy Adm. Donald L. Pilling, chairman of the committee and former vice chief of naval operations."We have to clearly understand if we have the right mix between current and deferred compensation," he said. "And how we get the active and reserve compensation systems looking more alike."The recommendations will not be made until the architecture for the system is created, Admiral Pilling said, because all changes will have to be consistent."Until we lay down the architecture, we really don't have any solutions to anything," he said.The seven-person committee provides the secretary of defense with assistance and advice on matters pertaining to military compensation. Members are civilians recognized as experts in the field of compensation and are appointed by the secretary of defense for one-year terms.