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problems which prompted the duo to propose both improved medical care and earlier retirement
ages (Dys, 2004).
Pay has been an issue for many, although not as many might expect. Certainly, a large
number of reservists suffer a loss of pay when activated. For some, their military pay more than
compensates the loss. For others, employers make up the difference. In fact, numerous bills
were forwarded in the 108
th
Congress to assure this right to all federal civilians who were also
members of the reserves. Others do see loss either because they no longer can care for their own
businesses or because there is no reimbursement for lost wages. Yet across these categories,
reservists have found widespread pay problems when activated. A November 2003 GAO report
found extensive problems in the military pay system unaccustomed to handling so many
reservists on extended active-duty tours (Kutz, 2003). Of the units studied, the GAO found the
majority of troops had faced pay problems. Not only is the Defense Accounting System faulted
for being poorly understood, error-prone, and plagued with archaic systems, a key finding is that
the system fails because the people who run it simply don’t understand how to handle members
of the reserves. The result has been a failure to for some to go unpaid for months and for many
to face shortfalls. Efforts by DoD to save money by declaring countries within the war zone safe
and thus no longer eligible for combat pay and tax benefits has also caused resentment for some
deployed members (Esteve, 2003) .
For all reservists, there is an arguably greater expectation that they will be called to
extended duty only when the situation is dire with an equally important expectation that they will
be given more notice to activate and clear guidance and when they can expect to deactivate.
Neither have been well met. More than a few units by the admission Under Secretary of Defense
for Personnel David Chu were initially activated with less than 30 days notice (Vantran, 2003).
Convention