Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/93

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 uing e Poster Ar Yorce period of service in grade and the individual received no added compensation until he was promoted. The second change was in the matter of ß etirement for physical dsabihty. Formerly officers retired for physical disability were retired on pay equal to 75 per cen of their base and longevity pay, wth no drfferenti- ation as to actual degree of disability. Nor were retirement practices extended to the enlisted grades as a whole. The new legisla- tion related the amount of hsability pay to the degree of disability and established an incapacity of 30 per cent as the mini- mum which would qualify an individual for retirement. A less degree of incapamty, or less than eight years of sarvice, was to be compensated by granting lump-sum "severance pay." The principle of retire- ment for physical disability was also ex- tended to the enlisted grades on the same relative basis as to the commissioned grades. Obviously the application of this prinmple had the effect of reducing retire- ment pay in many eases. The third major change involved the granting of a quarters allowance in lieu of the family allowance provided as a neces- sary wartne measure under the Service4 men's Dependents' Allowance Act of 1942. The family allowance had been a measure geared spectcally to warthrne cond,tions and now was considered too expenmve for the permanent ,peacetime establishment. Therefore it was replaced with a permanent quarters allowance payable to all members of the uniformed senaces entitled to base pay, except as otherwise prowdeal by law. -ø The Career Compensation Act not only met a long felt need by placing the pay structure of the miltary establishment on a more realistic basis, t also increased the pay and certain allowances of the person- nel of the armed senrices, both officers and enlisted men, so as to put them more in line with the rapidly rising cost of living, there- by tending to attract more first-class per. sonnel to the Air Force and the other armed services, and to keep them there. Although service publications classed the pay in- creases as moderate and pomted out that they were less than those proposed by the Hook Commission, they were gratefully re- ceived and had a very beneficial effect on morale in the armed serces3 s For all the services the act increased the total active duty pay by $409,000,000, retired pay (physical d/sability) by $40,000,000, and quarters allowances by $145,000,000.s It contained provisions for the pay of the re- serve components of the armed forces and extended to the reserves the right to receive incentive pay for hazardous duty. Of particular interest to the USAF was sectran 528 of Title V of the act which amended the Aviation Cadet Act to raise the pay of awation cadets rom $75 to $105 a month.s ectmn 204 (a) and (b) of Title II of the act contained provisions dealing wth flying pay. It was provided tlat crew member duty which involved frequent and regular aerial fight entitled qualified members of the armed setwoes to incentive pay on a sliding scale according to pay grade. This ranged from $100 a month for officers in pay grade 1 to $150 for those in pay grade 8; it was set at $100 a month for all four grades of warrant officers; for en- listed men this tpe of incentive pay ranged 1tom $30 a month for those in pay grade 1 to $75 /or those in pay grade 7. For duty involwng frequent and regular participa- tion in aerial flights,  as a crew member, the incentive pay was to be paid at the rate of $100 a month for officers and $50 a month for enhsted men3 These new and reduced rates of flying pay replaced the old rate based on 50 per cent of base pay. In 1950 it became necessary to amend those provisions of the Creer Compensa- tion Act of 1949 dealing vath dependents' allowances. The extensive expansion of the armed forces following the outbreak of hos- tilities in Korea resulted in thousands of Natrenal Guardsmen and reservists being called into active duty without their con- sent, and thousands of men were drafted under the provisions of the Selective Service Act of 1948. Many of the enlisted men thus ordered to active duty had families, and t was anticipated that it might become necessary in the future to draft men with dependents. ss THIS PAGE Declassflied lAW EO12958