According to the writer, Congress needs to reverse what he calls American disgrace.
According to his calculations, the income of a low-ranking individual in the armed forces of his country, about 30 thousand dollars a year, is not enough to ensure medical care, housing and food.
General Ferrari said active-duty members should not apply for government assistance programs or go to food banks, but should receive a salary that allows them to feed their families.
He noted that the problem was exacerbated during the pandemic by a study that indicated a 150 percent increase in food insecurity among the military in the past two years or more.
This topic should be a priority for Congress, which is preparing to vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2023, a project already analyzed in House and Senate committees with budgets expected to exceed $800 billion. dollar.
The general warned that the National Defense Act of 2022 provided an allowance for basic needs to military families, and while that helps, all the legislature has accomplished is to replace one source of public assistance with another because it does not pay living stipends to soldiers.
The retired general suggested that with inflation rising, Congress should increase military salaries beyond the 4.6 percent suggested by the Defense Department.
Food insecurity among the military is a national security problem: It compounds the stress of active-duty personnel, reduces their well-being, and can make the recruitment process difficult, according to a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Highest inflation in 40 years, supply chain problems and the end of aid programs by the government have left insufficient food on the tables for soldiers’ families and Americans in general.
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