A scoop by CQ Roll Call’s defense reporter John M. Donnelly reveals how the U.S. military bureaucracy treats the fallen differently, shortchanging some surviving families of benefits. At issue, says Donnelly, is how members of the National Guard and Reserves, who are increasingly called to fight the nation’s wars, are categorized in payroll. The family of one reservist killed in a military plane crash could receive hundreds of dollars less per month than a second reservist killed in the same crash — merely because of the arcane payroll distinction. Congress could fix the problem with $2 million, a tiny amount in an annual defense budget of more than $600 billion.
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