Impending budget cuts in Washington could mean big consequences for the military. That includes pay cuts for those serving our country.
To help keep thousands of troops on the job, outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is proposing less money in their paycheck next year.
He's calling for just a one percent increase. Last year, they got a 1.7 percent increase.
To put this into perspective, military officials say a junior enlisted service member with two years in uniform gets about $1500 a month.
If the cuts go into effect, that's about $130 less.
Panetta says it all comes down to Congress.
“These steps would seriously damage the fragile American economy and they would degrade our ability to respond to crises precisely at a time of rising instability across the globe,” Panetta stated.
Congress has less than a month to reach a budget deal to stop those automatic spending cuts from kicking in.
To help keep thousands of troops on the job, outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is proposing less money in their paycheck next year.
He's calling for just a one percent increase. Last year, they got a 1.7 percent increase.
To put this into perspective, military officials say a junior enlisted service member with two years in uniform gets about $1500 a month.
If the cuts go into effect, that's about $130 less.
Panetta says it all comes down to Congress.
“These steps would seriously damage the fragile American economy and they would degrade our ability to respond to crises precisely at a time of rising instability across the globe,” Panetta stated.
Congress has less than a month to reach a budget deal to stop those automatic spending cuts from kicking in.