The Senate Armed Services Committee agreed with Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) that the National Guard and Reserve should get time off their retirement dates for contingency support. According to a statement from Chambliss, the committee included in its markup for the 2008 defense authorization bill a provision that would reduce the age at which an individual would receive retirement pay by three months for every 90 days spent on active duty supporting a contingency operation and would subtract time for active duty service for national emergencies. Under current procedures, reservists must wait until they reach age 60 to collect retirement pay.
The $4.26 billion Small Business Innovation Research contracting program widely used by the Air Force went into hibernation as the government shut down Oct. 1, but unless lawmakers strike a deal on reforms, the program could reach an abrupt end.
