A group of Congressmen have lobbied appropriators to provide the same 2.7 percent pay raise for federal civilian employees as the House approved for military personnel in the 2007 defense authorization bill. Leading the effort are Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). The Administration proposal for 2007 had put both pay raises at 2.2 percent.
It'll take up to 18 months for Lockheed Martin to deliver the 100 or so F-35s that went directly from production line to storage, awaiting the completion of Tech Refresh 3 testing. Customers haven't complained about the order in which the backlog is being delivered.