At a hearing this week on the Pentagon plan to raise Tricare fees for military retirees, the assembled Senators and veterans service organization witnesses were leery of the plan and leery of the Pentagon’s numbers. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) maintained that the proposed 115 percent increase is “obviously something that I don’t think is going to happen over a two-year period.” As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, he is going to request an independent review of the military healthcare finances and look for program “efficiencies and reforms first.” Appearing for The Military Coalition, retired Vice Adm. Norbert Ryan Jr. said, “Some Pentagon analysts admit to us privately that their projected savings are grossly overstated.”
Aircraft readiness will suffer if Congress does not approve some $1.5 billion worth of spare parts the Air Force requested in its annual Unfunded Priorities List, sent to Capitol Hill last week, Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said.