Appearing before an Oct. 5 hearing of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, commander of US European Command, explained that, on average, 4,500 reservists are working within his command every day. They perform a range of missions spanning airlift, air refueling, command and control, intelligence, force protection, and special operations. He said that reservists comprise more than 10 percent of his uniformed headquarters staff. Jones favors two prime initiatives to improve the usefulness of reservists within his command: one would establish a sole pay and personnel system for active and reserve forces; the second would slash the number of reserve component duty statuses to help achieve equality in pay and benefits with their active duty counterparts.
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
