MIL News Weekly

Edward: Welcome to the MIL News Weekly
for 20-26 July 2025, your essential

guide to the latest news impacting
the military and veteran community.

Whether you're currently serving in
uniform, a military retiree, a veteran,

or a family member, this is your source
for the critical updates you need to know.

Each week, we cut through the noise to
bring you the most important developments

from the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and
the Department of Veterans Affairs.

We’ll cover everything from new
policies and pay raises affecting

active and reserve forces, to changes
in healthcare and benefits for

retirees, and the latest on VA services
and legislation for our veterans.

Let's get you informed.

Here’s what’s happened this past week.

Issues That Affect Active and
Reserve Military Personnel

In a move designed to directly address
quality-of-life and retention concerns,

the Department of Defense has finalized
a complex, two-part pay raise for 2025.

The first component, effective
January 1, 2025, is a 4.5%

general pay increase for all service
members across all ranks and branches.

The second, more targeted component
is an additional raise for

junior enlisted personnel that
takes effect on April 1, 2025.

This second increase, when combined with
the first, brings the total pay raise for

service members in pay grades E-1 through
E-4, as well as E-5s with fewer than two

years of service, to approximately 14.5%

over their 2024 pay levels.

The Defense Finance and Accounting
Service (DFAS) has published the

updated 2025 military pay tables
reflecting these changes, with the

April-December charts showing the fully
implemented rates for junior personnel.

This significant pay reform was
enacted through the Servicemember

Quality of Life Improvement and
National Defense Authorization

Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (H.R.

5009).

The structure of this raise
marks a profound shift in

military compensation philosophy.

For decades, annual pay raises were
typically uniform across-the-board

percentage increases, often tied to the
national Employment Cost Index, which

measures private-sector wage growth.

This traditional approach, while ensuring
pay kept pace with the broader economy,

did little to address the specific
and acute financial pressures faced by

the most junior service members, whose
starting salaries have increasingly

lagged behind civilian equivalents.

The FY2025 National Defense
Authorization Act: A Deep Dive into H.R.

5009 and S.

The House and Senate have each passed
their versions of the National Defense

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025,
setting the stage for conference committee

negotiations to reconcile the two bills.

The House version, H.R.

5009, is titled the Servicemember
Quality of Life Improvement and

National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2025, explicitly signaling

its focus on personnel welfare.

The Senate version is S.

4638, the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025.

Both bills authorize appropriations
for military activities, prescribe

personnel strengths, and contain
hundreds of provisions affecting

service members and their families.

Key provisions for active and
reserve personnel include:

Quality of Life: H.R.

5009 contains numerous provisions aimed
at improving daily life, including an

expansion of the Basic Needs Allowance for
low-income service members, new authority

to pay a Basic Allowance for Housing
to junior enlisted members on sea duty,

measures to ensure competitive pay for
DoD childcare personnel, and improvements

to the portability of professional
licenses for military spouses.

Healthcare: Both bills address
healthcare access and services.

S.

4638 includes provisions to expand
eligibility for fertility treatments and

improve access to specialty behavioral
healthcare under TRICARE Prime.

H.R.

5009 also addresses TRICARE access and
establishes a new program to prevent and

treat perinatal mental health conditions.

Both bills contain extensive sections
dedicated to brain health, mandating new

requirements and oversight related to
blast overpressure exposure, a key concern

for service members in combat roles.

Force Management and Training: H.R.

5009 includes authorities to modernize
Army recruitment processes, improve

financial literacy training for all
service members, and establish a pilot

program for enlisted members to pursue
graduate education opportunities.

The Senate bill focuses more on high-tech
workforce development, with provisions

for planning the DoD's artificial
intelligence workforce and enhancing

the quality of defense laboratories.

The full text of these bills
can be found at the links below.

See the transcript for the links.

Issues That Affect
Retired Military Personnel

Military retirees and recipients of the
Survivor Benefit Plan will receive a 2.5%

Cost-of-Living Adjustment in
their monthly payments for 2025.

This adjustment, which is based
on the year-over-year increase

in the Consumer Price Index, is
notably lower than the COLAs of the

past three years, which were 3.2%

in 2023, 8.7%

in 2022, and 5.9%

in 2021, reflecting a period
of moderating inflation.

The Defense Finance and Accounting
Service has published the official

2025 payment schedule, which confirms
that payments will be made on the first

business day of the month, unless the
first falls on a weekend or holiday, in

which case the payment is made on the
last business day of the preceding month.

The 2025 pay adjustments highlight
a growing structural divergence

in how active duty and retired
personnel are compensated.

The 2.5%

COLA for retirees is a standard,
legally mandated inflation adjustment

designed to protect the purchasing
power of their fixed income.

In contrast, the 4.5%

general pay raise for the active force
is designed to keep military wages

competitive with private-sector wage
growth, which often outpaces inflation.

This has created a 2-percentage-point
gap between the retiree

adjustment and the general active
duty raise in a single year.

This is not an anomaly but a
feature of two different systems.

Over time, this dynamic means
the value of military retired

pay will likely erode relative to
the pay of those still serving.

While retirees are protected from
losing ground to inflation, they

do not share in the "real" wage
growth awarded to the active force.

This widening gap could become a
significant point of contention for

retiree advocacy groups in the future,
potentially leading to calls for a

new COLA formula that more closely
aligns with active duty pay increases.

Proposed Legislation: The "Tax
Cuts for Veterans Act of 2025" (S.

1108)

On March 25, 2025, a bipartisan bill
was introduced in the Senate that could

have a profound impact on the financial
well-being of military retirees.

S.

1108, the Tax Cuts for Veterans
Act of 2025, seeks to amend the

Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to
make all military retirement pay

exempt from federal income tax.

Currently, military retirement pay is
fully taxable at the federal level,

although many states offer their
own partial or full tax exemptions.

This legislation would amend Section 122
of the Internal Revenue Code to state

that a former member's gross income does
not include any retired or retainer pay.

If passed, this would represent a
significant financial benefit for

all military retirees, creating
a uniform federal standard

and fulfilling a long-standing
legislative goal of many veteran

and military service organizations.

The full text of the bill can be
found at the link below in the script:

Issues That Affect Veterans Affairs

On January 2, 2025, President
Biden signed into law S.

141, the Senator Elizabeth Dole
21st Century Veterans Healthcare

and Benefits Improvement Act.

This landmark, bipartisan omnibus package,
which incorporates provisions from more

than 90 separate bills, represents one of
the most significant reforms of veterans'

benefits and services in a generation.

The Dole Act is more than an incremental
improvement; it codifies a fundamental

philosophical shift in how the Department
of Veterans Affairs approaches long-term

care and holistic veteran support.

It decisively moves the VA's focus
away from a model centered on

institutional care, such as nursing
homes, and toward a more comprehensive,

community- and home-based system that
prioritizes veteran choice, caregiver

well-being, and preventative services.

Key provisions of this
sweeping legislation include:

The centerpiece of the act
is the incorporation of the

Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act.

This provision raises the statutory
cap on what the VA can spend on

non-institutional care from 65% to
100% of the cost of a VA nursing home.

This single change removes the financial
incentive for the VA to place a

veteran in an institution rather than
providing robust support at home.

The act also expands the Veteran Directed
Care program and establishes a new pilot

program for assisted living services.

Recognizing that family caregivers are
a critical component of a veteran's

healthcare team, the act provides new
grants for caregiver mental health

services, streamlines convoluted
application processes, and expands

support programs to caregivers
who were not previously eligible

for the Program of Comprehensive
Assistance for Family Caregivers.

By incorporating provisions of the
HOME Act, the legislation increases

the Grant and Per-Diem reimbursement
rate for community organizations that

provide transitional housing to veterans.

It also gives the VA new authority to
supply unhoused veterans with basic

necessities like food, bedding, hygiene
products, and transportation to critical

appointments, strengthening preventative
measures against chronic homelessness.

The act modernizes the GI Bill by
allowing student veterans in their

final semester to receive their full
monthly housing allowance even if they

are enrolled less than full-time to
complete their degree requirements.

It also temporarily expands eligibility
for the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John

David Fry Scholarship for the surviving
children and spouses of service

members who die in the line of duty.

To improve the efficiency of the
disability claims process, the law

mandates that medical reports from
contracted disability examiners be

standardized and machine-readable.

It also requires that all new VA employees
receive training on how to report

wrongdoing to the VA Office of Inspector
General, enhancing accountability.

This legislation redefines the
continuum of care, empowering the

VA to build a robust ecosystem of
support around the veteran in their

own home and community, making it a
strategic investment in a new, more

dignified future for veteran services.

A New Trajectory for the VA: Workforce
Reductions and Infrastructure Investment

The Department of Veterans Affairs
has embarked on a bold and potentially

risky new strategy, simultaneously
announcing a major workforce reduction

and a significant new investment
in its physical infrastructure.

The VA is on pace to reduce its total
staff by nearly 30,000 employees

by the end of Fiscal Year 2025.

This reduction is being achieved primarily
through voluntary measures, including a

federal hiring freeze, normal attrition,
and the use of Voluntary Early Retirement

Authority and Deferred Resignation
Program incentives, which has allowed

the department to avoid a large-scale,
involuntary Reduction in Force.

At the same time, the VA announced
it will spend an additional $800

million on infrastructure improvements
in the current fiscal year,

bringing the total Non-Recurring
Maintenance program spending to $2.8

billion.

This funding, which the VA states
was generated from savings achieved

through various "reform efforts," will
be targeted at repairing and updating

aging VA facilities, including critical
utility systems, elevators, clinical

spaces, and medical technology.

These actions are part of a broader
policy shift under VA Secretary Doug

Collins, which has also included phasing
out treatment for gender dysphoria,

ending Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
(DEI) programs, and requiring more

employees to return to in-person work.

This represents a clear
"shrink to grow" strategy.

The VA is deliberately reducing its
human capital—its personnel—to generate

savings that can be reinvested into
its physical and technological capital.

The causal link is direct: reducing
the federal payroll is a primary

"reform effort" that is funding
the infrastructure upgrades.

The administration is making a calculated
bet that a smaller, more centralized

workforce operating in modern,
technologically advanced facilities

will provide better and more efficient
care than a larger workforce struggling

within aging, inefficient buildings.

The risk is substantial.

The loss of nearly 30,000 personnel, even
through attrition, could create knowledge

and experience gaps that outpace any
efficiency gains from new infrastructure.

If not managed perfectly, this strategy
could lead to new service backlogs,

increased wait times for care, and
burnout among the remaining staff.

The success or failure of this high-stakes
pivot will be a defining story for

the VA over the next several years.

2025 VA Disability Compensation:
COLA Increase and New Rates

Veterans who receive disability
compensation from the VA, as well as

survivors receiving Dependency and
Indemnity Compensation, will see a 2.5%

Cost-of-Living Adjustment in
their monthly payments for 2025.

This annual adjustment is mandated by
law and mirrors the COLA provided to

Social Security recipients, ensuring
that the value of these tax-free

benefits is not eroded by inflation.

The new payment rates became
effective on December 1, 2024,

and were reflected in payments
delivered starting in January 2025.

Based on the 2.5%

increase, the monthly payment
for a veteran with a 10%

disability rating is now $175.51.

For a veteran with a 100% disability
rating and no dependents, the monthly

payment has increased to $3,831.30.

The VA has also published its official
payment schedule for 2025, confirming that

benefits for a given month are paid on the
first business day of the following month.

Key VA Updates and Resources

On July 22, 2025, the VA's National
Cemetery Administration awarded over $2.1

million in grants to seven educational
and research institutions through

its Veterans Legacy Program.

These grants will fund projects to
research and create educational materials

that tell the stories of veterans
interred in VA national cemeteries,

ensuring their legacies are preserved
and shared with future generations.

The VA has released its "2025 VA
Federal Benefits Guide for Veterans,

Dependents, Survivors, and Caregivers."

This comprehensive handbook
provides a detailed listing of all

VA programs, benefits, eligibility
requirements, and contact information.

It is a critical resource for navigating
the VA system and is available in digital

format on the VA website, with limited
print copies available at VA facilities.

The VA continues to pioneer
new approaches to veteran care.

Recent reports highlighted the successful
use of virtual reality (VR) guided

meditation to help veterans manage
PTSD and the deployment of "caption

glasses" that use real-time transcription
to enable hearing-impaired veterans

to participate in conversations.

The VA continues its extensive outreach
and claims processing efforts for the PACT

Act, which expanded benefits for veterans
exposed to toxins during their service.

As of July 2024, the VA
had approved over 1.1

million PACT Act-related claims.

And that's your Weekly Briefing.

Staying on top of these changes
is key to navigating your career,

your retirement, and your benefits.

Thank you for tuning in.

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We’ll be back next week with another
roundup of the news that matters most

to the military and veteran community.