The Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) recently surveyed current and former service members to determine which benefits of military service are most important to them. FRA shares data from this and its other quarterly surveys with legislators and military leaders to help them understand the impact their decisions have on service personnel and their families.

Results from the Association’s most recent survey revealed that health care is a principal concern for all segments of the military community – active duty and Reserve personnel, retirees and veterans – and reinforced FRA’s call for adequate funding to support military and veterans’ health care programs in 2010 and beyond.

“The rising cost of health care, the growing population needing care from the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans’ Affairs (VA), and the ongoing debate on national health care reform all add to our members’ concerns about access to quality care,” says Joe Barnes, FRA’s national executive director. “Because it is a major concern for every facet of our membership, FRA is again designating health care as its top priority for the current legislative cycle.”

Among active-duty respondents, more than 96 percent rated base pay as their primary quality-of-life benefit, followed closely by 88 percent who called housing allowances “very important.” FRA continues to press for active-duty pay raises that are at least half a percent above the Employment Cost Index (ECI) and enhanced housing standards and allowances.

Every Reservist responding to the survey ranked Reserve retirement benefits as their number one priority, strengthening FRA’s resolve to reduce retirement age eligibility by three months for each 90-day period of active duty served since October 7, 2001. Current law only grants this reduction for Reserve personnel who served since January 29, 2008 – the date the law was enacted – and excludes the service of Reservists who participated in the early days of our nation’s War on Terror.

Survey results show that more than 65 percent of retired respondents are frustrated by laws that prevent many from receiving their full military retired pay and VA disability compensation. The concurrent receipt of these benefits for all disabled retirees, without offset, remains a high priority for FRA.

FRA also seeks improvements to the VA claims process, a “very important” concern for two-thirds of veterans who took the survey. FRA is calling for faster adjudication and a reduction in the backlog of unresolved claims, two of its top five priorities presented to the House Veterans Affairs’ Committee in January. Other priorities include more timely disbursements of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, ensuring maximum access to care for vets suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and the elimination of restrictions on disability claims filed by Vietnam-era “Blue Water” veterans for exposure to Agent Orange.