<--PREV Doc #720  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #722 Document #721; [May 30, 1958] To Neil Hosler McElroy Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIX - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part IV: Recession and Reform; February 1958 to May 1958 Chapter 10: Restructuring for National Security   My dear Mr. Secretary: The military pay bill, H. R. 11470, which I recently approved, represents an important step forward in our efforts to attract and retain highly qualified personnel in the armed forces.1 It is now incumbent upon those of us in the Executive Branch who are charged with responsibilities for the operation of our military establishment to see that the maximum benefits are realized from the substantial increases in compensation which have thus been authorized and from the substantially greater expenditures which will be necessary to finance these increases. To this end, supporting administrative actions should be pressed vigorously within the Department of Defense, especially with respect to such matters as improved personnel management, promotion policies and practices, retention criteria, and the like. These are matters which I believe to be sufficiently important to warrant your personal attention. In enacting the military pay bill, the Congress provided for an alternative proficiency pay system for enlisted personnel in addition to the one already authorized. It also authorized added compensation for officers serving in positions involving "unusual responsibility." The authority for proficiency and responsibility pay is clearly permissive in nature.2 In order to achieve the bill’s purposes, it is essential that great care be exercised in designating the categories of enlisted personnel which should be granted entitlement to proficiency pay. Similarly, great care must be exercised in deciding upon implementation of the authority for officer responsibility pay. In this connection, it will be necessary not only to evaluate the effect of the new rates of compensation but also to study the implications of a responsibility pay system with its consequent problems of administration. We must not forget that officers are trained for, and expected to assume, increasingly heavy responsibilities in varying assignments and that present promotion systems afford those of demonstrated ability recurring opportunities for periodic advancement to higher rank. I would appreciate it if you would submit, for my review and approval, through the Bureau of the Budget, any proficiency or responsibility pay programs which the Department may subsequently wish to put into effect.3 Sincerely 1 The military pay raise bill (H.R. 11470), incorporating the major recommendations of the 1957 Cordiner Committee report (see nos. 73 and 226), had been prompted by a large turnover in military personnel and was designed to retain skilled military men of all ranks (New York Times, Mar. 26, May 13, 1958). Passed by the House on March 25, the Senate on April 29, and signed into law on May 20, 1958, the legislation increased the basic pay for almost all military personnel with more than two years' service, set up two new higher pay grades for officers and enlisted personnel, and established a program of "responsibility pay" and "proficiency pay" to reward officers and enlisted men holding positions involving "unusual responsibility" or special expertise (see Congressional Quarterly Almanac, vol. XIV, 1958, pp. 235 - 36). The bill also increased pensions for all personnel retired prior to the effective date of the legislation, and authorized additional increases in retirement pay for Vice-Admirals, Lieutenant Generals, four-star Generals, and Admirals (see no. 564). 2 See Watson, Into the Missile Age, pp. 152 - 53. 3 For developments see no. 969. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Neil Hosler McElroy, 30 [May 1958]. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 721. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/721.cfm <--PREV Doc #720  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #722

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