Study: RC Members Gain Income When Mobilized

National Guard, Feb 2006

Most Guardsmen and Reservists make more money mobilized than they do as civilians, according to a Pentagon-commissioned study released last month.

The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, found that 72 percent of the more than 100,000 troops surveyed saw their earnings jump 25 percent when called to active duty.

Their average pay hike amounted to about $10,000 a year, Rand officials said.

Rand researchers based their findings on a review of pay records of more than 110,000 Guardsmen and Reservists mobilized in 2001 and 2002.

The calculations factored in military pay and allowances and the fact that those received in a combat zone aren't subject to federal taxes, Rand officials said.

The study did not account for salaries or benefits mobilized reserve members continued to receive from civilian employers while on active duty.

The study found that 28 percent of reservists lost pay on active duty. About one-fifth of the survey group lost 10 percent or more of their income.

All previous surveys, including one undertaken in 2004 by the Defense Department, suggested that a large fraction of mobilized Guardsmen and Reservists lost income on active duty. The 2004 study found that 51 percent of Guard and Reserve reported an earnings.

Such results has had Congress looking for ways to dose the "pay-differential" gap. DoD has opposed those efforts.

Rand officials say the discrepancy between the studies boils down to how income is defined.

DoD's 2004 survey compared before-tax income before and while serving on active duty. The Rand study also considered tax advantages for troops serving in a combat zone.

In addition, the earlier Pentagon study was based on voluntary participation and as a result, may not be representative of all reservists, the Rand study noted.