Airmen share their thoughts with commissioner

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Desiree Economides
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  Christopher Carney, a commissioner from the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission, held open dialogue sessions with Airmen to gauge their thoughts on their benefits Tuesday at Yokota Air Base, Japan.

Carney is one of nine commissioners from the MCRMC charged with conducting a full review of the military compensation and retirement systems.

"The one thing we are duty bound to protect is the all-volunteer force," said Carney.  "We have the best military the world has ever seen and the reason for that is because the military members volunteered to be here, they want to be here to serve their country and that has to be protected."

During the sessions, Airmen of all ranks voiced their opinions on benefits such as retirement, medical access, medical coverage, education assistance and support agencies.

"It's important for us to get a true sense of what's important to the troops," Carney said. "We take that back and those are very important parts of our discussions as commissioners."

In addition to dialogue sessions, to gather service member's thoughts, the commission has sent out 175,000 surveys to random military members across the globe. The information collected by the commission will be given in recommendations to Congress and the President, who will make decisions to modernize our force.

"We want (service members) to be as honest as they can be, the candor is vital," said Carney. "We want to give those decision makers the best advice. The way we give the best advice is through the most honest answers for the military members and their families."

For service members who were not in attendance in the sessions, and did not receive a survey, Carney asks to voice their opinions and suggestions with the commission through the web site http://www.mcrmc.gov/.