Military Pay and Benefits seem to be heading towards the Chopping Block

The U.S. military's top commanders, groping for ways to cope with a shrinking Pentagon budget, have agreed to a plan that would curb the growth of pay and benefits for housing, education and health—prized features of military life that for years have been spared from cuts. 

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a weekend interview that without such changes, the cost of military personnel would soon rise to 60% from about half of the defense budget. 

"What we have asked these young men and women to do over the last 10 years, we can't pay them enough," Gen. Dempsey said during a conference at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. "Having said that, we also have an institution to manage."

Military officials haven't revealed details of the plan, which still must be approved by the Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and President Barack Obama before it is sent to Congress for approval. 

Gen. Dempsey said the chiefs would unveil the changes when the proposed military budget is released in February. He said the new plan wouldn't immediately cut the benefits received by service members or retirees.

Over the past nine months, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been analyzing military compensation—from pay and health benefits to housing allowances to the discounted prices at base commissaries. 

Previous efforts to curb benefits have met stiff opposition from veterans groups and lawmakers. Gen. Dempsey said the military's previous efforts to change compensation were flawed because they were one-year fixes. The new approach would offer a multiyear plan to slow the growth of military compensation.

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