You did not and could not delegate any of your Armed Forces professional duties and obligations. Ultimately it was YOU, AND ONLY YOU who accepted your Armed Forces responsibilities and performed them the best you always could, and as you were directed. You performed duties in sub-freezing or extremely hot weather conditions. You went on those long field maneuvers and training exercises and lived under uncomfortable conditions for days at a time. You kept yourself in physically good shape to meet the rigorous physical fitness standards. It was your task to meet and exceed all your assigned requirements given by superiors. You endured the family separations and personal hardships that accompany being assigned in areas in which you were not from or where no family or close relatives lived. Often you were looked upon as the leader, the person who could solve problems, overcome difficulties and obstacles. So during those years of service, you believed you were accomplishing something for the nation and yourself and for those you cared for. You lived conservatively and you acted appropriately so as to guarantee a solid financial future for yourself and those you cared for. But as with every duty assignment, your time in the military came to an end and YOU earned the privilege to retire from the Armed Forces and be classified as a Veteran. Thanks to the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA), you have wasted your time and your life. Now, those years are gone and will never return. So two questions: 1. How much retired military pay you will earn - for your 15, 20, 30 or more years of faithful, dedicated service in the Armed Forces to the United States of America by you, and only you? 2. How much military retired pay will you be able to keep? Answer: You keep? You????? Why you????? Since when are you, Armed Forces member, a factor to be considered????? How much you keep all depends - solely upon: - Your spouse AND OR any ex-spouse's attorney - Your spouse's AND OR ex-spouses attorney - Your attorney - A State Court Judge - And NOT YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In fact, in State Courts and in a State Court's Judge's eyes, YOU and your thoughts and needs are the last consideration, if you are to be considered at all when it comes to the USFSPA. Under the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA), you can virtually automatically lose through any State or territorial Court up to: - 50% of your gross pay to an ex-spouse, regardless if you decide to divorce or your spouse decides to divorce you, through the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). - 65% of your gross pay to an ex-spouse and any children if you decide to divorce or your spouse decides to divorce you, through the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). - The remainder of the 50-65% and up to 100% of your military pay through a State Court. True, DFAS will only pay up to a certain percentage, but a State Court Judge can order the remainder of your military retirement pay up to 100% be given to your ex-spouse, for life, and this will continue as long as she and you live. Furthermore, when your spouse remarries, your military retirement pay Y OU earned, even 100% (if a State Court Judge decides) will continue to belong to your ex-spouse and will be supplemental income for your ex-spouse's new family. The longer you live, the longer others having no connection to your time in military service can reap the financial benefits of the military retiremeny pay you earned. Do you believe - military service was worth it, or if you are in the Armed Forces now, is military service worth it? There are no other sectors of government or Corporate America retirement programs that are configured as the USFSPA. ONLY ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL are subject to USFSPA laws. Yet the American Bar Association wants USFSPA laws to continue. Also, the American Bar Association want more special privileges to be granted to military ex-spouses with a revised USFSPA. The American Bar Assocation believes when military retirees do not want to relinquish their military retired pay to an ex-spouse that military retirees are stealing from their ex-spouses because military retired pay is property acquired through marriage. See: http://www.abanet.org /family/military/nda98.html Help reform and eventually repeal the USFSPA and stop the little-publicized discrimination that exists against divorced military retirees and all Armed Forces personnel. Your civilian counterpart is not subject to the special discriminatory laws as you. SUPPORT USFSPA REFORM/REPEAL NOW! There is no in-between position concerning the USFSPA. You are either for reforming and repealing the USFSPA or are against reform and repeal. Unfortunately, if you do not support USFSPA Reform legislation, you are in effect supporting the USFSPA. If you are in the Armed Forces and are not supportive of USFSPA reform, then unfortunately you are unwittingly supporting the continued discrimination of American military retirees AND you are placing yourself in a position of perpetual servitude to an ex-spouse and whoever else comes into your ex-spouse's life should you divorce. REMEMBER: It does not matter if you or your spouse want the divorce. With the USFSPA, an unsupportive and unfaithful spouse can collect military retirement as much as a faithful and supportive spouse. DO YOURSELF AND EVERYONE IN THE ARMED FORCES A FAVOR: PUBLICIZE THE USFSPA AND THE INJUSTICES IT CAUSES TO MILITARY PERSONNEL AND RETIREES ASAP!!!!!