Military benefits: Don't forget National Guard and reserve members

As many of us gather with loved ones this Memorial Day, let us remind each other to hold dear the day's true purpose: to commemorate those in our armed services who have made the ultimate sacrifice. It is the price that these brave men and women have paid that allows us to enjoy the freedoms we so cherish.

And as the American people's elected representatives, it is the responsibility of Congress to ensure that all those who put their lives on the line are provided the benefits they deserve.

Throughout our nation's history, including more than a decade of recent combat in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hostile lands overseas, our National Guard members and reservists have proved their resilience, valor and commitment to this country. Yet, while our National Guard and Reserve Component (NG/RC) troops many times carry out the very same mission overseas as our active-duty service members, they are not always ensured fairness in benefits for their service.

There is a small (but steadily increasing) population of NG/RC troops who are being asked to put their civilian lives on hold to serve their country without earning eligibility for the same benefits — including those related to health care, education, leave, pay and retirement — as their Active Component counterparts carrying out equivalent duties. These NG/RC troops are those mobilized to support regional combatant commanders' operations under Title 10, Section 12304b of the U.S. Code (§12304b), and have been mobilized at home and abroad to support peacekeeping duties, counterdrug and counternarcotics terrorism operations, and the air defense mission protecting our nation's capital, among other missions.

To address this benefits gap, I have joined with U.S. Reps. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss.; Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., and Trent Franks, R-Ariz., to introduce H.R. 1384, a bipartisan bill aimed at providing fairness in benefits to NG/RC service members mobilized under §12304b.

H.R. 1384 would extend to affected NG/RC members eligibility for benefits such as accruement of time in active service that would afford them up to 100 percent of available educational funding through the Post 9/11 GI Bill based on these deployments; post-mobilization health care coverage, either for them or their families; and a reduction in the age at which they may draw their military retirement based on their service under §12304b.

Soldiers of the Mankato, Minn.-based 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment of the Minnesota Army National Guard know this unfairness in benefits personally. They'll be returning home next month from a nine-month peacekeeping deployment in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula; their morale has taken a hit due to not receiving the benefits afforded to the Active Component unit they replaced last July. As one soldier in the battalion put it, "I see disappointment on the faces of those of us who were told time and time again that we would be taken care of for the sacrifices we make."

This inequity adds to uncertainty of mobilization because service under §12304b authority does not count as deployment time for units. These soldiers could again be involuntarily mobilized for deployment immediately upon returning home. This is not only unfair; it is unjust. H.R. 1384 would ensure fairness in deployments for these soldiers and other NG/RC service members who mobilize under §12304b.

As each service chief recently testified before Congress, the global military requirements of our country exceed the number of troops currently available. It is expected that there will be an increase in the utilization of the §12304b mobilization authority in the years ahead as the Department of Defense increases use of NG/RC troops to meet these requirements. It is our duty to provide these brave service members and their families the peace of mind that comes with knowing they will not be denied access to the benefits they deserve for their service.

We have much work to do to ensure fairness in benefits among our service members. H.R. 1384 is a step in the right direction toward recognizing the sacrifices of those NG/RC members who mobilize under §12304b. I look forward to pursuing its passage alongside veterans, our veterans service organization partners, and current NG/RC members in all branches of service.

Tim Walz, a Democrat, represents Minnesota's First Congressional District in the U.S. House.