Edward: Welcome to the MIL News Weekly for 14-20 December 2025, your essential
guide to the latest news impacting the military and veteran community.
Whether you're currently serving in uniform, a military retiree, a veteran,
or a family member, this is your source for the critical updates you need to know.
Each week, we cut through the noise to bring you the most important developments
from the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Weâll cover everything from new policies and pay raises affecting
active and reserve forces, to changes in healthcare and benefits for
retirees, and the latest on VA services and legislation for our veterans.
Let's get you informed.
Hereâs whatâs happened this past week.
Issues That Affect Active and Reserve Military Personnel
The focal point for active and reserve military personnel during the week of
14 December 2025 was the intersection of morale-boosting financial initiatives
and the formalization of long-term defense policy through the National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
On 18 December 2025, the U.S.
Department of War announced the distribution of the "Warrior
Dividend," a one-time, tax-free bonus of $1,776 awarded to nearly 1.5
million service members.
Announced by President Donald Trump and championed by Secretary
of War Pete Hegseth, the payment was designed to commemorate the
250th anniversary of the U.S.
military and serves as a tangible expression of the administration's
commitment to rebuilding the force and improving the quality
of life for military families.
The eligibility for this dividend was specifically tailored to
junior and mid-level personnel, encompassing approximately 1.28
million active-duty members and 174,000 reserve component members.
To qualify, active-duty service members had to be in pay grades O-6
or below as of 30 November 2025.
Reserve component members were required to be on active-duty orders of 31
days or more as of that same date.
The payment, billed as a supplement to the regular monthly housing allowance,
began reaching bank accounts via direct transfer with an expected
completion date of 25 December 2025.
This dividend was funded through the broader fiscal framework of the
"One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (H.R.
1), demonstrating a strategic use of supplemental appropriations to
address personnel retention and morale.
In tandem with this immediate financial stimulus, the House of
Representatives finalized its version of the fiscal year 2026 National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA), a $900 billion policy bill that authorizes a 3.8%
pay raise for all service members.
This raise is a critical component of the legislative branch's effort to ensure
military compensation remains competitive and reflects the increasing costs of
living faced by military families.
The NDAA also allocates $1.5
billion for the improvement and construction of barracks, dormitories,
and childcare centers, addressing critical infrastructure needs that have
long impacted readiness and retention.
Furthermore, the bill includes $400 million in military assistance for
Ukraine for both fiscal years 2026 and 2027, though it also asserts
significant congressional oversight by placing limitations on the
administration's ability to reduce troop levels in Europe and South Korea.
Specifically, the legislation mandates that the Pentagon maintain at least
76,000 troops in Europe and 28,500 in South Korea unless the Secretary
of War certifies that reductions are in the national security interest and
have been discussed with NATO allies.
Readiness and physical standards also saw significant updates during this period.
On 18 December 2025, the U.S.
Marine Corps released MARADMIN 613/25, which outlines rigorous new physical
fitness and body composition requirements set to take effect on 1 January 2026.
These updates are the direct result of a September 2025 memorandum
from the Secretary of War aimed at establishing gender-neutral standards for
combat-related positions and ensuring that all service members maintain peak physical
readiness for high-intensity conflict.
In addition to these fitness mandates, the Marine Corps issued promotion authority
for active-duty corporals and sergeants, with a command cutoff date of 1 December
2025 for subsequent advancements, emphasizing a performance-based approach
to junior enlisted leadership development.
Operationally, the Department of War remained engaged in high-level
defense policy coordination talks with international counterparts.
On 16 December 2025, the department released a readout of the U.S.-China
Defense Policy Coordination Talks, highlighting ongoing efforts to
manage strategic competition and maintain communication channels.
Meanwhile, on the domestic front, the administration moved to restore
the honor of service members who were separated under previous coronavirus
disease 2019 vaccine mandates, with Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell
issuing a statement on 15 December 2025 regarding the memorandum to
facilitate their return to service or the correction of their records.
For federal employees working within the Department of War, the week
provided clarity on recruitment and retention flexibilities.
On 17 December 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued CPM
2025-16, a memorandum detailing human resources flexibilities for recruiting
and retaining technical talent in information technology, cybersecurity,
and artificial intelligence.
This guidance allows agencies to use enhanced compensation
tools, such as special rates and critical pay, to safeguard federal
systems and modernize operations.
This is particularly relevant given the administration's "Building the AI
Workforce of the Future" initiative, announced on 15 December 2025, which
plans to recruit 1,000 technical fellows annually to fill critical
skills gaps across the executive branch.
Relevant Legislation for Active and Reserve Personnel
S.
2296 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
Authorizes $901 billion for national security programs, including a 3.8%
pay raise for troops, $1.5
billion for barracks improvements, and $400 million in Ukraine aid.
It prohibits diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and restricts troop
withdrawals from Europe and South Korea.
Provides a significant pay increase for military personnel and
authorizes funding for civilian-led procurement and research projects.
Impacts future retirement pay calculations based on the 3.8%
base pay increase for active members nearing retirement.
H.R.
983 - Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserves Tuition Fairness Act of 2025
Signed into law on 12 December 2025, this act requires public institutions of higher
learning to charge in-state tuition rates to veterans and reserve members using
Chapter 1606 educational assistance.
Directly lowers the cost of education for reserve component members who are also
federal employees, facilitating career development without increased debt.
Does not directly affect retirees but improves the educational
transition for future retirees from the reserve components.
Military CARE Act
Bipartisan legislation introduced to modernize how TRICARE beneficiaries report
and resolve health care access challenges at military treatment facilities.
It creates a digital platform for monitoring care issues and
requires real-time notifications to patient advocates.
Provides active-duty families and military-civilian employees a direct
line to resolve administrative roadblocks in health care.
Enhances transparency and accountability for retirees utilizing the TRICARE system.
Issues That Affect Retired Military Personnel
Military retirees and retired federal employees faced a complex
landscape of financial adjustments and administrative changes during
the week of 14 December 2025.
The most significant development was the finalization of the 2026 Cost-of-Living
Adjustment (COLA), set at 2.8%.
This adjustment is based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban
Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) and is designed to ensure that retirement
benefits keep pace with inflation.
While the 2.8%
increase is slightly lower than the 3.2%
seen in 2024, it remains a vital protection for the purchasing
power of over 75 million Americans, including military retirees
and Social Security recipients.
Retirees will see the first effects of the 2026 COLA in their 31 December
2025 payments, while Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuitants will see the
change in their 2 January 2026 payments.
It is important to note that the COLA for military retirees is calculated
differently than active-duty pay raises; while retirees are tied to CPI-W,
active-duty raises are generally linked to the Employment Cost Index (ECI).
For those in their first year of retirement, a partial COLA may apply
depending on their retirement date to prevent double-dipping from both
a new pay raise and a full COLA.
Additionally, retirees under the Career Status Bonus/REDUX plan will
receive a COLA that is one percentage point lower than the standard rate,
as per established federal law.
The broader federal workforce, which includes many retired military
members working as civil servants, also received definitive guidance
on pay for the upcoming year.
On 18 December 2025, President Trump issued an executive order
implementing a 1% across-the-board pay raise for most civilian federal
workers, effective in January 2026.
This marks a decrease from the 2% raise issued the previous year and
includes a freeze on locality pay rates.
However, certain federal law enforcement categories may receive a higher 3.8%
raise, aligning their compensation with military standards as the
administration seeks to surge hiring in immigration and security roles.
Health care remained a primary concern as the TRICARE Open Season drew to a close.
While the open season ended on 9 December 2025, the week of 14 December 2025
was a critical period for retirees to finalize their understanding of the
changes taking effect on 1 January 2026.
Retirees were reminded that they must take action to enroll in a civilian
TRICARE plan to maintain civilian care coverage, and that they would begin
paying retiree-level costs for services.
For those eligible for Medicare Part A, the requirement to have Part B to
maintain TRICARE For Life (TFL) remains a cornerstone of the benefit structure.
Furthermore, retirees in the Atlanta and Tampa areas were briefed on the
TRICARE Prime Demo by CareSource Military & Veterans, which offers waived
enrollment fees for the first year for those who switch to the new network.
Administrative backlogs continued to plague the transition
process for new retirees.
As of December 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reported
a retirement application backlog of nearly 50,000 cases, a situation
described by policy analysts as a source of "holiday heartache" for
those awaiting their full benefits.
This backlog underscores the administrative challenges facing
the federal human capital system, even as the administration
moves toward "Federal HR 2.0,"
a consolidation effort aimed at streamlining human capital
management across the government.
In the legislative arena, the House of Representatives took a significant
step by passing the Protect Americaâs Workforce Act (PAWA) on 11 December
2025, with the bill being received in the Senate on 15 December 2025.
This bipartisan legislation seeks to nullify an executive order from
March 2025 that stripped union rights from approximately one million
federal workers across 40 agencies, including the Department of War and
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
For retirees who continue to serve in the federal workforce, PAWA
represents a critical effort to restore collective bargaining rights
and ensure workplace stability.
Supporters of the bill, including Representatives Jared Golden and Brian
Fitzpatrick, argue that unions provide essential protections against unfair
treatment and political interference, while critics point to the costs of
"official time" used for union business.
Relevant Legislation for Retired Personnel
H.R.
2550 - Protect Americaâs Workforce Act
Passed the House on 11 December 2025, this bill nullifies the executive
order titled "Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs."
it restores collective bargaining rights for federal employees and ensures that
existing union contracts remain in effect.
Restores the ability of federal workers to organize and bargain collectively
over conditions of employment.
Protects the labor rights of retirees who are currently employed in the
federal sector and ensures a stable, nonpartisan civil service for
the delivery of retiree benefits.
H.R.
2138 - Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2025
Introduced in March 2025, this bill requires the VA to increase disability
compensation and dependent benefits by the same percentage as the Social Security
COLA, ensuring parity in inflation adjustments across benefit programs.
Does not directly affect current civilian employees unless they are
disabled veterans or survivors.
Ensures that retired military members receiving disability pay see their
benefits adjusted in line with inflation, maintaining their standard of living.
S.
423 - PRO Veterans Act of 2025
Became law on 14 August 2025, this act requires the VA to provide quarterly
budget briefings to Congress and prohibits the payment of critical
skill incentives to Senior Executive Service (SES) employees at the VA.
Eliminates high-level pay incentives for senior VA executives, potentially
impacting recruitment at the highest levels of the department.
Increases congressional oversight of the VA budget, which can lead
to more stable funding for retiree health care and benefit programs.
Issues That Affect Veterans Affairs
The week of 14 December 2025 was a landmark period for the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), characterized by the launch of the most significant health
care reorganization in three decades.
On 15 December 2025, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins announced a massive
restructuring of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) management system.
The plan involves slashing the number of Veterans Integrated Service Networks
(VISNs) from 18 down to five, with these consolidated networks reporting directly
to the VA Under Secretary for Health.
This overhaul, the largest since 1995, is designed to eliminate
duplicative layers of middle management, empower local hospital
directors, and ensure a more consistent application of VA policies nationwide.
This reorganization is a response to both internal and external
reviews that identified governing weaknesses and a management structure
"riddled with redundancies".
By reducing these layers, the VA intends to accelerate decision-making
and allow clinical leaders to focus more on patient care rather
than administrative bureaucracy.
While the department emphasized that the plan is not an attempt to reduce frontline
staff, it did announce the elimination of 25,000 vacant positions within
the VHA, many of which were temporary roles created during the pandemic.
This move has been met with mixed reactions, as some lawmakers and veterans
service organizations (VSOs) expressed concern about the potential impact on
appointment wait times and the lack of consultation during the planning stages.
Simultaneously, the VA released a Request for Proposals (RFP) on 15
December 2025 for new community care contracts that could be worth up to
$1 trillion over the next ten years.
This initiative aims to expand the private-sector options available
to veterans, moving toward a model where multiple national
and regional health plans compete to provide high-quality care.
The new indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract structure
is intended to give the VA more flexibility to manage care in real-time
and hold contractors accountable for meeting strict quality standards.
The number of community care regions will also be consolidated from five down to
two, a change that department leaders say will improve oversight and consistency.
Disabled veterans also saw the enactment of critical
legislation during this period.
On 12 December 2025, the President signed H.R.
1912, the "Veteran Fraud Reimbursement Act of 2025," into law.
This act significantly improves the process for reimbursing
veterans whose benefits have been misused by appointed fiduciaries.
Under the new law, the VA is required to directly reimburse the veteran or their
new fiduciary the full amount of misused funds, regardless of whether the misuse
was the result of departmental negligence.
The bill also requires the VA to make a good faith effort to recoup the funds
from the original fraudulent fiduciary, ensuring that veterans are protected
from financial exploitation and benefit from a more accountable fiduciary system.
Furthermore, on 12 December 2025, the "Fairness for Servicemembers and
Their Families Act of 2025" (H.R.
970) became public law.
This legislation mandates that the VA periodically review the maximum
coverage amounts for the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) and
Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI) programs every five years.
The reviews will take into account the average percentage by which the
Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) has increased, ensuring that these life
insurance benefits retain their value for veterans and their families
in an inflationary environment.
In addition to structural and legislative changes, the VA continued to advance
technological and healthcare initiatives.
The department reported early success with "ambient AI scribe" technology,
an AI-powered tool that assists healthcare providers in recording
patient conversations, thereby improving record accuracy and allowing more
time for direct patient interaction.
The VA also launched a reorganized Veterans Health Administration
website and implemented the Oracle Health Community Care app to support
home-based primary care teams in remote areas without internet access.
On the benefits side, the 2025 VA disability pay
rates, which reflected a 3.3%
COLA increase, remain in effect, with the confirmed 2.8%
increase for 2026 set to begin with the December 2025 payment cycle.
The week also saw the introduction of the Veterans Pensions Protection Act of
2025 by Representative Jared Moskowitz.
This legislation aims to close a loophole that currently counts one-time medical
or injury-related payments, such as insurance settlements, as income when
determining eligibility for VA pensions.
By excluding these payments from income calculations, the bill seeks
to prevent veterans from losing their pensions during times of medical
emergency or recovery, providing greater financial stability for the
most vulnerable survivors and veterans.
Relevant Legislation for Veterans Affairs
H.R.
1912 - Veteran Fraud Reimbursement Act of 2025
Signed into law on 12 December 2025, this act requires the VA to reissue
misused benefits to veterans or their successor fiduciaries without
requiring a finding of VA negligence.
it also mandates oversight of the fiduciary system to prevent future misuse.
Requires VA claims processors and fiduciary managers to implement new
reimbursement and recoupment procedures.
Provides critical financial protection for retirees who may
require a fiduciary to manage their benefits due to age or disability.
H.R.
970 - Fairness for Servicemembers and Their Families Act of 2025
Signed into law on 12 December 2025, this act requires the VA to review
the maximum coverage under SGLI and VGLI every five years and report
to Congress on how these amounts compare to inflation-adjusted figures.
Does not directly impact civilian employees unless they are service members.
Ensures that the life insurance options available to them through
the VGLI program remain relevant and provide sufficient financial
security for their beneficiaries.
H.R.
2138 - Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2025
Requires the VA to increase disability compensation, dependency and indemnity
compensation, and clothing allowances by the same percentage as the Social
Security COLA, effective 1 December 2025.
Benefits employees who are also disabled veterans or who have
dependents receiving VA compensation.
Provides an essential inflation adjustment for retirees receiving
service-connected disability pay.
Veterans Pensions Protection Act of 2025
Introduced in December 2025, this bill excludes reimbursements for
medical expenses and compensation for pain and suffering from income
calculations for VA pensions.
Does not directly affect current civilian employees.
Protects the pensions of low-income military retirees and their
survivors from being reduced or eliminated due to temporary,
emergency-related financial settlements.
And that's your Weekly Briefing.
Staying on top of these changes is key to navigating your career,
your retirement, and your benefits.
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Weâll be back next week with another roundup of the news that matters most
to the military and veteran community.