Earlier this year, Trump called for increasing spending on America's military. He proposed increasing the size of the Army to about 540,000 active-duty soldiers, the Marine Corps to 36 battalions, the Navy to 350 surface ships and submarines and the Air Force to at least 1,200 fighter aircraft, according to Military.com.
Military pay raises have been less than 2% since 2011. Obama's planned raise is 1.6%, which is 0.5% below that of private sector wage growth.
After the election results were announced, the nonprofit National Military Family Association wrote an open letter to the president-elect asking to make the issue a priority. The military wants the 2.1% raises guaranteed by law, according to Joyce Wessel-Raezer, executive director of the association.
"If a new administration would say, ‘We are going to find a way in our budget to give you the full increase that is in law,' that would be a huge message," she said.
However, the House Committee on Armed Services, which supports a higher pay raise, has not reached consensus with the Senate, which rejected a defense funding plan earlier this year. Democrats at the time said funds were needed more in other areas; to fight opioid addiction and the Zika virus, for example.
A final deal between the two committees is slated to be struck November 14. The result is expected to be closer to the House Committee on Armed Services' proposal.
