V.I. National Guard Pension Set for Significant Increase as Senate Committees Vote in Favor

Two Senate committees have now voted in favor of an amended bill to increase the retirement pension for the Virgin Islands National Guard.

As former V.I. National Guard member Senator Dwayne DeGraffe explained to the Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance on Tuesday, “This bill seeks to increase the retirement pension from $100 per month to $200 per month. The Virgin Islands National Guard members would have to spend 20 years in the National Guard and before they can collect a pension they would have to wait until they make 60 years old.”

In urging his colleagues to support the bill, Mr. DeGraffe impressed upon them the importance of the contributions of members of the National Guard. He observed that incidentally, May 9th – the day on which the bill came before the Budget Committee – marked the 38th anniversary of the date he joined the National Guard.

While Adjutant General of the V.I. National Guard Major General Kodjo S. Knox-Limbacker commended the government for the current monthly payment of $100, he expressed support for the proposed increase, saying that to meet the original extent of the bill, the pension rate should be set even higher, at $300. According to the Major General, “$100 in 1982 when the bill was originally passed is equal to $320.87 in 2023.”