Troops’ pay, healthcare and barracks updates for 2026

Where is military pay headed in 2026 and 2027? And what's in store for barracks improvement

Get a roundup of pay and healthcare headlines from our partners at the Military Officers

Association of America. Now, benefits and healthcare headlines presented by the Military

Officers Association of America. Service members earned a 3.8% pay raise for 2026

but a strong indicator forecasts a smaller increase in 2027. The Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries of private industry workers

rose to just 3.6% for the fiscal year ending September 2025. For the past decade, the ECI number and the military raise have been the same

Despite this trend, either Congress or the President can propose a pay raise that does not mirror the ECI figure

MOA supports a raise at or above the ECI figure, with anything less posing a risk to overall readiness

Even as recruiting issues subside, a force that does not offer competitive compensation will lose key talent to the civilian sector

A nearly billion strategy to transform enlisted on housing and improve living conditions for Marines is set to begin in earnest this year The Barracks 2030 initiative is set to kick off a 10 housing refresh cycle replacing the former 30 version and establish

accountability and reporting mechanisms to address cases of squalor and dilapidation that have

surfaced through watchdog reporting. A new VA survey will gather details from veterans on toxic

exposures and other military experiences as part of work to detect and treat related illnesses

The VA's Million Veteran Program will administer the survey to MVP members, asking questions about service and deployment history, jobs and activities both in and out of uniform, exposure to hazards, and more

MOA and other military and veterans groups will use data from the survey to inform our advocacy

MOA and Disabled American Veterans partnered in 2024 on an extensive report outlining the decades-long delays regularly faced by toxic-exposed veterans and offering a comprehensive plan for the VA

To participate in MVP, veterans must allow the program to access health records and provide a blood sample by mail or through a VA appointment

Learn more at mvp.va.gov. And to follow MOA's advocacy efforts on toxic exposure and more, visit moaa.org