Neuse River Bridge Run set for New Bern, May 1-2

Service members stationed in high-cost areas may not always receive cost-of-living allowances that reflect local prices, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday.

The Department of Defense uses location-specific surveys, price data, and military spending data to set cost-of-living allowances, known as COLAs.

Service members stationed in Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, Germany, and Virginia receive COLA to help offset higher living costs. Payments also vary based on the number of dependents in a household.

The GAO said most COLA payments go to service members stationed outside the continental United States, known as OCONUS, rather than those stationed within the continental United States, or CONUS. Auditors cited inconsistencies in how the department calculated payments for OCONUS and CONUS duty locations.

The report also found differences in the amount and type of information local commands gave service members in areas that receive COLA. In some cases, service members reported confusion about what they were entitled to receive or why payments changed.

Investigators said some Defense Department personnel told them changes in COLA made household budgeting difficult.

“In nine of the 17 discussion group summaries we held in locations that receive a COLA, participants mentioned that COLA fluctuates so much that they cannot rely on it as part of their budgets,” the report said.

The report cited one example in Japan, where a senior officer linked COLA issues to readiness.

“Eating a beans and rice diet has a direct impact on our ability to fight,” he told auditors.

The GAO recommended that the Defense Department align CONUS and OCONUS payments for dependents, apply its location-cost processes more consistently, use random sampling for service members’ shopping patterns, and require local commands to provide COLA information to service members.

The department agreed with the first two recommendations, but did not agree with using random sampling. It partially agreed with requiring local commands to provide information, saying the Defense Travel Management Office already maintains public information and that the department does not have a central point of contact for COLA inquiries.

A woman filed a $7 million administrative claim against the U.S. Navy and Defense Department, alleging Navy sailors assaulted her outside a San Diego nightclub in June 2024 and that videos of her assault were later shared online and within the Navy community.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe in the Federal Tort Claims Act complaint filed Wednesday, said she was a civilian married to a sailor assigned at the time to the USS Carl Vinson. According to the complaint, 10 to 15 people assaulted her after she left a birthday celebration at a Navy nightclub, and at least seven were active-duty sailors assigned to the carrier.

Doe said the attackers removed her clothing, beat her, and left her unconscious. She was hospitalized for six days. Her attorney, Jillian Seymour of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, said Doe’s husband was also injured while trying to help her.

The complaint alleged the attack was recorded on phones and area surveillance cameras, and that videos were later shared on platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, and Reddit, as well as aboard the Carl Vinson. It also alleged that Navy security personnel knew of the video’s circulation but failed to stop it.

According to the complaint, San Diego police initially treated the case as a sex crime. Doe said police later told her the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) had jurisdiction. NCIS began investigating in October 2024, four months after the assault, according to the complaint.

Doe’s attorneys said NCIS later told her the case had been closed after interviewing her, but they said no interview had occurred. NCIS reopened the matter and investigated for about 11 months, interviewing witnesses and suspects, before declining to bring charges related to the assault or the videos.

The complaint said Doe suffered an orbital wall blowout fracture, back, neck, and facial injuries, double vision, pain, reduced mobility, and facial numbness. Seymour said Doe’s husband also faced harassment aboard the Carl Vinson and later transferred to a base in Florida.

The Navy has six months to respond to the claim. After that, Doe may file a lawsuit.