QUESTION:

Is 2019's military pay raise the biggest in nine years?

ANSWER:

Yes.

SOURCES:

Department of Defense Military Compensation and FAQ

37 U.S.C. 1009 - Adjustments of Monthly Basic Pay

Congressional Research Service- Military Pay: Key Questions and Answers

White House Press Release

PROCESS:

President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act, a funding package for the military, on August 13. The package includes a salary boost for service members, about a 2.6 percent raise.

Paul Ryan and party leaders praised the act's passage through Congress and signage, calling it the largest pay raise for troops in nine years.

But is that statistic accurate?

Our researchers checked with the Department of Defense, who confirmed, today's pay raise signifies the largest in nearly a decade.

It's the most significant raise since 2010:

1 January 2007: 2.2%

1 April 2007: 0.5%

1 January 2008: 3.5%

1 January 2009: 3.9%

1 January 2010: 3.4%

1 January 2011: 1.4%

1 January 2012: 1.6%

1 January 2013: 1.7%

1 January 2014: 1.0%

1 January 2015: 1.0%

1 January 2016: 1.3%

1 January 2017: 2.1%

1 January 2018: 2.4%

While Trump signed the authorization act, he doesn't really have a say in how much troops get. That's because by law military raises must be equal or higher than the Employment Cost Index,

or the increase in private sector salaries.

Congress can choose to give a bigger raise than the ECI, but can never go below it, according to federal statues on the books.

So we can Verify, our men and women in uniform can expect a bigger paycheck overall.

This video explains more on how the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employment Cost Index works: