General receives BRL 770 thousand after taking command of the Army – 04/15/2023 – Politics

The Army commander, General Tomás Paiva, received BRL 770,000 in February and March as a cost allowance and pecuniary compensation.

Payments cover typical military career benefits and labor rights acquired over 42 years of service.

The transfers were made in three separate bank orders, issued between February 6 and March 27 — the first, two weeks after he was appointed commander of the Army, with the dismissal of General Júlio César de Arruda by President Lula (PT). .

The biggest payment, of BRL 388,900, refers to pecuniary compensation for vacations not taken and other typical career benefits —among them, the special leave to which military personnel were entitled, until the beginning of the century, to take six months vacation every ten years worked. If the military did not take the rest, he would receive double the salary for the months of leave.

According to the Army, Tomás was entitled to the amount for having delayed vacation in 2022, vacation not taken in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and not having taken advantage of the special leave when it was still in force.

The second largest payment cost R$304,100 to public coffers. Provided for by law, the benefit is an “expenses allowance” granted to the military whenever an officer or private goes to the remunerated reserve.

The value is calculated at eight times the gross salary of the last post that the soldier held (R$ 38,000, as a four-star general), tax-free.

Generals reported to Sheet, with reservation, that the benefit was won and expanded by the Armed Forces in the face of complaints about alleged career losses. Among them, the military does not have access to the FGTS (Guarantee Fund for Length of Service).

The fund was created so that formal workers would have a guarantee of resources, in the event of dismissal, as an alternative to job stability. Therefore, public servants under the statutory regime are not entitled to the FGTS.

The last payment, in addition to his salary, received by Tomás in the transition to command of the Army was an allowance of BRL 77,000 to move from São Paulo, where he headed the Southeast Military Command, to Brasília.

The value refers to twice the salary of the military at the time of his career move, not counting any remuneration received monthly.

In addition to transfers totaling BRL 770,000, General Tomás will accumulate a gross salary of BRL 17,000 as commander of the Army with the amount related to the remunerated reserve, that is, the full amount of his last salary (BRL 38,000) . This last exclusive benefit for military personnel remained in effect even with the Social Security reform approved in 2019.

In a note, the Army stated that all payments made to Tomás are provided for in infralegal laws and regulations, such as decrees and ordinances.

“The Army’s Social Communication Center clarifies that, in the case in question, if the general officer appointed to the position of commander of his respective Force is on active duty, he will be transferred to the paid reserve, when sworn into office”, he said.

In addition to Tomás, General Júlio César de Arruda received BRL 568.4 thousand when he took over the Army Command, at the end of December 2022.

Such as Sheet showed, generals and high-ranking military use resources destined to help with the costs of moving to inflate their salaries, since the amounts passed on are calculated based on the remuneration of the military and are usually higher than the expenses with the changes.

The last deployment of military personnel took place at the end of March and was decided upon at a meeting of the Army High Command in mid-February. It was the first change at the top of the hierarchy carried out under the command of General Tomás Paiva.

The exchanges interspersed changes that were already foreseen in past administrations (Júlio César de Arruda and Freire Gomes) and new ones, tailor-made for Tomás’ objective of reinforcing the non-partisan role of the Force.

The moves reached 75 generals, including 11 of the 15 four-star (career top) generals. Of this total, 45 officers have already received stipends totaling R$4.3 million —an average of almost R$100,000 per general.

Chair dancing is a natural part of the military career and usually takes place every two years. There are, however, cases of generals who changed positions in less than a year and accumulated allowances.

The Ministry of Defense pays around BRL 1 billion per year in expenses with the movement of military personnel, according to data from the ministry’s budget. This value only refers to what is distributed when a soldier changes position in any of the Armed Forces, not counting the trip to the reserve.

In 2022, most of the resource was allocated to the Army (R$ 615 million).

The government also paid BRL 279 million in movements of Navy personnel and another BRL 145.2 million for members of the Air Force.