by Colin Dunn

Young Professionals in Foreign Policy’s (YPFP) mission is to foster the next generation of foreign policy leaders, the men and women who will be forced to make far-reaching decisions that will drive firms, non-profits and even nations in the not-too-distant future.

Benjamin Luxenberg, a YPFP member and a first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, is an excellent example of a YPFP member driving the foreign policy debate.  His Op-Ed, A Marine Volunteers—for a Pay Cut, which ran on March 24, 2013 in the Wall Street Journal, stakes out an important argument on defense spending and specifically, cuts due to sequestration.

Lt. Luxenberg’s piece underscores not only his personal courage and selflessness, but also provides a model for all YPFP members in how the author combines personal experience with policy in order to craft a document that will influence key discussions by top policymakers. See an excerpt below:

The current budget sequestration plan protects military pay at the expense of all other costs in the Defense Department. Because our pay (I am a Marine) has become sacrosanct, even deeper cuts in the rest of the Defense Department budget will have to be made—cuts that will endanger us now and in the future. It isn’t just a matter of national security but also of personal security. As the Pentagon reduces funds for equipment, troops may begin to wonder: Are we going to be forced to surrender body armor to keep our pay? A more reasonable balance needs to be found. Even the currently envisioned cuts won’t necessarily be enough to stave off future ones, especially if military pay continues to be off-limits.

YPFP endeavors to give each of its members the knowledge, skills, exposure and relationships to make their mark on the foreign policy community and ultimately, the world. As we work together to foster the next generation of foreign policy leaders, we should all keep Lt. Luxenberg’s example in mind.

– Colin Dunn

Read the full Op-Ed below.

A Marine Volunteers—for a Pay Cut

Start with the officers. Start with those who are single and childless. Start with me.

By BENJAMIN LUXENBERG

America owes its veterans. For the past 12 years, they have toiled and sacrificed in Iraq, Afghanistan and in so many other places around the world. Thousands made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives, and thousands more were wounded. Even those without serious injuries gave their blood, sweat and tears. When service members take their oath, they are writing a blank check to the U.S. government, to the American people, for their lives. When and how America chooses to cash that check is beyond their control.

Nor should the untold sacrifices of military families be forgotten. How many husbands weren’t with their wives during the birth of their child? How many kids’ birthdays or Little League games were missed? How many childhoods were missed almost entirely? Twelve years of war does that. The time cannot be made up. It is gone forever. America cannot pay veterans enough to compensate for those kinds of losses.

America has asked—or, more truthfully, demanded—so much from its veterans. And yet the country must now ask for more. Not for more of those things that really matter, the things that make life worth living. What the country seeks is more material in nature: basically, money.

The current budget sequestration plan protects military pay at the expense of all other costs in the Defense Department. Because our pay (I am a Marine) has become sacrosanct, even deeper cuts in the rest of the Defense Department budget will have to be made—cuts that will endanger us now and in the future. It isn’t just a matter of national security but also of personal security. As the Pentagon reduces funds for equipment, troops may begin to wonder: Are we going to be forced to surrender body armor to keep our pay? A more reasonable balance needs to be found. Even the currently envisioned cuts won’t necessarily be enough to stave off future ones, especially if military pay continues to be off-limits.

National security shouldn’t be sacrificed on the altar of military pay. But cuts wouldn’t have to start with basic paychecks. They could begin by aligning special pay across the branches. For example, airmen who serve aboard Navy ships earn “hardship pay” while the sailors aboard those same ships don’t. Serving aboard ship isn’t reasonably more difficult for an airman than it is for a sailor or Marine. Lodging and food allowances for those temporarily assigned to certain units can be reduced; there is no need for service members who are on temporary active duty in Bahrain—sometimes for as long as a year—to receive $142 per day on top of all the other moneys and forms of compensation. And there are, no doubt, dozens of other small fixes that can make some difference to the military budget.

But, ultimately, even base pay may have to be put on the line. Congress should cut only what feels justified in the name of national security. The cuts should be done the American way: Those who most need the money should be affected the least. Don’t start with cuts for everyone across the board. In the Marine Corps, we have a saying: “Officers eat last.” We officers exist to serve the enlisted Marines under our command. Start with us. But don’t start with those of us who are married and on whom spouses depend. Don’t start with those of us who have children. Start with those of us who don’t. Start with the single, childless officers. Start with me.

Yet active-duty service members and veterans cannot endure these sacrifices alone. For the past dozen years, most Americans have barely felt the impact of the wars and deployments abroad. To steer the government and the U.S. economy—the greatest pillar of national security—back on track, let everyone bear some of the burden. Let civilian officials take a pay cut too. Let older Americans, including my own grandparents—Nani, Papa Bernie, Grandma Dorothy—accept some cuts in Medicare. The middle-aged (that means you, Mom and Dad) must accept some cuts to Social Security benefits upon retirement. And to my civilian friends (Greg, Preethi, David, Anna), you must accept raising the Social Security retirement age, whether it is a mere two years or a painful 10.

It is long past time for all Americans to share in the sacrifice. Nothing should be off the table. Maintaining present comforts at the expense of future security endangers everything that veterans and their families have fought for. Don’t tell them that they fought in vain. That is what America owes.

Mr. Luxenberg is a first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. His views do not represent those of the Defense Department or USMC.

A version of this article appeared March 25, 2013, on page A17 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: A Marine Volunteers—for a Pay Cut.