Matt Blunt to donate Navy pay to charity

Associated Press

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush waved American flags as they joined others at the close of a memorial service Thursday at the Pentagon in Washington, site of one of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.

By Marc Powers ~ Southeast Missourian

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Secretary of State Matt Blunt will donate his military salary to charity while serving on active duty in the Navy.

Blunt, a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve, reported for duty this week after being called up following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He is currently at a Navy processing center in Memphis, Tenn.

Spence Jackson, a Blunt spokesman, said Blunt expects to ship out from the center by Tuesday and likely will be sent to an overseas naval installation.

"He still does not know for sure where he will be posted," Jackson said.

Nor does he yet know exactly what his military salary will be, although Jackson said it likely will be in the range of $50,000 a year. Blunt will announce what charity will benefit from his military salary before leaving the processing center, Jackson said.

Blunt will continue to serve as Missouri secretary of state while on active duty and draw his annual state salary of $75,915. Blunt's orders call for him to serve for one year, though it is unknown if he will remain in uniform that long.

If Blunt is released from service before serving a full year, the total donation will be less than his yearly military salary, said Jackson.

Following state law, Blunt has granted executive deputy secretary of state Dan Ross authority to exercise full power of the office during Blunt's absence. However, Blunt intends to stay in daily contact with his office via telephone and e-mail, and will have the final say on all major decisions.

Jackson said Blunt, not the state, will pick up the tab for the international communications.

"Taxpayers will not pay for that," Jackson said. "He will out of his own pocket."

Blunt is the first statewide elected official in Missouri history to be called to active military duty. Under the state Constitution, he is not required to resign his elected post.

Blunt, 30, is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. He left active duty and joined the reserves in 1998, the same year he was elected to the state House of Representatives from Fair Grove.

He was elected secretary of state in 2000. His term ends in January 2005.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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