Undoubtedly, during a military career, service members have experienced duty stations that were accompanied with high cost-of-living allowances as well as duty stations that came without any additional pay. The government operates on an across-the-board pay scale based on years in service and pay grade. While most civilian jobs come with compensation appropriate for a given geographical area, the military uses COLA to compensate service members assigned to high-cost areas.

The federal government provides COLA to service members living in 63 locations stateside as well as an array of duty stations overseas. Tacoma happens to be one of those high-cost locations. Even though it's deemed high-cost, service members stationed at Fort Lewis or McChord Air Force Base receive a fairly minor stipend compared to service members stationed at San Francisco or Long Island, N.Y. For instance, a staff sergeant with a dependent stationed in Tacoma will earn an extra $32 while one in San Francisco will earn $320 and one on Long Island will earn $384.

The COLA formula becomes a little bit more complex once the service member retires. According to the Defense Financing and Accounting Service, military retirees will receive periodic increases to monthly retirement pay. The increases are intended to reflect rises in the Consumer Price Index. The amount of increase differs based on retirement dates. Veterans currently receiving disability compensation also receive a COLA adjustment in the form of annual increases in monthly compensation pay.

Jarvis Simmons, an Army veteran receiving 50 percent disability, said his check increases every January.

"I guess, on average, it's about a $20 a month increase every year," he said. "There have been some years when it went up a lot more, but it's based on whatever Congress puts in the budget."

Disabled retirees eligible for Concurrent Retirement Disability Pay will actually receive COLA adjustments from the military and the VA. The concurrent compensation is designed to serve retirees with VA disability ratings of 50 percent or more. By 2014, disabled retirees should be receiving full compensation from both the VA and the military under Concurrent Retirement Disability Pay approved in 2004.

Retirees with lower disability ratings must select retirement pay or disability pay.

"I ended up picking retirement pay, because I only got rated at 20 percent at first," said Glenn Barker. "I had to keep going back to the VA for reevaluation for six years or so before they upped me to 60 percent."

Barker is now trying to get approval for the concurrent compensation program. Ultimately, though, Barker said the COLA increases are a fairly minor factor.

"An extra $40 a month isn't going to put me on the path to riches," the 61-year-old veteran said. "That doesn't even buy a week's worth of groceries anymore."

Military and veteran advocates have been pressing Congress to increase COLA increases for years now. Typically, veterans and retirees see a 3 percent adjustment annually, which some advocates say is still not enough.

Simmons said he receives $712 a month from the VA. With any luck, he said, it might get up to $740 with the COLA adjustment next year.

"If it was $740, I could pay my entire rent with my disability," he said. "That's what I'm hoping for."