In a recent speech outlining how the Defense Department plans to reduce spending in the coming years, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel took aim at the sacred cow of the military: compensation for soldiers.

In policy circles in Washington, reforming compensation has been the elephant in the room since sequestration and defense spending cuts began. Hagel’s speech made it official.

“Without serious attempts to achieve significant savings in [compensation] – which consumes roughly half of the DOD budget and is increasing every year – we risk becoming an unbalanced force," Hagel said last week. "One that is well-compensated, but poorly trained and equipped, with limited readiness and capability."

Changes to soldiers’ compensation, which includes pay, health insurance and veterans’ benefits, was once politically toxic on Capitol Hill. But lawmakers have indicated in recent weeks that they’re open to reducing benefits to cut costs.

Related: Hagel Picks a Fight with the Pentagon, Congress

Military advocates have made their objections to rising health insurance premiums and cuts in pay well known. But cuts to other programs for veterans are rarely mentioned. Veterans advocacy groups are now warning that key programs that help members of the armed forces transition to life in the private sector, as well as keep them healthy, are at risk.

David Hobson, executive director of the National Organization of Veterans' Advocates, said that cuts to defense programs makes it difficult for soldiers to get treatment for injuries suffered as members of the military. He said he expects these problems to be exacerbated as soldiers retire after more than a decade of war.

“A lot of veterans haven’t come back and made those claims,” he said. “We expect many more to come once they leave service.”

Backlog of Claims
Hobson, whose group advocates for soldiers attempting to acquire VA benefits, said that funding cuts have made the backlog of claims much worse. “The VA has made an extraordinary effort to remove the backlog, but in the course of doing that, what they have done is that they have moved people who processed the appeals,” he said, referring to staffing changes due to Defense Department cutbacks. “The cases that are the most difficult, those things are backing up.”

This backlog prevents soldiers from getting care for the long-term effects of injuries as simple as a broken leg. They also stop soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from getting the proper treatment. PTSD cases have skyrocketed in the wake of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the disease has been directly linked to the military’s suicide problem.