With the new fiscal year upon us, and Congress still bickering about Obamacare as a condition of passing a stop-gap measure, military members, their families, veterans, and DoD civilian employees are facing the stark reality of having to perform their duties with no idea when they will see a paycheck.

To be clear, military members and veterans will eventually be paid their contracted salaries and benefits, but the key word is

eventually. Civilian defense department personnel may not even be that lucky.

As the United States government is just hours away from its first shutdown in 17 years, Senate Democrats and House Republicans continue to go back and forth on who is to blame instead of sitting down and having a real discussion on practical solutions. If a budget deal is not met by 12:01 Tuesday morning, departments classified as "non-essential" will close until Congress agrees on a budget for the 2014 fiscal year.