Low pay. High housing costs. Gaps in medical care. Long waits for support services.

A new House Armed Services Committee panel led by Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., has been charged with addressing these and other problems facing U.S. military service members.

The panel, announced in January by new Armed Services Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., won’t hold its first meeting until June. Its membership, except for Bacon, hasn’t yet been announced.

That didn’t prevent Bacon from starting the panel’s work Monday, close to home at Offutt Air Force Base. He met with about 45 enlisted airmen and junior officers and their spouses.