Monday, May 10, 2010

Obama Targets Military for Pay Reductions

Click on the title to read the article.  We already have enlisted troops that qualify for food stamps and WIC on their current salaries.  It is hard to imagine them being able to live on any less.  Even with better pay rates, military personnel still make less than their civilian counterparts in many fields.  I find it hard to believe that Congress is being "too generous" with the troops.  The Pentagon needs to get a grip and realize that good salaries improve retention and that keeping good people is critical to the war effort.  We can always get another tank or plane.  It's a lot harder to find exceptional personnel and we should do everything we can to keep them.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Interesting read. Obama is not proposing an actual reduction in our current pay, he is asking that the raise we would get next year be cut down. Also missing from the math is the health insurance we get for free (and our dependents get access to), the tax-free shopping we get (PX, gas, food, etc), and the extra pay we receive when we are deployed our separated from our families.

That said, I still do not believe that the majority in the military is actually making more money than in the civilian sector. The real benefit (in addition to the ones mentioned above) are all of the services the Army provides for free. Financial counseling, college courses, class for everything from how to raise your kids to how to buy your first home or shop for a car. All of these are free, and would cost a pretty penny on the outside.

There are many benefits to the military that help counteract the pay difference. Then again, this isn't a job you do for the money. If you were really just concerned about the money, you'd get after 2 or 3 years and become a contractor, doing the same job you did in the Army overseas and making 6 figures.