Top military chiefs: Cut pay and benefits

[MADem]

28. See, in today's military, you would never have been hired without a real job and a

specialty (or the potential to slot into one fairly quickly). And as an E-3, you'd be making a shitload more than eighty eight bucks a month. If you were one of those kids who made E-3 in boot camp owing to college credit, and you had less than a year in service, you would be making $1787 BASE pay--not including any allowances, not even your uniform allowance. If you had over two years in service, your base pay (again, not including any housing allowance, assuming you are living in the barracks with a meal card) would be $1900. Over three years in service, your base pay is $2015.

Now, because you're a military asset, you're entitled to housing, which costs money, to be fed, which costs money, medical and dental care, which costs money, and if you get married, your dependents (now called "military family members&quot need the shelter and medical care as well--you'd be given an allowance for that of course, and you'd move out of the barracks either into civilian quarters or base housing. You get a commissary/exchange/MWR benefit, and all that costs money, too.

If you stay for 20 years, you get promoted regularly (which costs money), and assuming you get promoted regularly, you get a retirement--and that costs money. And they pay you that retirement every month on the first of the month, until you die. And if you were a smart person and signed up for an annuity for your spouse in the event of your death, that spouse would continue to get money after you die.

See how it starts to get pricey? Even if you have to pay some company a couple of thousand bucks a month to come in and cut the lawns, it's still cheaper than having to fund the salaries, medical care, and eventual retirement of "make work" personnel. The base doesn't have to maintain mowers, pay for gas for those mowers, put a mid-grade or senior enlisted supervisor in charge of all the E-3 and below personnel to make sure they aren't screwing off. You just throw money at a contractor, check their work after they've done the job, and that's that. If they do a good job, you cut 'em a check every month and it is up to them to pay their people.

The saying is "If you're not putting ordnance on target, your job can be civilianized." An administrative assistant/secretary/file or pay clerk doesn't "need" to be fit--you can hire some one to do that job who is not deployable, but they really don't need to be. A lot of administrative work can be done remotely. And you can make it an entry level job, or even contract it--so you only worry about pay, and not current or downstream benefits.