A new report on Friday released by the the Congressional Budget Office said that there is not a pay difference between the civilian sector and the military. In fact, the report says that because of our pension, we actually get paid more than the civilian sector. This might dramatically affect the possibility of the 3.5% pay raise this January.
The major source of disparity comes from the value of ours service as a one-for-one service in the civilian sector. Another error in the report is the value of civilian health care versus military health care.
I agree that retiring from the military at 20 years is probably one of the best retirement plans in the world. However, to value the military retirement as if it were a civilian retirement is a gross error. There are thousands of unique situations that military members earn that is not calculated. Primarily because Congress doesn't know what it's like to paint rocks for a General's visit; only for the General to cancel.
I've never seen a civilian job description to say: You may serve long periods of time away from your family in hostile conditions or you can not simply quit because of contractual obligation. These two caveats are not calculated in the report.
I'm sick and tired of the military being compared directly to the civilian sector. According to the report, since 1986 regular military compensation has been larger compared to the civilian price index (the index that annual pay raises are based on.)
Anyways, if you are interested in your pay you should read the source document.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/82xx/doc8271/06-29-Compensation.pdf
Source: www.articlesbase.com
