Trying to close the "Gates" on military pay raises

In a surprise to no one who understands where Democrats go to get money when the well is dry, the Obama Administration, via the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Gates, has asked Congress to limit pay raises to military members, whom they feel are overpaid.

Their proof? From the Washington Post: "Under current scales, an average sergeant in the Army with four years of service and one dependent would receive $52,589 in annual compensation, a figure that includes basic pay, housing and subsistence allowances, as well as tax benefits." Let me put this paragraph to bed right now. A sergeant with 10 dependants makes the same money. If the same guy has no dependants his pay will be closer to $24,000 because not all members qualify for housing or subsistence.

As a retired member of the Armed Forces, I read the article in the Post with some dismay, as the Post tries to make comparisons between the pay for civilians and military members, saying the members of the military are better paid than their counter parts in the civilian world.

First, it is my opinion that these studies are flawed and try to cover all the services with a broad brush. The GAO admits as much, saying comparing the pay scale for each military function to a civilian job is impossible, because the military has jobs that don't exist in the civilian world. I could spend days on this, but in a nutshell, even if the GAO report IS accurate, military members pay and benefits average somewhere around $13,300 more than their civilian counterparts.

Let's take a moment to focus on what the government (and you) gets for their $1,100/month.

First, as a uniformed military member, you immediately give up most of your Constitutional Rights and are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice or the UCMJ. You can only attend a protest IF your appearance can not be associated with the military in ANY way. You must get permission to get a tattoo. You are subject to double jeopardy, where you are tried by a military court, then again by a civilian court for the SAME charges. You can be fined or imprisoned without a trial by jury. Charges in a civilian court can result in reduction in pay rank. You cannot go to bars or other establishments the military has placed "off limits", these include gay bars, places that may or may not have drug activity, etc. I could go on, but you probably get the point.

You can no longer run for public office, even to become a member of a school board in your community.

You can't sue the military health care system even if the care you receive is substandard or outright negligent. While we are on this topic, let me touch upon the military "health care" system that is such a valuable benefit. On ships the size of a cruiser (400 crew or less), there are no doctor or nurses. The quality medical care touted by the GAO is a high school educated crew member practicing medicine without a license. That is correct, 3/4 of the U.S. Navy ships don't have a doctor on board. If you are lucky enough to have a doctor assigned to your vessel, his speciality may not be relevant to the crew. I once had a pediatrician and then a gynacologist on the U.S.S. Texas (all male ship) as the ship's doctor.

In prison you share a 70 square foot cell with one other person, the average size of personal space on a Navy ship for enlisted is 21 square feet and on aircraft carriers you can have over 200 "roomies".

Standard navy ship deployments are 6 months deployed and 18 months home. At sea we worked 6 days and got Sunday off, except you still have 10 or more hours of watch EVERY day. I did a deployment where I stood watch six hours on and six hours off and during the six hours off during the work day, I still had to work. Home is relative, because the DESIRABLE inport time is 50% of the "home" time. Sea shore rotation is 6 years at sea and 2 to 3 years assigned to a shore duty station. Most people that serve 20 years will miss 3-5 Christmas' at sea and have duty for one or two more. Missing holidays and birthdays is very common. I missed the birth of my second son as I was in Hawaii on the ship training. Funerals, forget it unless it is a parent, spouse or child.

There is no overtime, period.

One of the "tax benefits" the article mentions deserves discussion. Social Security tax is not charged on subsistence or housing and while this does reduce the tax burden of the uniformed member, it also reduces their social security earnings and thus the social security retirement check when retirement age is achieved.

The value of the retirement "benefit" is hard to gage. In most cases you must have 20 years on active duty to retire, and if you leave the service before the 20 years is up, unlike the civilian world, you CAN'T take your retirement with you.

Duty assignments... you go where the Navy needs you.

Do I need to mention getting shot at?

You tell me, is this worth $1,100 per month?