The Pay Issue

: Norm Augustine, long-time aerospace industry executive and former senior DOD official, in a letter responding to a Washington Post article takes exception to claims military members are overpaid. Augustine wrote: “I make no judgments as to the budgetary issues raised; however, I do object to claims that our military is overpaid relative to equivalent civilian jobs. … I am unable to recall any job where one is on-call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; where one may be expected at any moment to move anywhere in the world and often to leave one’s family behind; where one’s children must change schools every two or three years; where one often must live in sub-standard housing; where one can’t simply quit and find another job; and where, during one’s career, there is almost a certainty that someone will try to kill you. Now, let’s see, what civilian job is the equivalent of that?” (Key lawmakers want More Money for Troops)