HOLY CRAP! Makes me want to write a letter to the editor of that newspaper. FREE stuff? Man, where do I get in line? I've been in for 12 years as of tomorrow and I'd really like some FREE stuff. I EARN what I receive.
Every year the Army gives out a packet of papers to every Soldier. It covers all the benefits they earn in a financial sense. It figures in basic pay and all allowances. This way, a Soldier can apply for credit (new car, house, credit cards) and claim the full spectrum of pay. It also factors in the saving we get for using the PX/Commissary. But, these are all part of the pay system.
Uniform allowance? That's to replace the uniforms that have holes in them from battery acid or razor wire. Or the ones that are stained orange from the Hawaiian red mud I lived in for 5-15 days at a time.
FREE food? I get standard BAS - most married folks that live with their family do. That is equal to what it would cost me to eat all three meals in the dining facility. The Army doesn't expect me to drive 10 miles to the nearest dining facility to eat my meals. Single folks get to eat at the DFAC. Once again, it's not free, it's part of the pay system.
FREE housing? Well, the military has to put Soldiers up somewhere. Once again, it's part of the pay system. These days, it's more the the Army's benefit to pay the housing allowance and let married Soldiers house themselves and their families on the economy. The military has gone as far as privatizing on base housing. It's much cheaper for the Army and it benefits the Sodliers, but it's still figured into the pay system.
FREE medical care? Unlimited? Again, the service recognizes that military members must stay healthy to fight. What we get is equal to medical insurance. Family coverage has payments and copayments. Just like any private job does. Once again, you guessed it, it's part of the pay system.
Pension after 20 years? Well, just because the federal government has seen fit to keep a system in place that many civilian companies have gotten rid of or limited in extreme ways, doesn't mean it's not earned. Today's retirement packages are reduced from what they were twenty years ago. And every year, we watch Congress in hopes that they won't decrease the package after they vote their own raises in.
The kicker? Soldiers pay federal income taxes. That's right, our taxes go into the pool of money that pays our own salaries!
I'll end with this. It doesn't matter what an outsider wants to call it. FREE stuff or earned benefits. At the end of the day, it's a volunteer service and if we want to keep it that way, we have to be competitive with outside employers to keep the best servicemembers in the service. And if a retired servicemember feels conservative (and I'm guessing maybe being against public welfare systems in general was the thrust of the initial comments?) it may be because they know the difference between FREE and EARNED.
Sorry if I got a little ranty there. I'm not necessarily against welfare, just pissed off about the assumption that what I get is FREE!
