I joined, and rejoined four more times for Tricare. It wasn’t called “TRicare”, it didn’t even exist by that name yet. I wanted it (and was promised it) even more than the pension that was also promised. My medical expenses, and those of my wife have been greater than all the pension payments since 1988. I had the foresight to see this.
My dad put in 20 years in no small part for the promise of free health care. He’s seen that promise broken, modified, and altered time and again. He traded 20 years of his life making more money somewhere else, and two tours in Vietnam under and agreement that was later broken.
If McCain thinks pay and benefits don’t affect recruitment and retention, end the benefits and cut the pay and half and let’s see how many show up for ‘love of country’ alone.