While his statement is inaccurate, I understand the point he is trying to make.
I have a friend who was drafted into the Army and spent his 2 years in Germany roughly around 1967 - 1969. Came to work for my company and retired after 30+ years.
Following his retirement in Dec. 2004 or 05, he subsequently moved to Florida and eventually went to work for the TSA.
Because the TSA is a Govt. agency, he is acquiring a pension that will also include the two years he spent in the Army.
There is not one company in the private sector that will include prior employment into their pension plan unless that employee was VESTED into their plan before termination.
The same thing applies to teachers. My BIL was able to "buy back" the non vested time he spent as a teacher here in Michigan after he was rehired in an Oakland County school district after being a self employed psychologist for almost 30 years and will guarantee him a higher pension payment as well as healthcare.
That isn’t an example of double dipping.
The military gets about 50% of their base wage if they stay in 20 years. They get 75% if they stay 30 years, etc. So, if someone does 20 years in the military and gets half their base wage, that’s the deal. If they then do another 20 years for the postal service to get another 50%, that’s still the deal, still the same rate, and it took 40 years to get 100% of a low wage.
Frankly, federal retirement pay isn’t that great. A person that spends 40 years saving in a retirement account on the civilian side can earn millions as a result, not $14-$80k or so per year the average single and double pension earner makes. Not to mention the civilian lives a far better life in most cases from the very beginning.