So based on your chart, personnel costs in 1980 were $55.4 billion based on a $168 billion defense budget. In 2010 they were $280 billion based on an $847 billion defense budget.
Boom.
Yeah, why should their pay be relative to today’s budget? I read somewhere that during our Revolution, soldiers were paid less than $20 per month, and they had to buy all their own weapons, gear, supplies, etc. We should find an authoritative source, and pay them based on that. /s