The military is one of the few organizations where you can begin drawing a pension as young as 37. It makes for an expensive retirement obligation.
Although the military’s retirement program serves only a small minority of the force—about 17 percent of military personnel eventually qualify for retired pay—it provides an exceptionally generous benefit, often providing 40 years of pension payments in return for 20 years of service.[3] According to DOD’s Office of the Actuary, in FY 2012 there were 2.3 million military retirees and survivor-benefit recipients. They received approximately $52 billion in payments.
$52 billion, which doesn’t seem to me to be a big problem compared to all the money they waste on.......you name it.