[mosesdapoet]

I have yet to hear this from those politicians promoting these cuts.

When your in the military your on call 24/7 365. You go where they send you very often leaving family behind for months at a time. Very often and partcularly if your job is in a line outfit there is no job equivlancy to civilian life. Plus your life is on line. The pension is about the only incentive worthy of consideration when one enlists and remains in service for 20 years.

[SkyPilot]

Exactly. Plus, no overtime. Ever. You give up an incredible amount of your basic freedoms and rights while in the military. The frequent moves are incredibly hard on your family, especially young children. Spouses careers suffer horribly, in that they are never in one place long enough to get established or even get a job (many employers discriminate against hiring veterans spouses because of the frequent moves).

If you can survive a 20 plus military career with your sanity, body, and marriage intact, you are one of the lucky ones. They find themselves in their 40s or 50s, and they are literally starting over. Many find that while people shake their hands and say "thank you for your service" - this seldom translates into getting a decent job. Some do very well, our military are highly skilled, possess incredible leadership and communications skills, and many are highly educated. But in the ObamaEconomy, they are struggling as much as or more than anyone else.

When their pensions were cut, it was an incredible betrayal. If we have a major war break out in the Pacific or Middle East this year or next, I fear for our nation. The morale of the military is almost completely broken.