Honestly, if my son came to me today and expressed an interest in joining the military, I would tell him hell no! Uncle Sam does NOT have his back, promising the moon but delivering nothing but trouble and heartache.
Sure! We all want to take on active duty roles for 20+ years in return for National Guard retirement bennies starting at age 60.
Whatever plan congress puts itself under May be acceptable, let’s try it out
This is similar to what DOD does to people who leave active duty and go in the reserves - these people can’t collect any retirement pay until they reach 55 years of age.
Are the lousy government officials in all three branches going to have their lavish retirements cut? What is Mary Landrieu making since she was fired by the voters? Congressional retirement pay should be cut by 50%.
this promising long time pensions has got to stop....for everybody......start paying pensions for work of 20/30/40 yrs at age 60 or 62....
Can't blame you, and there will be many who would have signed up who now will not - and the country will be the worse for it.
Just as an aside, if Obama wants to give away ‘free tuition’, then how about trading that for military service.
Hey people in their 70s and 80s etc today lived in the best of times in America...
All generations which followed got screeeeewed...
FYI, there was a point in time (up until sometime in thirties) that ONLY the Navy had a 20 year retirement plan, Army was 30...
Most troops are non-career and some get riffed. Either way, under the current system it's either a medical or 20 years to collect retirement. I kinda like the idea of non-career types buying into the TSP. I wound up buying my time back and had to do it by raiding another plan.
When we had CHAMPUS, I had to have my wife shop doctors to see who would take it. That didn't always get her the best care. Buying into the federal health benefits plan (I assume for dependents only) gets participants pipelined into major accepted providers like Blue Cross and Aetna.
As a retired military vet myself, I say that it is a good deal, in fact, a great deal, for anyone willing to perform a very different kind of job for 20 years. All of my peers had the same choices I had. In most cases I was wished well, and had heartfelt send offs. Many of those send offs, by people who would have done well in the military, but didn’t feel the same calling. They didn’t want to take that risk, but they never thought of me as “less” for making my decsion. For those who mocked my choice (all libs), they win everytime a story like this comes out. 20 year military veterans are a tiny, miniscule, percentage of the population. What I have, I earned.
A soldier with a thirty year retirement in the current retirement system doesn’t make as much as a welfare recipient does in many states.
The Cato Institute released an updated 2013 study (original study in 1955) showing that welfare benefits pay more than a minimum wage job in 33 states and the District of Columbia. Even worse, welfare pays more than $15 per hour in 13 states. According to the study, welfare benefits have increased faster than minimum wage. It’s now more profitable to sit at home than it is to earn an honest day’s pay.
Here is the list of the states where the pre-tax equivalent “salary” that welfare recipients receive is higher than having a job:
1. Hawaii: $60,590
2. District of Columbia: $50,820
3. Massachusetts: $50,540
4. Connecticut: $44,370
5. New York: $43,700
6. New Jersey: $43,450
7. Rhode Island: $43,330
8. Vermont: $42,350
9. New Hampshire: $39,750
10. Maryland: $38,160
11. California: $37,160
12. Oregon: $34,300
13. Wyoming: $32,620
14. Nevada: $29,820
15. Minnesota: $29,350
16. Delaware: $29,220
17. Washington: $28,840
18. North Dakota: $28,830
19. Pennsylvania: $28,670
20. New Mexico: $27,900
21. Montana: $26,930
22. South Dakota: $26,610
23. Kansas: $26,490
24. Michigan: $26,430
25. Alaska: $26,400
26. Ohio: $26,200
27. North Carolina: $25,760
28. West Virginia: $24,900
29. Alabama: $23,310
30. Indiana: $22,900
31. Missouri: $22,800
32. Oklahoma: $22,480
33. Louisiana: $22,250
34. South Carolina: $21,910
Average Salary of Soldier DEPLOYED IN AFGHANISTAN ... $38,000
One of the salient reasons for the twenty year retirement was to ensure a young, vital and vigorous military.
The same thinking might work with our Congress, now populated with superannuated, exempt blowhards having gold plated benefits and automatic pay raises.
Active Duty ping.
At some point we need to quit playing as though everyone in the military. and in all branches, are doing the same job.
The CPA or secretary in finance, or the dental assistant, or gynecologist, or attorney, are not destroying themselves physically, and burning themselves out like athletes, and living on MREs and deployments for their 20 years.
this will make retention of skilled solders hard. why stay in if there is no 20 year retirement plan might as will leave as soon as you can. I see this devastating the enlisted ranks.
More money is needed to finance more free stuff for loafers, moochers and illegals.
I’m not speaking as a veteran, but I think we need to make sure that actual combat veterans are well served, but that career military who don’t see combat are treated more like other government workers.
IMHO, if you serve a year in a combat zone, that is worth 5 years stateside.
There is a huge difference between someone who does aircraft maintenance in the US and someone who serves in a deployed brigade combat team.
Screw over the Veterans, give more to welfare mommas, more to illegal aliens.
Sounds great! What a crock!!
I don’t know. Doing one enlistment just long enough to earn the GI bill would be worth it. It will be tough for them to retain quality people past that.