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We are talking less than 2.5 millon current personnal in the active military (whats the % of that towards the current population?) and maybe the same or more retired....
As for being beat up, I'm 40 years old retired, and I cannot even sit Indian style and play cards with my son in the floor....much less run anymore, must have been those 6 mile runs day after day....
People continue to say...it's voluntary...so, it still has an ending...and that ending is a 20 year retirement....
If you take away the 20 year retirement.. or any other perks....you will see people leaving left and right...no BS there.....hell, even in the last 10 years, I seen people join that do the bare miniumn...and will tell you, the only reason they joined was for the college money...4 years then done....
Again, sad thread.....I would be if I were some of you in this thread...
And I know you are not exaggerating one bit. You know how I know? I have run those miles in your boots. When I joined in my 20s, I was thinking... what's with all these guys only ten years older than me limping around like grandpas? Now, I'm one of those guys. I'm only at the half way mark, and I'm feeling it every day.
They don't care though. Ash and trash. Such is the life of a soldier. Why should we enjoy the comforts of a pension that pays less than minimum wage after 20 years of doing whatever the country asks us to do, wherever it asks us to do it, for however long it's necessary? Far better to reward the finanical gurus who will get a big monetary boost from managing these new 401ks that won't pay sh*t.
And for those extra special "EXTRAS" people are touting on here...the PX and commissary....
Thats is very funny....
Myth: At the commissary you don't pay taxes.
Truth: You pay a sur charge....which guess what it is equal to?
Myth: The PX/Commissary is cheaper than anywhere else.
Truth: BS, just like any other store you have to pick and choose what you buy where....
21 miles to the PX from my house, 10 miles to Wallie world...where do you think I shop mostly.....
If you want more than a few products you will have to shop else where besides the PX/Commissary...
Gas, I can get gas cheaper off post 99% of the time....
Now, will those hard core older generation retired people only go to the commissary/px....yep....jsut cause they HATE wallie world....and places like that...
Quite illuminating to read this thread and who supports this proposal.
Our friend is going on 20 years,went in enlisted,is now a Lt Colonel in the Marines.Three tours Iraq(infantry) ,the missed birthdays of his children,the almost constant training out in the field.
Amazing that this is even being considered....sickening really.
I do think we need to cut defense spending but that is much more easily done by closing down foreign bases and not fighting unnecessary wars. Not screwing over the very people who have had to do the political machine's bidding since 9/11/2001. I think that the retirement is the very least we can do for the military. Like I said, close down bases, end the wars, reduce the size of the military over time... all viable options that would reduce defense spending without pulling the rug out from under the troops' feet.
I do think we need to cut defense spending but that is much more easily done by closing down foreign bases and not fighting unnecessary wars. Not screwing over the very people who have had to do the political machine's bidding since 9/11/2001. I think that the retirement is the very least we can do for the military. Like I said, close down bases, end the wars, reduce the size of the military over time... all viable options that would reduce defense spending without pulling the rug out from under the troops' feet.
It is costing $2000,000-$3000,000 a day to 'not fight' the war in Libya....
An unneeded war,an unprovoked war,and a civil war to boot.
I do think we need to cut defense spending but that is much more easily done by closing down foreign bases
Exactally, in Korea when units go to the field we "rent" the Koeran land....and it is inspected by the farmers upon leaving....
God forbid we have to abort a flight and land in a rice field....we pay for the rice's rice, that would have been planted for years to come....
BUT, the Korean farmers have gotten smart over the years....when the military does damage to their field/or just name it....there is a money cap (I beleive $5000) anything over the cap must have an official investigation...It was amazing how many times the damage would come in at $4995.00, so the government would just cut a check....
You obviously are NOT a recruiter and have NEVER recruited. As someone who is married to a recruiter and I work for recruiters, Retirement pay and other benefits are MOST certainly needed for both recruiting AND retention. You clearly are off your rocker. You are more than willing to re-enlist to get up to your 20yr of service if you are so hell bent on denying people who have served their country what their country promised them for their sacrifice. And dont try to tell me what is and what isn't promised to those who sign up indefinitely- I know the drill
Has nothing to do with being a recruiter. Soldiers don't join the military thinking about retirement. Most join seeking education bennies and a chance to do something different. They come around to being career soldiers once they get used to the military life, weigh their options in the civilian world, and decide that the military life is more to their liking.
Adding an additional 10 years to the military retirement system won't change anything. They'll look in the real world and see that even at 30 years, they're getting one HELL OF A DEAL! Especially when you're drawing 75% of your pay.
And again...no one is promised ANYTHING upon enlistment relative to retirement. The 20 year retirement is a policy....it aint written in stone.
So will these guys who are in for thirty who joined at twenty be expected to go into combat? The body can only take so much. If you push it to thirty which on face seems reasonable what will these guys be able to do when they're 45-50 years old?? I'm 43 and consider myself doing good playing basketball a couple times a week. Of course this may be a viable alternative say ten or twenty years from now if we start fighting wars with robots and drones and the like. Phasing it in now and allowing those in their twenty years may be the way to go.
Retirees are already getting robbed with regards to drawing disability.
And what blows my mind is the people that are for this are the same ones that want to feed, shelter, and educate illegal aliens.
This country is going down the drain with that type of thinking.
We spend far more on military contractors and suppliers than we do on troops. Besides I remember how much support my buddies and I got when we returned form South East Asia.
The system would work much more efficiently and will far less damage if we simply paid one industry to build armements and another to dismantle them so the first industry could reassemble them for great profit to both ends of the scam. This would avoid needing soldiers and their salaries and pensions at all with great savings to the taxpayer.
Military contractors, like Weapons systems are the biggest scams in the military budget, after that is the sheer number of General Officers and the bases kept open just so that they can go golfing. We have more generals now than at theheight of World War II when the military was ten times as large. I would actually grow the number of troops while freezing the number of Generals and eliminating the Contractors.
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if I were some of you in this thread...
