Tea Party candidate taken behind the woodshed by an old man asking a simple question

[Heywood]

A lot of military spending is not on actual tanks, bombs, and guns but on people costs.

Meh, I had to wait 6 weeks in theater to get a kevlar vest (by which time I'd actually bought one from local arms dealers), because my unit was still using cold war flak jackets in 2001. Agreed though, plenty is whittled away without anyone producing a piece of hardware- and it's this whittling that could be cut.

Medical benefits, retiree benefits, wages(we pay our soldiers very well compared to other countries). Contractors are required to pay their employees a prevailing wage. If a new building is built on a base, the construction workers get paid government prevailing wage....but on the budget it shows as a capital purchase...not an expense on personnel. In many ways the DOD is being utilized as wealth transfer vehicle....a social program.

Indeed. All but the soldiers getting paid well bit, just because other countries treat soldiers like slaves doesn't mean that our system of borderline indentured servitude is somehow decent or a pro of the system as it currently is. When I was an E1 I made 900 bucks a month (this is infantry pay, trigger puller pay, bullet sponge pay), you could call a room and board perks - but that isn't exactly adding a whopping sum to the pay. Especially considering that the room was a portion of a c hut shorter than I am long, and the board was largely cornflakes and hotdogs (love you mama Brown!). Pay has been increased a few times since then, but could it have actually gone down? I doubt it. I was making more money flipping burgers. Getting more consistent strange too.

After 4 years in the military you'll be at least an E4. If you have a wife and couple of kids you'll be earning about $50,000 a year. That's more than a typical college graduate. Further you will have free use of gyms, rec centers, child care, and tax free shopping. Now pile on bonuses and special pay....the military is not a bad gig.