The Art of Military Innovation: Lessons from the Israel Defense Forces Hardcover – October 10, 2023
by Edward N. Luttwak (Author), Eitan Shamir (Author)
If stuff is getting expensive for Americans, it "ought" to be getting expensive for everyone else too.It doesn't help on the big ticket items (ships, aircraft, even tanks) that the minimum capabilities necessary to be effective are increasing, and getting those capabilities is increasing costs significantly faster than inflation.
I think the author left out the free accommodations that come along with military service. If that E3 is married with children, the Army makes sure that he or she has a home with a bedroom for each child, up to a 5 bedroom row house. Then there’s the half pension at 20 years, full at 30. The reality is that junior enlisteds have a far greater disposable income than any burger flippers and a far brighter future.Fast food or the military? Recruiting solutions overlook the obvious.
Opinion: In this opinion piece, the author argues that services have been overlooking an obvious solution to the recruiting crisis: Increasing junior enlisted pay.www.militarytimes.com
Caught amid the morass of solutions, it appears that the services have been overlooking the most obvious solution: raising the pay of junior enlisted. Contrasting what an Army E-3 or E-4 earns in the military with pay earned in the fast food industry in California reveals this to be true.
As detailed in my newly published analysis, the need for a large pay increase among the E-1 to E-4 pay grades is clear when one considers the new fast food minimum wage in California. Starting April 1, most fast food workers in the state will be paid a minimum of $20 per hour.
Factor in this wage increase, couple it with free meals (valued at $1,193 per year) provided during shifts, and subtract the cost of medical insurance provided under the Affordable Care Act (valued at $2,256 per year) and a 19-year-old working at a Los Angeles, California-area McDonald’s would earn roughly $40,537 per year.
Now, compare that to the earnings of an Army E-3 with less than two years of service. Starting with base pay, this soldier would earn about $2,377.50 per month, or $28,530 per year. Add in benefits, such as an automatic 1% match on their Thrift Savings Plan account and Basic Allowance for Subsistence pay, while keeping medical costs steady at zero, and the Army E-3 earns $34,338 per year. In other words, the 19-year-old McDonald’s employee would earn about 18% more than the Army E-3.
If you even get to stay in till 20. I got broken before my second year in service.I think the author left out the free accommodations that come along with military service. If that E3 is married with children, the Army makes sure that he or she has a home with a bedroom for each child, up to a 5 bedroom row house. Then there’s the half pension at 20 years, full at 30. The reality is that junior enlisteds have a far greater disposable income than any burger flippers and a far brighter future.
Elaborate please.Going to find the cost side starts to rapidly rise if the new regime's economic and related policies are implemented as promised.