IMO it's time to face the fact that we can't afford the current military pension structure. I had an Uncle who retired with the rank of Captain from the Navy and the "double dipping" that he could do drove my father nuts. BTW, Dad did 4 years in the Army during WWII and didn't collect a dime after his service, he'd just finished college when he signed on. I also worked with a fellow who retired from the USAF as the highest ranking non com in the AF. He retired with 30 years in at the age of 48. Then he went to work in the private sector and put every nickle of his pension into the stock market, as a result when I worked with him in 1982 his net worth was over 2.5 million and he had one of the finest collections of revolvers I've ever seen in an air conditioned underground bunker. Finally, there is my Brother In Law, who retired as a full Colonel from the Air Force with 32 years in service. He's 57 years old, collects a 95K per year pension, and has the contacts that if he wanted to go to work in the private sector could easily be pulling down 500K per year. BTW, he served in the Jag Corps, so 500K is likely very lowball.

Fact is the those who serve long term in the military receive training that cannot be matched by any university in the world, don't have to pay 800-1600 dollars a month for health insurance, and come out with abilities and contacts that make private sector employers just drool. Yeah, the pay starting out is terrible compared to the private sector, but once you've put in 10 or 15 years you start to achieve equity and once you do retire you'll be looking at private sector salaries that make up for that lousy pay for the first 10 years in just about 2-5 years working on the private side. Fact is that any service member who serves for 20 years or more will be a multimillionare at 65 if he has any sense at all with his choices in service and his spending after leaving the service.

The simple fact is the military pension structure today doesn't bear any resemblance to the military pension structure back in 1900 and it's one facet of why our deficit is out of control. Admittedly, it's a small facet but if we are ever going to start cutting entitlements it has to be across the board. In addition restructuring the military pension system would allow those who are just starting out in the military to be paid at a more equitable level than what is currently in place. Fact is that most of our military who actually face fire receive pay that is just shameful for the risk they face and if someone with 20-30 years in has to wait until they are 60 to get a pension to allow our boots to be paid equitably I'm all for it.