Quote:I understand where you are coming from and on the surface your point makes sense.  The one thing you are leaving out is that when a citizen enlist in the armed forces they are writing a blank check to the United States of America.  They are accepting that they may be deployed in a foreign land, work long hours in harsh conditions, fight in a war, they may even lose life or limb. They do all of this for little pay.  Yes they do get 3 squares, health care, and lodging, but unless you have served you may not realize what that actually means.  Heck in many cases we treat our prisoners better than we treat our volunteer defense forces.  

 

Another thing to consider is not everyone who enlist spends 20 years in and gets those lifetime benefits (a quick search showed me only 17% of those that enlist do).

 

As a former sailor I am open to discussing pension reform (higher pay during active duty in trade for a lower pension after, real healthcare for those injured in service to their country, ect)  The question you have to ask is what is their service worth to you?