White Paper: Value of Military Pay Understated

When calculating military pay rates, Pentagon paymasters and Capitol Hill lawmakers alike strive to provide service members compensation comparable to that of civilian counterparts performing similar jobs. A new white paper suggests that those decision-makers may have left significant benefits service members enjoy – such as tax breaks on housing and food allowances – out of their formulas. Such benefits are significant, write the experts who prepared the white paper, called the 10^th Annual Quadrennial Review for Military Compensation (QRMC). For instance, enlisteds earned roughly $5,400 more each than their civilian counterparts in 2006 under existing calculations; that figure would increase to $10,600 if benefits were included. Officers earned an average of $6,000 more than civilians for comparable work in 2006; adjusted to include benefits, that figure would rise to $17,800. The QRMC recommends that future pay calculations should be adjusted to include those benefits. Service members should not push the panic button upon hearing such a suggestion: The QRMC provides advice to Pentagon officials and defense leaders on the Hill, and is not binding.