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Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer
I have decided to appoint TR as SECDEF in my administration.
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I was thinking the same thing! Of course then there's that messy confirmation hearing. Sir, get those skeletons cleaned up!
RE: Grooming Standards. Its rumored that one of the reasons DynCorp lost the contract in A'Stan is the lack of grooming standards. BW has standards.
One thing about DoD pay scales. I am imagining an Army with Combat Arms preferential pay scales, and I think a problem which might arise is this: As the pay goes up for trigger pullers, the number of people trying to become trigger pullers goes up, consequently more of them get turned away, they start crying and eventually the standards are lowered to allow people into the ranks of the trigger pullers. This happend before, just look at Airborne School. Not saying this will happen, just want to point out that this is a probability.
The pay scale has gone down across the board somewhat in recent months. Folks that were making $600 per day are now $500 to $550, some static gigs in injun country are as low as $300 per day. But with the prequisite experience, good background check, and a little luck most guys with some trigger time can expect the $500 to $550 range. Non US companies are paying less. Some US companies are using foreign nationals wherever possible, and they make about a third of what an American makes. Rumor has it the company gross is the same.
I think Soldiers are typically your most Patriotic citizens, willing to sacrifice for the Nation. They are the foundation of your country. They should be rewarded, and cared for, especially their families because they are the ones who will carry the torch after the Soldier has done his best. All other occupations, trades, lifestyles, and freedoms are enjoyed because a Soldier made a sacrifice. Its not wrong to pay special care to those on which your Nation is built. I don't know if its in the genes, but there are an awful lot of us, who are not 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation riflemen. We should care for that group of Americans, commensurate with the risk they take and the benefits they provide.
Its fine if you don't want to compensate a Soldier with cash because you think it will cost us the moral high ground. But then provide the Soldier with first rate food, health care, real property when he leaves service, college for his kids, etc. Give him what he would buy if he had the money. But demand excellent performance from him as well.