Is the military paying troops too much? Yes and no, study finds
Meghann Myers
The military has been paying service members much more than the minimum benchmark it set decades ago, according a Pentagon-funded study, so it should probably raise the benchmark.
For roughly the past 20 years, the Defense Department has set its uniformed pay grades at about the 70th percentile, meaning 70 percent of civilian jobs that require similar levels of experience and education pay less than the military, and 30 percent pay more. But as part of a regular review of the compensation system, Rand Corp. experts suggest updating that policy.
“Analysis of military and civilian pay in the 1990s indicated that pay at around the 70th percentile had historically been necessary to enable the military to recruit and retain the quality and quantity of personnel required,†according to the report, part of a compensation review done every four years. “But more recent research has found that military pay has exceeded the 70th percentile benchmark in recent years, raising the question of the continued relevance of this benchmark.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/12/29/is-the-military-paying-troops-too-much-yes-and-no-study-finds/
