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You know, I had a conversation with a fellow sailor yesterday and we were discussion the fact that the military will only see a 1.3% payraise next year. My fellow sailor was very upset, stating that he felt he deserved more. Actually, as I walked away....I felt a bit disturbed....on may fronts.
First, maybe I see military service as my patriotic duty....while others see it as a means to an end, just as any other job ends up being. Ok...I can live with that. The other thing that I found disturbing is that my sailor is right! He deserves more. E4 with a family.....and living in San Diego is NOT cheap! I DO feel for him.....and all of my junior sailors how have to scratch just to get by.
Now, let me be frank for a moment. I'm a Chief in the Navy. I personally feel that I get paid a fair amount of money to do what I do. But, I am content in what I do, and quite honestly, i would do this for free if I could. i love my job and I still have problems sometimes believing that I actually get paid for the privilage to serve. Of course, I'm a small minority or service members, though. Most are feeling the pinch.
So....on to the subject of this blog post. How can I help reduce the National debt? I would consider NOT accepting my 1.3% payraise next year. Now, that doesn;t sound like much....and honestly, based on my paygrade, it's about $100 a month. BUT.....if ALL senior Enlisted and Officers over the rank of 04 did not get the payraise (Demographically, the groups that can still get by without an extra 1.3%), we would save potentially BILLIONS in personnel pay, while still ensuring our most junior troops still get a deserved and much needed pay raise.
I'm pretty sure most of my piers would see this differently. but, I would be willing to defer my proposed pay raise to help the situation. Put it towards the budget! Put it to better use somewhere else in the DoD. I'm more than happy to make that sacrifice to help OUR nation.
Just my thoughts today....
