This passage from a 2011 NPR article on the 50th anniversary of Eisenhower's warning caught my attention:

Eisenhower was worried about the costs of an arms race with the Soviet Union, and the resources it would take from other areas -- such as building hospitals and schools.

https://www.npr.org/2011/01/17/132942244/ikes-warning-of-mil...

Seems especially prescient at the moment.

> the median age in 1940 was 29.0 years, compared to 37.2 years in 2010

[1]: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/1940-us-census-data-released-on...

Here's a good book on it: https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Man-History-Great-Depressio...

Do you have any estimation of the truth of such claims?

$250k is $5k a week for 50 weeks. These folks often didn’t work 50 weeks since generous home leave was frequently given, so $1000 a day may actually be on the low side.

Also note that there are tax exemptions via treaties or war zone exceptions that can make a significant impact on take-home wages.

$20k/month is a quarter mil a year. Worst case, you live in a high tax state, you might pay $100k in total tax, state + federal + local.

That leaves a take-home of $140k/year. Still almost 3x as much as a soldier making $50k/year.

The larger point is that, yet again, we have a govt bureaucracy handling a budget in hamfisted ways. (Big rigid hierarchy >> underpay recruits >> wow, the org is bloated and still expensive >> we can save money by hiring contractors.) The bureaucracy is is callous to the incentives they're creating.

If it's a much better deal to be a private military contractor vs a soldier, what does that do for morale? For cohesion? For career trajectories? (Get trained, quit asap to go private with a big pay bump...)

This general pattern has a deep historical roots. Many countries at various points in history have hollowed out their formal military by shifting to hired mercenaries. That pattern has a bad track record.

(Additionally, it is not clear to me that GP's example numbers for private contractors were actually modal, or just some high numbers he heard about.)

Depending on your rank and what your active duty is like, much can be excluded.[1]

> Combat pay: Compensation for active service while in a combat zone

Combat zones: much of the middle east, including relatively stable countries that aren't Afghanistan or Iraq, as well as the Balkans.[2]

> Enlisted member, warrant officer, or commissioned warrant officer. If you are an enlisted member, warrant officer, or commissioned warrant officer, none of your combat pay is included in your income for tax purposes.

For officers, the exclusion has a threshold. That threshold is:

> For 2019, the applicable amount is $8,803.50 per month

Or $105,600/yr income not subject to taxes.

In addition to BAH being excluded as you mentioned, there's also BAS, BAS, OHA, other housing benefits, moving and travel, healthcare, all not subject to income taxes.

These are all sources of income (in an accounting, not IRS sense) civilians would need to pay taxes on. As a result, active military pay a much lower tax rate on their income than civilians with the same pre-tax income.

[1]: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p3#en_US_2018_publink100017...

[2]: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/combat-zones

Keep that date in your head.[1]

That the interview is public at all is amazing. It is a very good overview of the man and the issues that the US dealt with in Afghanistan. Especially considering the current media tornado with Flynn, it offers an insanely unique look under the tent.

Flynn's attitude is really one of exhaustion. He's tired, after nearly 14 years fighting in Afghanistan, he's just done with it all. He's done with Congress, he's done with the White House, he's done with the military. What is especially interesting is his attitude towards the US voting public: He's done with them too. His faith is caput.

Sure enough, exactly one month and 30 minutes after the end of this interview, Flynn is shoulder to shoulder, sitting directly next to Putin in Moscow. 12/10/2015. [2] That dinner is wild by the way.

So, not only are the lower level contractors looking outside, the top line staff are as well.

Not to be too alarmist, but there is a whole whale of bad news here. There are uncomfortably large similarities to the lead up of the Social War of 91 BC afoot [3].

[0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/...

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/...

[2] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/guess-who-came-dinner-fly...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_War_(91%E2%80%9388_BC)

If you don't really have the time to read through it, the Washington Post did a fairly good job of highlighting the interesting bits. If you have not looked at it and don't want to read the grainy .pdf, that's ok too. The audio is free to listen to. I cannot stress enough how crazy this is. That this document is out there at all, that they went through all the highlighting and editing, that the audio tape is out there, and then the cornucopia of other info too. It's amazing technical journalism, let alone the content.

Just skimming over [2], I see... wtf is Jill Stein doing at this dinner?! Yea, that Jill Stein! How odd.

Oh, and I get why but the WaPo links are paywalled and I am not a subscriber - FYI to others.