> Have you ever worked on a federal contract? The compensation really is not poor, unless you’re comparing it to say FAANG compensation, which is not really normal. They make as much, if not more, than current market rates.

Yes. It was OK pay, but not better than market. Annual bonuses weren't a thing. There was no path for career advancement beyond senior engineer. The supposed stability was not nearly as good as you describe.

There's a bunch of reasons I stopped doing defense contracting.