Pentagon Says US Troop Pay Is ‘Strongly Aggressive’ Vs Non-public Sector

• A brand new Pentagon report mentioned its troops earn greater than most of their full-time civilian counterparts.
• It mentioned that after one yr of service, the highest seventieth percentile of enlisted earners get about $1,000 per week.
• However that determine contains excess of base pay, which Congress lately voted to lift considerably.

A Pentagon report mentioned its troops usually earn greater than their civilian counterparts and would stand to lose out in the event that they have been to depart the service.

“Our navy compensation package deal is strongly aggressive with the civilian labor market,” it wrote in its evaluation for navy compensation, which is launched each 4 years.

The report comes only a month after Congress voted to lift fundamental pay for US troops by 4.5% throughout the board, citing considerations about recruitment difficulties and meals insecurity amongst troopers. Junior enlisted troops, who maintain rank equivalents of E-1 to E-4, obtained an excellent larger increase of 14.5%.

Many of those troops have been incomes lower than $30,000 a yr in fundamental pay, and the invoice handed in December aimed to lift their salaries to that stage.

Nonetheless, the Pentagon makes use of a special metric that extends past fundamental pay, which it calls common navy compensation. This contains advantages similar to tax benefits and housing and meals allowances.

By that measure, the Protection Division’s new report discovered that “navy pay amongst Junior Enlisted Personnel is greater than ninetieth percentile of earnings for civilians with comparable schooling and expertise.”

“Fundamental pay is a blunt and dear instrument,” the report mentioned. “And needs to be used solely when there are system-wide issues, similar to widespread retention and recruiting shortfalls, which can’t be solved extra effectively with different coverage devices.”

Its findings relied largely on a benchmark that in contrast two issues: the seventieth percentile of compensation for enlisted troopers and the seventieth percentile earnings for full-time civilian employees with the identical schooling.

The report mentioned that for enlisted troopers with one yr of service, the highest seventieth percentile obtained about $1,000 per week in common navy compensation.

In the meantime, the report listed the seventieth percentile of civilian earners as needing 10 years of labor expertise to get $1,000 per week.

The Pentagon mentioned that for enlisted troopers with 10 years of service, the highest seventieth percentile of earners will get $1,500 per week.

Alternatively, the seventieth percentile of officer earnings stands at $1,500 per week for these with one yr of service, going as much as almost $2,500 per week for these with 10 years of service.

It in contrast these earnings to the seventieth percentile of civilians with faculty levels, whom the report mentioned persistently earn about $200 to $300 much less per week.

Total, the report mentioned that enlisted personnel earn greater than 83 out of 100 civilian employees with the identical schooling and expertise, and officers earn greater than 76 out of 100 civilian employees with the identical background.

The Pentagon largely advisable “quality-of-life” enhancements as a substitute of a pay bump. It requested the navy to look extra into increasing its retirement financial savings packages, offering higher childcare entry for serving mother and father, and asking its personnel to maneuver much less usually to keep away from hurting the careers of troopers’ spouses.

In its finances overview for the 2025 monetary yr ending September 30, the Protection Division mentioned troop pay and advantages make up about 30% of its whole finances request for $850 billion.

Within the new report, the Pentagon mentioned its present pay construction is usually working.

“Latest retention is robust, recruiting has considerably improved, and favorable comparisons between navy and civilian pay means that ranges of fundamental pay are greater than enough,” it mentioned.