B
: positions, and fewer still in the media, know anybody in the enlisted
: ranks. It's also an easily supportable case, since all enlistees sign
: a contract that provides the government with the option of extending
: enlistment indefinitely. Objections from soldiers or airmen whose
: retirements are delayed can easily (and to some degree, accurately)
: be dismissed as the timeless griping of the enlisted. (Stop-loss also
: applies to officers.) The idea that such treatment has so far created

Of course, there is an even greater danger that lurks in the very
important 'contract' that military members sign. The US government can,
at any time and without prior notification, alter pay and benefits to include
eliminating them. The current military paradigm is centered on the idea that
the *worst* possible things is temporary pause in the increase of benefits.
If, however, the US runs short of money -- particularly in the context of a
weak economy that may bring more potential recruits -- there might be a
need/want to *reduce* military compensation levels.
The 'all volunteer' military means different things to different
people. To many, it means a military that operates on "market principles"
that include wages and benefits sometime going down in accord with supply
and demand, not always up. Others, however, take a more "union" approach
that military members "deserve" a certain level of pay and benefits, and
that market principles should not be applied.
One of the key ongoing struggles wrt the Navy is the 'deployment
pay' issue/fiasco. Congress passed the law, and the people stuck on long
deployments sure as heck want the money, but the executive branch doesn't
want to spend the money and the program is still not implemented (maybe
in a few years, say those resisting). This is a case over disagreement on
the raising of compensation -- you could imagine the screams if the government
ever tried to lower levels of compensation. As unlikely as such a track might
seem, it is something to seriously think about.

regards,
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