Senior Chief Aviation Support Equipment Technician Joephaz Sanchez, from Long Beach, California, explains flight deck operations from “vulture’s row” to students from the University of Tennessee Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps during a tour of amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli in San Diego, March 29, 2024. Tripoli is an America-class amphibious assault ship homeported in San Diego. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman James Peer/Navy) If you’ve been following our military’s recruiting challenges, you’re probably aware that missed goals have become commonplace. The fact that the U.S. is experiencing low unemployment is often cited as a contributing factor to those recruiting woes. Although plenty of folks will probably disagree with me, a couple of key factors that shouldn’t be causing recruiting issues: money and benefits.
My son had me thinking about that. Actually, I was reading an article about the challenges of maintaining our all-volunteer force and was reflecting about how he benefited from serving. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree last year and this fall will be headed to law school. All that, and thanks to the Post 9/11 GI Bill and Texas’ Hazelwood Act , the financial impact on him — and our family — will be minimal.
Military life isn’t for everyone, but before you dismiss it, read on. In an environment of sticky inflation, sky-high housing costs and a whole lot of uncertainty, military life does have some solid advantages. Here are seven that stand out. 1. Housing and the Housing Allowance
The collapse of housing prices predicted to follow the highest mortgage rates in decades has not materialized. In fact, buying a home is out of reach for more and more Americans. According to a report from S&P Global Market Intelligence at the end of last year, a majority of states (29) have housing that is not affordable to the median-income household. Of course, military members are provided housing or a housing allowance. Does that make them impervious to all of the effects of the current environment? No, but it certainly provides some serious insulation. 2. Health Care
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2023 Employer Health […]
7 Ways Military Pay and Benefits Provide an Advantage in an Uncertain Economy
