It costs half a million dollars per year to maintain one sergeant in combat in Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JJ02Ak01.html

Oct 2, 2008

The cost of boots on the ground in Iraq

By John Basil Utley

It takes half a million dollars per year to maintain one sergeant in combat in Iraq. Thanks to a senate committee inquiry, an authoritative government study finally details the costs of keeping boots on the ground. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in its report "Contractors' Support of US Operations in Iraq", compared the costs of maintaining a Blackwater professional armed guard versus the US military providing such services itself. Both came in at about $500,000 per person per year.

News reports of the study have largely focused on the total cost of US contractors. The 190,000 contractors in Iraq and neighboring countries, from cooks to truck drivers, have cost US taxpayers $100 billion from the start of the war through the end of 2008. Overlooked in this media coverage has been the sheer cost per soldier of keeping the army in Iraq. This per-soldier cost is more comprehensible and alarming than the rather abstract aggregate figure.

Whether in maintaining US soldiers or private-sector contractors, the costs of occupation are enormous. With no end in sight, unending foreign wars do have one clear consequence: the eventual bankruptcy of the United States.

Breaking down the costs

The cost of a sergeant is complicated to calculate. His or her actual cash pay is $51,000-$69,000 per year, which puts sergeant pay in the middle of the pay grade, according to another CBO report, "Evaluating Military Compensation. Non-cash benefits - pensions, medical care, child care, housing, commissaries - likely double this amount, even during peacetime. Pensions are the biggest ticket item. The average retirement benefit for a soldier or sailor who stays in for 20 years equals $2.6 million, if he or she lives to the age of 77 (though most soldiers don't stay in the service long enough to get this benefit).

A major portion of the $500,000 figure comes from the "support staff" and rotation system that allows for recuperation, training and accumulated vacations after each year in combat. It's allocated on the basis of one or two sergeants in the United States backing up each one overseas. The CBO report does not, however, factor in bonuses for re-enlistment, which offers tens of thousands of dollars for soldiers with special skills. Nor does the report calculate operating or equipment costs per soldier. The $500,000 figure applies to personnel costs alone.

[cherokeeprogressive]

1. In what branch of the service does an E-5 make between 51,000 and 69,000 dollars a year?

I don't think that's right.

http://www.easternct.edu/personal/faculty/pocock/ranks.htm

[NNN0LHI]

2. Don't know the branch but here is the actual data from the CBO

http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=8271&type=0&sequence=1

E-1 E-2 E-3 E-4 E-5 E-6 E-7 E-8 E-9

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Typical Age 18 19 20 22 25 31 37 40 44

Average Years of Experience <2 <2 <2 3 6 12 18 21 25

Compensation for Single Enlisted Member (High school graduate)
Cash 29,700 32,000 32,900 37,200 45,000 54,000 63,400 72,400 85,900
Noncash and deferred cash 25,300 26,900 27,600 31,200 35,600 41,800 48,500 54,300 64,900
Total 54,900 58,900 60,500 68,400 80,600 95,700 111,900 126,600 150,700

Compensation for Married Enlisted Member (High school graduate with working spouse, two children)a
Cash 32,800 34,700 36,300 40,400 47,200 56,800 65,200 72,800 89,600
Noncash and deferred cash 37,300 38,900 39,700 49,200 53,700 59,800 64,800 70,200 81,100
Total 70,100 73,600 76,000 89,700 100,900 116,600 130,000 143,000 170,700

Family Premium (Percentage increase in total compensation for enlisted member with dependents) 22 20 20 24 20 18 14 11 12

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Source: Congressional Budget Office based on data from the Department of Defense.

Note: Cash pay is regular military compensation (basic pay, allowances for housing and subsistence, and the tax advantage that arises because those allowances are not taxed). Noncash and deferred cash pay include the accrued value of veterans' benefits and retirement benefits (pay and health care). Because veterans' benefits are not funded on an accrual basis, these estimates cannot be compared with amounts in federal budget documents for fiscal year 2006.

Any noncash benefits that these notional enlisted members would not use are excluded from the calculations. For example, if an enlisted member's compensation package includes a family-housing allowance, CBO does not also include a portion of the cost to build or maintain barracks (because most members would not receive both types of housing benefits at the same time). These calculations also exclude the cost of providing fitness centers, clubs, or other recreational activities.

a. The children are assumed to be enrolled in subsidized military child care or school-aged care.
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Service members who have families receive more cash income as well as greater noncash benefits. Cash compensation rises when members marry or have children because housing allowances are higher for personnel with dependents.(14) Adding in the benefits of health care, subsidized groceries, and child care for family members pushes total compensation for enlisted personnel with families 11 percent to 24 percent above compensation for otherwise-similar single members. Typically, that family premium is higher for younger personnel. The premium may create financial incentives for military personnel to marry earlier than their civilian counterparts, and some researchers have found that service members in their 20s are more likely to have families than are civilians of comparable ages and education levels.(15)

The financial incentive to marry can exceed the value of a promotion. A single 22-year-old E-3 with three years of service earned an average of $35,145 in regular military compensation in 2006. If he was promoted to E-4 that year, his annual pay would rise by about 6 percent, to $37,200. If he was not promoted but married a civilian, his regular military compensation would rise by 9 percent, to $38,200.(16) Adding in family medical care, greater commissary use, child care, and other noncash benefits widens the compensation gap between personnel with and without families.