Pay Perks

HEADNOTE

VIEWPOINT

HEADNOTE

Better timed incentives would help the military hang on to young officers.

As the transformation of

the military gains speed, retired Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski, head of the Defense Department's Office of Force Transformation, says to challenge everything. One area that must improve is the arcane system of military salaries. Defense must make the pay chart more efficient and effective by inserting targeted incentives.

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The salary scale is a disincentive to officers to stay past their initial obligation of three to five years. An officer can look back over the time put in for a college education and see numerous bumps in pay. The story changes, however, when the officer looks ahead five or six years. Responsibility increases and raises are less frequent until the 11th or 12th year, well past the time when most decide whether to opt out or stay on. It makes sense to provide incentives to get officers to the 10th year of service, halfway to a sizable retirement, when they likely would be fully committed to the military.