Does an increase in miltary funding ever actually increase the pay of the soldiers?

Question

Or are they two seperate issues?

Answer 1

I used to be in the Navy and now i'm a political science minor.
An increase in funding does not increase military pay, funding changes from year to year. Military members pay goes up with inflation (about 3% per year) automatically. The only way the military gets a pay increase is if congress passes a law.
The military funding bill that is currently in congress does not affect the troops at all, it only affects the militarys ability to deploy more soldiers, however even this is a lie. When funding is decreased in the military then higher ranking NCO's (like an E-5 with 18 years in) are forced into early retirement or discharge. They also cut recreation funding (so they do not provide toilet paper in barracks) in order to buy more weapons and paint.

Answer 2

Within the US, they are separate but linked issues... The DoD/ Pentagon puts foward their budget requests to Congress, and Congress then passes a budget.

There MAY be an increase in DoD spending without a pay-increase for the troops. Or there may be a pay-increase without an overall increase in the DoD budget... even a decrease in the DoD budget.

Following the end of the Cold War, the DoD budget was DRASTICALLY reduced... but troops did get another pay raise. Congress and the Pentagon did that by reducing the size of the force, closing bases, and stopping new weapons systems.

I wish I had at hand the information as to how often we got pay raises.

Answer 3

Sometimes, depending of how the bill is proposed in congress. The increase in defense funding since 2000 (since a person named Clinton was not in office) has translated to annual increases in pay for all military members. But not all bills that support military funding are aimed in pay increases.
The reason that military spending is so high is that extraneous things that are tacked on to the ends of bills.
Example is that if you look at the war fund that congress passed, there are millions upon millions of dollars that are going to AIDS research in Africa, farming, etc. All of these things are important in their own right, but they should not be incorporated with defense funding. This is one of the big reasons the the war is causing such a larger deficit. Opportunist congressmen are tacking on their special interests to a bill that they would be crazy not to pass.

Answer 4

It increases the profits of the defense contractors. Go to Stockcharts.com and look up NOC, GD, ATK, LMT, RTN and you'll notice that they have increased about 4 fold since Bush and the war agenda came to power. This is exactly what Eisenhower meant when he warned about the "military industrial complex."

Additionally, this is little more than a direct transfer of wealth from the underclass to the wealthy elite. Public tax revenues are used to pay private defense corporations for military equipment with plenty of funds contributed to ensure for a nice profit. Those profits in turn go to the wealthy executives and investors of those corporations.

Answer 5

Well, the first two responders to your question haven't a straw of a real thought on the subject.

I answer, yes. The military funding bills go for operations, equipment, bases, etc.. The money for the troops is earmarked for them from that amount and that's where it goes. They don't get paid enough, to be sure, but the contractors must make their money elsewhere.

Answer 6

no. it just helps them get better equiptment and more supplies, and helps with transportation and what not but pay raises dont come from an increase in military funding, i dont believe. could be wrong though..

Answer 7

very seldom does the actual soldier ever get anything resembling a monetary raise. It is a dirty rotten job and we are glad somebody else has to do it.

Answer 8

no that means that Defense Contractors will be making more money selling guns, ammo, bombs etc.... Soldiers still get the same pay.

Answer 9

when i was in the military i never had to pay for anything except beer......health care...not one cent
housing...not one cent
clothing........only my civilian clothes
food......not one cent
dental care....not one cent
glasses....not one cent