Let's train soldiers to a standard, let's train hard, let's train realistically, but let's train to a standard. Recent civilian media news articles have discussed the pay issue for lower enlisted soldiers by illustrating the point that some soldiers are on food stamps, are living in cheap, dilapidated off-post housing, are deep in debt, are declaring bankruptcy. I guess I don't know what fair is. There's no secret about what all of us make. The pay tables from private to general officer are common knowledge for everybody.
Soldiers know what they make today.
They know what they will make in the future. There's no doubt in my mind that the pay comparability gap has grown over the years. But, here is a cost and there's has to be a balance in everything the Army and DoD does when it comes to pay issues. I don't know what the right pay level is. It just worries me when I have a private first class who is married and has a family member or two.