MILITARY PAY

In January 2000, Cindy Williams, then a senior research fellow at MIT, had an op-ed piece in the Washington Post in which she criticized a proposed 25% pay raise for military personnel. According to Snopes.com, Williams maintained that "claims that servicemen in the military suffered a 13% ‘pay gap’ relative to the private sector were inaccurate, and that military personnel were already well paid compared to the average American." Williams had previously served as assistant director for national security in the Congressional Budget Office.

Michael Bragg, a serviceman, took offense to the op-ed piece and responded with a letter. Unfortunately, Bragg misidentified the MIT senior research fellow as Cindy Williams, the actress who portrayed Shirley on the 1970s sitcom "Laverne and Shirley." His letter was not published in the Post, most likely because he also misidentified the paper as the Washington Times. Cindy Williams, the actress, became the victim of hate mail once Bragg’s letter appeared all over the internet.

The letter was originally written nine years ago while Bragg was stationed at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Last month, someone revised the original letter to make it look like he was serving in Afghanistan. Sadly, Bragg’s misidentification of Williams caused irreparable harm to Cindy Williams the actress.

Even though Bragg conveniently failed to mention that servicemen get their room and board, as well as their clothing, on top of their pay, he nevertheless made some excellent points in his letter. That’s why I have chosen to reproduce it here and now:

Ms Williams:

I just had the pleasure of reading your column, "Our GIs earn enough" and I am a bit confused. Frankly, I'm wondering where this vaunted overpayment is going, because as far as I can tell, it disappears every month between DFAS (The Defense Finance and Accounting Service) and my bank account. Checking my latest earnings statement I see that I make $1,117.80 before taxes per month. After taxes, I take home $874.20. When I run that through the calculator, I come up with an annual salary of $13,413.60 before taxes, and $10,490..40, after.

I work in the Air Force Network Control Center where I am part of the team responsible for a 5,000 host computer network. I am involved with infrastructure segments, specifically with Cisco Systems equipment. A quick check under jobs For Network Technicians in the Washington , D.C. area reveals a position in my career field, requiring three years experience with my job. Amazingly, this job does NOT pay $13,413.60 a year. No, this job is being offered at $70,000 to $80,000 per annum........... I'm sure you can draw the obvious conclusions.

Given the tenor of your column, I would assume that you NEVER had the pleasure of serving your country in her armed forces. Before you take it upon yourself to once more castigate congressional and DOD leadership for attempting to get the families in the military's lowest pay brackets off of WIC and food stamps, I suggest that you join a group of deploying soldiers headed for Afghanistan; I leave the choice of service branch up to you. Whatever choice you make, though, opt for the SIX month rotation: it will guarantee you the longest possible time away from your family and friends, thus giving you full "deployment experience."

As your group prepares to board the plane, make sure to note the spouses and children who are saying good-bye to their loved ones. Also take care to note that several families are still unsure of how they'll be able to make ends meet while the primary breadwinner is gone. Obviously they've been squandering the"vast" piles of cash the government has been giving them.

Try to deploy over a major holiday; Christmas and Thanksgiving are perennial favorites. And when you're actually over there, sitting in a foxhole,shivering against the cold desert night; and the flight sergeant tells you that there aren't enough people on shift to relieve you for chow, remember this: trade whatever MRE (meal-ready- to-eat) you manage to get for the tuna noodle casserole or cheese tortellini, and add Tabasco to everything. This gives some flavor.

Talk to your loved ones as often as you are permitted; it won't nearly be long enough or often enough, but take what you can get and be thankful for it. You may have picked up on the fact that I disagree with most of the points you present in your op-ed piece.

But, tomorrow from Kabul, I will defend to the death your right to say it.

You see, I am an American fighting man, a guarantor of your First Amendment rights and every other right you cherish.. On a daily basis, my brother and sister soldiers worldwide ensure that you and people like you can thumb your collective nose at us, all on a salary that is nothing short of pitiful and under conditions that would make most people cringe We hemorrhage our best and brightest into the private sector because we can't offer the stability and pay of civilian companies.

And you, Ms. Williams, have the gall to say that we make more than we deserve? You can kiss my royal red a**!!!

A1C Michael Bragg
Hill AFB AFNCC