ST. PETERSBURG - Every month, about 10 young adults enter the military recruiting station at Tyrone Gardens shopping center on 58th Street N and sign up for a stint with the Army or Army Reserve.
The lucky ones may end up like Sgt. 1st Class Juan Diaz, a 34-year-old Persian Gulf War vet who joined the Army 16 years ago and now earns nearly $40,000 a year as a local recruiter.
He represents the best of the opportunities our all-volunteer military presents. As he might say himself, who else but the military would have taken a chance on Diaz in 1988, then an 18-year-old from Puerto Rico who spoke no English and had no appreciable job skills? Diaz plans to retire with a full pension at age 38.
Most recruits today begin basic training with a signing bonus and a salary of $13,000. They get free medical care, free on-campus housing, free chow and college tuition assistance.
"Where else can you find a deal like that?" an Army recruiting brochure says.
But the fact is, America's warriors aren't getting the pay they deserve. And everyone knows it.
The last time military pay was roughly equivalent to private-sector pay was 1982. Though the military pay shortfall has shrank to an estimated 5.4 percent today, it still may not be a fair comparison. After all, most private-sector workers don't risk their lives for their countrymen or separate from their family for long deployments.
And even though a 2003 study by the Department of Defense estimated that only 2,000 of America's 1.4-million full-time troops receive food stamps, many military families struggle on wages that hover near eligibility levels.
Besides, if military service is such a terrific career opportunity, why do only a handful of the 535 members of Congress have a son or daughter in the Armed Forces today?
You needn't look hard or far to find a better deal than the military's. At the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, for example, new deputies with qualifications not much greater than those of a military recruit start at a salary of $37,000 a year. It took Diaz almost 16 years to reach that level.
"Military pay in this country is outrageously low, it's a disgrace and it is immoral," said former Nixon speech writer, Wall Street Journal editorial writer and comedian Ben Stein last month on CNN.
To be sure, nobody admits that America's warriors are paid as they should be. In his campaign for the 2000 presidential election, George Bush pledged to spend $1-billion on troop pay raises. Likewise, many officeholders and challengers today see fit to publicly decry the scourge of low military pay.
The funny thing is, most seem focused on reservists, not full-time warriors.
Congress is mulling a bill that would reward businesses that help their reservist employees. Under the proposal, a company that paid the difference between an employee's civilian wage and military wage during her deployment, or continues to pay for her benefits, would receive special tax credits.
Florida is one of roughly two dozen states with a similar program for government workers. Thanks to a resolution passed by Gov. Jeb Bush's cabinet shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, state employees called up for reserve duty continue to receive their full civilian pay, with Florida taxpayers making up the difference.
Some states are experimenting with other benefits for reservists. In Utah, lawmakers are considering cutting the state income taxes of military reservists while on active duty. The argument in that state is the same as with all such legislation: A reservist's family shouldn't have to lose its house or suffer other economic hardship just because he or she is deployed.
It's not hard to see why reservists are getting so much support. Because there are relatively few reservists and because their deployments are temporary, it doesn't cost as much to boost their pay as it costs to raise the pay scale for the full-time military.
I also suspect that most politicians simply find it easier to identify with reservists. Unlike many full-time troops, reservists live in civilian neighborhoods and have civilian jobs. Though many are blue collar, they include doctors, lawyers and other highly paid professionals with whom lawmakers might rub shoulders.
By contrast, our 18- and 19-year-old recruits are voiceless, powerless. Young, often from low-income families, disproportionately minority, they lack the political pull that might otherwise force a big jump in their pay.
Diaz, the St. Petersburg recruiter, says he has no regrets about joining the Army. He has built schools and roads in post-Noriega Panama, learned how to rappel from a helicopter and fight fires in Virginia, built ice bridges in Alaska, and dug fighting positions in Iraq. Along the way, he and his wife had two children, ages 11 and 6.
His thoughts on helping military reservists is mixed. On the one hand, he says, reservists knew when they joined that their pay might drop during deployments. It's a sacrifice you accept for the privilege of protecting your country. On the other hand, Diaz says, you can't perform your job well if you're worried about your family.
For that reason, he's happy to see reservists get some financial aid.
Diaz's only request? That full-time troops get the same kind of support.
- Scott Barancik can be reached at barancik@sptimes.com or 727 893-8751. [Last modified May 29, 2004, 16:54:11]
