Military service isn't productive? Sure you are on the right site? BTW, it is 18K for my zip. Yours is less as well, forget the BHA and BAS. Unless you live in a squad bay now and eat that good military chow equivalent..
At the risk of getting attacked by those who won't think ...
No, military service is not productive. Nor are intelligence gathering, (legitimate) law enforcement and fire fighting. These things are PROTECTIVE. A functioning society must have people doing both PRODUCTIVE work (farming, mining, manufacturing, transporting) and PROTECTIVE work (see above) in order to survive. They are different, but necessary.
Military service isn't productive. It's a cost. That doesn't mean it isn't necessary.
But some of these numbers I'm seeing now concerning a career in the military remind me of the numbers I've seen for other government jobs. And they all cry about how poor they are and how little government work pays. It's all BS now. It may have been true 30 years ago, but not now.
There are many ways to serve the country -- growing food, mining coal, developing new technology. They all contribute to the strength of a nation.
If military pay is going to reach parity with these other jobs, then there's nothing more special about military service (or any other government service) than is special about other forms of work.