I'll take some of these until Parrothead's back:
I have to ask: If one must seek a bridge career after military retirement, isn't it possible to just stay "in" for another hitch or two?
It can be. But eventually (unless you're a flag officer) everyone hits high-year tenure. For O-4s it's generally 20 years of service. O-5s ~28. O-6s ~30. E-5s 20. E-6s 22. E-7s 24. E-9s and flag officers can generally go 40 years. There are minor variations between services and specialties, and maybe a waiver can be obtained. But those limits apply to 99% of the servicemembers, and even flag officers have to request permission from Congress (literally) to stay past age 62.
I realize there are age issues (declining physical capabilities, etc.) or maybe some just hate their military j*bs by now. But I was under the impression that many (maybe most) long-service military personnel are more "desk" oriented than combat oriented.
Usually those "declining physical capabilities" are "accumulating injuries", especially cartilage & ligament damage to knees & ankles & spinal columns.
That desk may be in Kuwait or Kabul or Kosovo or Chinhae or Kenya... or even worse (and more deadly) in the Pentagon. In the late 1990s the Pentagon had so many hard-chargin' O-5s get heart attacks (literally) that they made every newly-reporting O-5 go through stress-reduction training. Nothin' I'd like to do more than be the rehab doc in a roomful of hypercompetitive combat-hardened O-5s saying "OK, breathe deep!"
Also, I was under the impression that long-service military had somewhat more choice in their duty. Never been in the military, but, if you enjoy your duty, I can't imagine another "c*reer" would pay as much as a 20 to 25 year military salary (with benefits). I Know there are other considerations ("forced" moves, spouse/children desires, etc.) Still, just sayin'...
That's pretty funny!
"The Bitter Cost of Business" (
The Bitter Cost of Business | U.S. Naval Institute ) says a lot of it for the Navy O-6 who's finishing up a major sea command:
What is interesting, though, is the question of where the solution lies to the ongoing hemorrhage of these captains. What can be done about the fact that over the past four years, captain retirements have outpaced promotions by 16 percent? How to stanch the flow? Before this can be addressed, however, the question of what drives captains to stay or go should be examined.
The apparent belief, based on survey, is that captains are leaving for two distinct reasons: first, the promise of civilian job opportunities and compensation, and second, the promise of more time spent with family—a consideration greatly enhanced by the possibility of a year-long individual augmentee assignment in a combat zone.
It is difficult to see what the Navy can do to counter these exit incentives in any meaningful way. With regard to compensation, even in the most simplistic sense, gross pay declines significantly the moment a captain leaves major command because he or she is no longer eligible for a number of benefits, like sea pay. In addition, any bonuses, by law, expire around the time the captain leaves sea duty.
Even if a captain remains on active duty and is promoted to admiral, the fact is that real pay will not rise to equal that received in his major command tour until he is, probably, a fully paid two-star. This may seem counter-intuitive, but in any given strike group, there may be up to a dozen officers who out-earn the rear admiral (sel) in charge.
On the other hand, market-average compensation for a retiring O-6 virtually guarantees doubling of overall income when added to captain retirement pay. Financially, it seems, staying in is an inescapably poor decision.
As for the family-time issue, even if not on sea duty, it is clear that any job which the Navy would deem appropriate for a post-major O-6 would require long hours, probably offer little prestige (certainly nothing even approaching major command), and be tremendously demanding and stressful. In terms of spending time, at long last, with one's family, taking another Navy job also seems to be a poor decision.
In other words, the assignment officer needs butts to fill seats in Pentagon staff offices or the National Military Command Center watchfloor. Or, if you're really lucky, Afghanistan. One day you were commodore of a multi-ship task force with enough firepower to incinerate a large city or enough heavy-lift capability to rescue thousands of people from a tsunami. Next day you're in a partial cubicle in a windowless office in the bowels of the Pentagon trying to figure out how to cram a bunch of talking points into a briefing format for a patronizing flag officer by 1800. (Maybe you'll be home before midnight.) Or you're arguing with the assignment officer for a job at the National Defense University or a ROTC unit, only to find that they're stacked three deep on the waiting list.
Meanwhile Parrothead could take his O-6>24 years of service to a federal pension of ~$68K/year (with an inflation-fighting COLA and $520/
year health insurance). He could get hired by a defense consultant firm at least $95K/year or hit the big leagues with a major contractor for $130K and up. I don't even know his specialties or his security clearances, which are usually worth more to a civilian employer. Maybe SamClem could chip in with more updated numbers.
Considering the assignment policies at the O-6 elevation, I feel pretty lucky to be stuck at the O-4 rank and able to "hide" in training commands for nearly eight years. Despite all my skill at submarine warfare and battlegroup-submarine operations, I couldn't get a job on a sea-duty battlegroup staff because I wasn't considered "career material". At least I could measure my daily effectiveness at our training commands by the number of students who'd been trained and the number of instructors I'd helped get promoted or commissioned.
But one of our best technicians was a civilian contractor who'd retired from the Army at the E-9 rank with 30 years. In today's dollars his pension was at least $55K/year (same COLA & health benefits) and his contractor job was paying (at most) $50K/year. He told me he missed the Army life every day.
Meanwhile the latest COLA will lift my 2012 pension to $40K/year. We chewed through a big chunk of the ER portfolio this year for our familyroom renovation, but our remaining living expenses will be less than 4% of the remainder of the ER portfolio. We don't need a lot to make ourselves happy, and I have more than enough to keep myself entertained. The surf is up and life is good.