One of the reasons many people that went into the service back in the mid to late 80's got out was because our retirement for twenty years was only going to be 37.5% of our base pay. To get 50% one would have to stay in for 30 years. But many of us in the Navy were stuck in Ratings that were damn near impossible to reach Master Chief (E-9).

I believe the way things were at the time, an 1st Class (E-6) had to retire at 20, a Chief (E-7) had to retire at maybe 24, a Senior Chief (E-8) had to retire at 26?, and a Master Chief could retire at 30 years.

Many of us looked at the personal sacrifices made over a career and asked...Is it worth it? And many got out as a result.

Luckily someone saw that trend in the late 90's and early 2000's and changed the system back to 50% for 20 years, as retention rates dropped, even after the draw down of the early 90's..

I don't think screwing with the retirement system of the people sworn to protect this country is a good thing. You want to make cuts? Cut the retirement a member of congress or President gets. You'll get more bang for your buck, and you'll keep your experienced personnel in the service, and that could potentially save the lives of junior personnel.
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A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "up to and including my life."