Would you wear a target on your back if it meant you’d pay no taxes for the rest of your life?

If you have read the report “Ready, Willing And Unable To Serve” (my thanks to @Nouriel for posting the link on Twitter), you already know that only one-quarter of the 17 to 24 year-old group is qualified to serve in our Armed Forces.  Who knows how many of that population segment is actually interested in serving our Country.  How about we offer an incentive?  No taxes for life!

Some fifteen or twenty years before the end of the previous century, I was an active duty Army Military Police Sergeant (E-5) .  I think I had a base pay of $800 or so per month and received housing and rations allowances when those were not available on post.  The base pay was taxed by the same Government I was serving and the allowances were not.  I was putting quite a bit less of my hard earned in my pocket than any Civilian Cop at the time.

Here’s the rub:  As a Combat Cop, I wasn’t represented by a Union, I didn’t have an air-conditioned patrol car and I wasn’t writing speeding tickets to old women.  While I have the utmost respect for Civilian Police Officers, they don’t have to sleep in the mud, pull shifts that last days instead of hours, or enforce the law upon people who carry weapons and are trained to kill.  The duties of Civilians in similar disciplines are not equal to those of Service Members.

Same thing goes for Clerks, Truck Drivers, Medics, Chaplains and any other job you can think of.  Considering that Civilians rarely meet their Maker in those positions and Service Members signed on to take that chance, why not sweeten the pot?  Don’t tax the puny little income we pay them and let’s make them exempt for life (if they live through their tour) for all taxes on what they earn.

My Army changed the retirement and benefits programs twice during my years of service.  Don’t allow some Government hack to cheat our Nation’s best.  Let’s show the few who are qualified and willing that we really treasure their service and that we owe them a debt that we can never repay.