Okay, I'll take a shot at this, but I can't guarantee you'll understand it.
We are talking about people who have volunteered to serve our nation. While politicians often use that service to further selfish, imperialistic ends, the fact is that our servicemen and servicewomen signed up to defend our nation and our allies against our enemies.
More or less.
Most of them sign up for training, job security, and adventure, with patriotism being somewhat secondary.
There certainly are many benefits to military service which include valuable experience, education assistance, and so on. Ultimately, however, everyone who enlists faces the very real possibility of being asked to risk their lives at the behest of their commanding officers.
Or, sometimes, their lives are placed at risk because their CO is a fool. And, oh, by the way, the word is "ordered", not "asked".
When we're asking someone to be ready to make that kind of sacrifice, it is incumbent upon us to support them in many respects.
We do.
They get food, housing, clothing, medical.
What junior enlistee's don't get is enough money to support a family. They need to wait for when they're NCO's before they get enough pay.
Welcome to life. People making minimum wage in the civillian world shouldn't be making families they can't afford, either.
What's your point, that a seaman recruit isn't paid a whole heck of a lot?
We must give them the training they need to survive and to defend their compatriots in arms.
We train them to perform the missions they've volunteered for.
Because we want them to accomplish that mission.
We must give them opportunities to better themselves, both so that they may serve us better and so they may be better prepared to make a life for themselves once they have left our service.
Yes, they get opportunities to advance in the service because we want to reward performance and retain the best.
We don't owe them squat to "make a better life for themselves" once their enlistments are up. They're trained to perform well in a military culture, and yes, many of the lessons are helpful when dealing with all of life's problems.
So? That does not mean we should be raising the pay of the typical fireman apprentice so he can afford to feed a wife and a couple of kids. Not one thing you're saying alters the fact that the enlistee has to have the maturity to decide if he can afford a family on the wages he's earning or if he should wait until he's earning more money. This is what's expected of any mature adult.
We must allow them the opportunity to advance as a result of hard work and dedication.
Irrelevant.
Get to the point you've got wrong already.
We must look after them and care for them if they are wounded or traumatized in our service.
An obligation.
Ain't got nothing to do with their inappropriate decision to have families they can't afford.
We must not leave them to the untender mercies of the enemy if they are captured.
This is called "honor".
We must not leave their bodies behind to be desecrated if they are killed.
Depends.
If it puts more lives at risk to bring home the dead meat, they should be expected to be left behind.
We must permit them the opportunity to raise a family while in our service.
We do.
When they have enough seniority, they're earning enough money to raise a family.
IF they're careful with their money, as is true of any family.
What's you're point again?
Aside from our obligation to those who enter our service, the simple fact of the matter is that the training our soldiers receive instills a solid core of values that are valuable to pass on to the next generation. In general, people who enter the service of others for a noble cause, whether that service is military or otherwise, take away from that service lessons which must be passed on if at all possible. Military service is no exception.
Yes, military service is all weepy and noble and stuff. Pride and marching and flag waving and parades, I know.
And if the junior men can't afford families, they shouldn't be bitching if they have them anyway and discover they can't feed them.
You're pretending I don't have military experience. You're wrong.
You're trying to imply I don't respect our servicemen. You're wrong.
Been there, didn't do anything as stupid as having kids on an E-2's pay.
That you do not understand these imperatives saddens me.
That you can't employ proper logic doesn't surprise me.
As I said, if the junior man can't afford a family, he shouldn't have one. If a man has a family, he shouldn't enlist if the wages can't support his family.
Neither creating a family one can't afford nor taking a position that can't support an existing family is an honorable position. The only thing less honorable is whining about how awful the military is for not paying you more to support your bad decision.