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I did my Navy time in two wars, so I hope my negative opinion won't offend service families. In my day, service income was 50% of what most average civilian jobs paid. Today, it is equal, and considering all the free benefits, is probably higher.

As a Navy CPO, I earned $500 a month when a civilian doing the same job was earned at least twice that amount. Today, a career CPO or master sergeant gets nearly ten times that pay, and considering other benefits and the attractive retirement system, is doing much better than the civilian. Of course, inflation is a factor, but the present-day service lifer enjoys a much higher standard of living than those of a generation or two ago.

Children of military families ... lovingly called service brats ... also have many free benefits not available to civilian families. Of course, there are definite disadvantages in their growing up years, such as deployments and dangers their parents face, frequent moving and some isolation from regular neighborhood and school life. However, the pluses far exceed the minuses.

As for entry into college, there should be no favorable discrimination for service children. They should compete by establishing high school achievement records just as any other student vying for college entry must do.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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