Military Compensation System Analysis

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The military compensation system is a multilayer package comprised of direct compensation, indirect compensation, and additional considerations not afforded to most civilian sector employees. It has deep seated German roots. Built upon the foundation of Max Weber’s Bureaucratic Model, the military constitutes the essence of bureaucratic administration (Wikipedia, 2016). The main purpose of the military compensation systems is that of any typical organizational compensation strategy, obtain and retain the best and the brightest in order to support the organization and ensure mission accomplishment.
Direct compensation in the military is the basic elements paid to all military members. This includes base pay, Basic Allowance for Subsistence
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The estimated costs of indirect compensation are calculated into the salary of military members and is a driving factor to how the public sees our salaries. Active duty military members and their Families receive free health care and prescriptions through TRICARE. Those of us not assigned in the vicinity of an installation are placed into a program called TRICARE Prime Remote. The downside to this program is that the list of doctors in the program is short and even shorter for specialist. Very often, military families are also told that the doctors are no longer accepting patience and it can make moving very stressful. Families are also forced to pay co-pays and have annual deductibles that families near military installations do not have. It is yet another out of pocket expense for service members. Military service members and their Families are typically unhappy with military care providers on installations. Due to the lower salaries and sometime work environments the providers obtained by the military are not always among the best. Also, the providers are not required to have malpractice insurance since military members and their families cannot sue the providers if something happens. Service members and their families, too often, are subjected to substandard medical care that is considered part of their compensation, yet it is funded by taxpayer dollars that they …show more content…
Some of them being the Commissary, Base/Post Exchanges, Education Programs, and counseling and legal services. The main critique I have on these being included into the military compensation package is that service members all over the world, not assigned near a military installation cannot utilize the majority of these programs. It is unfair to say that my compensation package includes this when in fact approximately $11,000 in services cannot be utilized by myself or my family due to my duty