Letter to the Editor
Regarding Mail Zall's "Pay parity" column in the April 9, Federal Computer Week: I agree with
his general concerns about the different treatments in retention approaches
for federal civilian and military personnel, but there is one key distinction
between the two not mentioned in the column.
All military people, at least in theory, are required to place their lives
on the line if necessary. Even stateside support personnel may be assigned
to duties in war zones and, in extreme conditions, even the cook may have
to be in combat.
Also, military personnel are subject to a different legal system than civilians
and have limited rights compared to civilians.
This is not to undermine Mr. Zall's point. I did want to make sure, however,
that those aspects of military life don't get neglected.
J.D. Abolins