Please refer to the images below and then answer the question. Refer to 'Pay in the Military'. How has the military responded to a shortage of skilled military personnel in the past? (Show any two steps being taken).
Please refer to the images below and then answer the question. Refer to 'Pay in the Military'. How has the military responded to a shortage of skilled military personnel in the past? (Show any two steps being taken).
Chapter1: Making Economics Decisions
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1QTC
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Please refer to the images below and then answer the question.
Refer to 'Pay in the Military'.
How has the military responded to a shortage of skilled military personnel in the past? (Show any two steps being taken).

Transcribed Image Text:Over the past decade the military changed its wage structure to maintain an effective
fighting force. First, a 2.7-percent pay raise went into effect in 2007, followed by a 3.9-
percent raise in 2009 and a 3.4-percent raise in 2010. Even so, military pay remains low:
As of 2011, a private first-class earned $20,470, a sergeant $24,736, a captain $43,927,
and a major $49,964.4 However, the military went a step further, increasing the number
and size of its reenlistment bonuses. Selective reenlistment bonuses were targeted at
skilled jobs where there were shortages. The military also took advantage of the
sustained high unemployment rates in the United States from 2008 to 2011 by
emphasizing the substantial technical training that it provided, along with free or
subsidized housing, food, medical care, and education. The result of these policies was
to move the market for skilled labor in the military back toward the equilibrium market-
clear wage w* depicted in Figure 14.1310.
Pay in the military has continued to improve during recent years. Table 14.30 shows
pay scales for different ranks along with the number of years usually needed to achieve
that rank. While the salary itself is less than what one could earn in the private sector, it
only accounts for about half of total compensation. The rest takes the form of various
benefits (health care, generous retirement pay, child care, and free or heavily
subsidized food, housing, and education). In addition, soldiers receive "Special Pay,"
which is an additional amount of salary for special duties or skills, such as knowing a
foreign language, having a computer background, and so on.
Table 14.3 Pay in the Military (2015)
Rank
Private first
class
Sergeant
Captain
Major
Colonel
Annual
Salary
$23,256
$30,972
$62,628
$79,908
$119,724
Years of Service Needed to
Attain Rank
2
4
4
10
22
Percent That Attain
Rank
Nearly 100
70
Nearly 100
80
50
Sources: January 2015 Active Duty Pay (http://militarypay.defense.gov/Pay/BasicPay/Active DutyPay.aspx) http://www.army-
portal.com/pay-promotions/officer-promotions.html

Transcribed Image Text:Pay in the Military
The U.S. Army had a personnel problem for many years. During the Civil War, roughly 90
percent of the armed forces were unskilled workers involved in ground combat. Since
then, the nature of warfare has evolved. Ground combat forces now make up less than
20 percent of the armed forces. Meanwhile, in the latter half of the twentieth century,
changes in technology led to shortages in skilled technicians, trained pilots, computer
analysts, mechanics, and others needed to operate sophisticated military equipment.
How did the military respond to this shortage? Economics provides some answers.
The military pays officers primarily based on years of service. Consequently, officers
with differing skill levels and abilities were usually paid similar salaries. Moreover, some
skilled officers were substantially underpaid relative to salaries they could receive in
the private sector. Figure 14.13 shows the inefficiency that resulted from this pay
policy. The equilibrium wage rate w+ is the wage that equates the demand for labor to
the supply. With an inflexible wage structure, the military paid a wage w., which is
below the equilibrium wage. At wo, the quantity of labor demanded is greater than the
quantity supplied, and there is a shortage of skilled workers.
Figure 14.13 The Shortage of Skilled Military Personnel
Wage
20*
Wo
Shortage
SL
DL= MRPL
Number of skilled workers
When the wage w* is paid to military personnel, the labor market is in equilibrium. When the wage
is kept below w*, at wo, there is a shortage of personnel because the quantity of labor demanded is
greater than the quantity supplied.
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