be applied with great confidence in a situation where maintenance in kind is provided-are as follows:

Even allowing for the decline in the value of the purchasing power of the dollar according to the above index, it can readily be seen that basic pay has risen substantially through the the years. For example, in 1918 the average basic pay for all military personnel in 1947-49 dollars would be equal to about $797 as compared to $1,805 in 1955-an increase of 126 percent. For enlisted men alone, on the same bases, the average in 1918 would be equal to $652 and $1,460 in 1955—a rise of 124 percent. The figures are admittedly rough, but the trend is clear.

The right half of table 8 shows the figures on basic pay plus allowances. As is shown, average pay plus allowances and main

TABLE 8.-Estimated Average Basic Pay and Basic Pay Plus Allowances for Officers and Enlisted Men in the Armed Forces

1 Weighted average, based on base and longevity pay only.

2 Weighted average of basic pay plus regular allowances furnished in cash or food, clothing, and shelter in kind. Excludes incentive and other special pay, medical care, and value of tax exemptions.

Source: Department of Defense.

tenance for all personnel in current dollars in 1865 was $510 as compared with an average of $3,222 in 1955-figures reflecting a sixfold increase. Since the average for all personnel in 1918 was only $968, there has been more than a threefold increase in the value of cash pay plus allowances between 1918 and 1955. For enlisted men alone the average of $870 in 1918 compares with $2,742 in 1955-over a threefold increase. For officers the increase during this period was only about two and one-half times. The ratio of increase for all personnel is greater than the increase for either grades taken separately because of the increasing proportion of higher grade personnel through the years.

The quoted figures are in current dollars. However, if they are deflated by the cost of living index in previous reference, the increase in real compensation from 1918 to 1955 for all personnel was 86 percent. For enlisted men alone it was 76 percent.

The third element which must be taken into account in appraising the total compensation of military personnel consists of a group of special items. One category in this group includes a number of incentive pay items such as flight or combat pay, overseas or sea-duty pay and such other items as bonuses for reenlistment and mustering-out pay or terminal leave pay given upon separation. Comprehensive series are not available for early periods, but data from the Department of Defense since 1945 indicate that the average cost per man of the various special pay items in the various services was as follows:

TABLE 9.-Average Cost of Incentive Pay, Bonuses, and Related Payments per Man in Armed Forces for Fiscal Years 1945, 1952, and 1955

These average figures are sizable, but they need to be used with care. Some of the incentive pays (such as flying pay) included in this group are not evenly distributed among military personnel, since some get much more than others. The separation pays (mustering-out pay and terminal-leave pay) tend to be widely distributed, but to lag because they are paid upon separation. For example, the 1955 figures reflect payments to Korean conflict servicemen leaving the Armed Forces.

Another item of major importance in the special category is the medical care which is provided by the Government for all military personnel, and for their families when and if facilities are available. Figures are not obtainable for all the services on the cost of medical care, but Army data show that in the 3 years 1945, 1952, and 1955, the cost per serviceman averaged from $334 to $434. Even by the standard of civilian spending for medical care, which is about 5 percent of income on the average, the medical care in military service would appear to have a value of about $200 per year for the average serviceman.

Finally, military personnel are entitled to various tax exemptions which, in effect, mean an increase in real compensation. During World War II, military pay up to $2,400 per year was tax exempt. Similar exemptions were provided during the Korean conflict, but they were limited to the servicemen who saw duty in the combat area. In addition, the maintenance provided military personnel in kind and all the quarters, subsistence, and family allowances are not subject to taxes. The value of these exemptions can be measured by comparing the taxes which a civilian and a military man, each with a wife and one child, would pay if they had no other income.

A precise comparison between the total compensation of military personnel and that of civilians is difficult to make. Military personnel must make a number of unique expenditures incident to military life. Travel allowances seldom cover the cost of moving a household from one base or station to another. Frequent separations from families increase travel outlays. While military jobs are becoming more and more like those in the civilian realm, military occupations have many special elements. Military personnel are also selected on the basis of standards which eliminate the physically unfit and the subnormal-a process which tends to lower the civilian average which includes this segment of the population. However, evidence indicates that the levels of military compensation have been raised, and in recent years there has not been a major disparity between the pay of military personnel and that of people in the civilian economy. The improvement in military compensation can be indicated in two ways. First, a comparison of the average pay and allowances in the Armed Forces in 1955 of $3,222, plus the additional item of special compensation (incentive pays, medical care, and tax allowances) which probaly have an average value of around $800, indicates that the weighted average compensation of military personnel is about $4,000. This figure the average gross compensation of military personnel in fiscal 1955-may be compared with two sets of figures on the compensation of civilian employees. One of these is the average wages and salaries of all paid, full-time, nonagricultural workers in the United States, adjusted for unemployment. The amount, as estimated by the Department of Labor for calendar 1954, was about $3,800. The trend in this series for earlier years is shown in table 10.

The second set of figures are the Bureau of the Census statistics on the average income of employed males in the calendar year of 1954. These data showed a median income of $3,562 which, on a weighted-average basis (precise figures are not available) would probably be in the neighborhood of $3,700. This comparison is admittedly rough. The Census figure is understated because it includes a number of male workers who are only in the labor force part time. On the other hand, the Armed Forces

TABLE 10.-Average Compensation of Civilian Nonfarm Workers, for Selected

Years 1865-1954

include a much larger proportion of young men below the age of 24 than the civilian labor force-at an age when the Census figures show earnings in civilian life are low.

The pay relationship may also be considered in terms of trends. Since the typical veteran was an enlisted man and since the traditional argument that military personnel are underpaid applies with greater force to the enlisted ranks, this becomes an important point for investigation. Because the bulk of enlisted men are provided food, clothing, shelter, and medical care in kind, and these are the essential needs it is useful to focus on the trend in their basic pay. For lack of a better term, this may be called their "cash spending money."

The accompanying chart (chart X) compares the trend in average basic compensation for enlisted personnel from 1865 to the present to the trend in the average compensation of full-time employed workers (excluding agricultural laborers) in the United States. In this chart, 1918 is arbitrarily taken as 100 for both series, although they are different in amounts. As can be seen, the two curves parallel each other closely. The "cash spending money" (basic pay) position of enlisted men since 1918 has improved somewhat, compared to the total earnings by civilians. The improvement has been most pronounced since the Career Compensation Act was passed in 1949. Both sets of figures on which these trends have been computed are in terms of "current" dollars. On this basis, average "basic pay" of en