Why do civilians work with military?

PV2 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 08:40:11 -0500

Most of the instructors in cyber department are civilians. My question is why do they work as civil contractors when they can be making easy 6 figures outside. Do they get paid more than enlisted or is it the same?

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 5 at 2020 8:50 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 08:50:17 -0500

Not everything is about money. DO military members do their jobs for the money? Our SM deserve much higher pay. I've always had a saying, "all money aint good money". I chose to work as a contractor for the Army after i retired, knowing full well I could make much more money in Logistics in the private sector. To me its about continuing to serve the Army i love, not about the compensation i receive. Don't get me wrong, I like money just as much as the next guy, but our choices are not always about just $$$$ alone.

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Feb 5 at 2020 8:52 AM

CPT Lawrence Cable — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 08:52:58 -0500

The civilian contractor picking up the garbage makes more than you will enlisted, he just doesn't have as good a benefits package. If the instructor is a Contractor instead of Civil Service/DOD employee, he may be making that 6 figures, which isn't as common in the computing world has you believe btw.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 5 at 2020 9:12 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 09:12:32 -0500

They probably are making six figures or close to it. Teaching at school house’s is usually an easy job to get(especially if you have connections there) and do.

Response by CW3 Ian Mains made Feb 5 at 2020 9:36 AM

CW3 Ian Mains — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 09:36:39 -0500

Since you mentioned Cyber, I would have to make the logic leap that most, if not all, are prior military, and many are probably retired. They are probably all (or most) making at least six figures as I type this. Many contract positions have certain clearance, certification, or specific experience requirements, which essentially cuts out a large percentage of competition. All that being said, if you have all these requirements, and only a certain number of potential employees to choose from, you will have to pay a bit more, especially if there are more positions than there are potential qualified employees. But to answer your question, I would surmise that every contractor employee (in the "Cyber" realm at least) you see on a daily basis makes more than enlisted.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Feb 5 at 2020 9:36 AM

SGM Erik Marquez — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 09:36:45 -0500

PV2 Private RallyPoint Member "My question is why do they work as civil contractors when they can be making easy 6 figures outside."
Service to your nation comes in many ways.
You choice was to join the Military and as such said you would do so with "Selfless Service" Is it so hard to understand some non military folks might have the same desire to serve their Nation selflessly?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 5 at 2020 10:04 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 10:04:59 -0500

Government Civilians and contractors are not the same thing.
Personally i don't think we should even have enlisted Cyber troops, they should be government civilian or contractor positions.
Your instructors may be very well paid.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Feb 5 at 2020 11:52 AM

SGM Bill Frazer — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 11:52:34 -0500

Sahdeep, if you are going to worry about making big bucks, then you made a bad choice of the military.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Feb 5 at 2020 12:33 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 12:33:14 -0500

If a Civil Service instructor is say a GS-12 Step 5, then that's pulling in around $95K/year with locality pay. Because there's high pressure to contract out to limit long term money tails, the winning contractor's pay scale is probably at the prevailing wage under the Service Contract Act. That wouldn't likely be much more but can be significantly less depending on location.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 5 at 2020 12:44 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 12:44:26 -0500

They don’t PCS every three or four years like we do. And they don’t deploy. Places like that need stable people to keep things rolling

Response by SPC Stewart Smith made Feb 5 at 2020 5:53 PM

SPC Stewart Smith — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 17:53:22 -0500

Depends on the job. Many jobs don't pay anywhere near what you'd think. Many people like the benefits. Many people like to have a "secure" job. Some people just want to help others.

Response by MSG Gary Eckert made Feb 6 at 2020 2:25 PM

MSG Gary Eckert — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 14:25:37 -0500

There are a lot of factors but generally speaking, most people with Computer jobs make more than junior enlisted personnel; although the benefits may be better for the Soldier (think retirement and TRICARE.) When I was a PM for a huge defense contractor, I hired a tech straight out of college and when I submitted his desired salary to HR, I was told, we had to pay him about 10K more just to meet the prevailing wage and they recommended we pay him 15K more than he asked for just to stay competitive with the other contracting companies to avoid losing him shortly after we hired him. Now I work on the Government side now and we have a 6 figure position that has been vacant more than it has been occupied because the position requires a CISSP and the local companies (Cerner, Garmin, Sprint, H&R Block, etc.) are glad to poach our employees since the supply of qualified personnel is less than the demand. Here some of our contractors fly in personnel from other locations when they are running short on completing their deliverable because local talent is not available. The same will be true of the school house. If there are a shortage of qualified personnel on the Government side they will pay incentives to recruit and the Contractors will pay more than prevailing wage. If there are lots of applicants, no incentives for Army Civilians and lower wages for Contractors.