$123K sounds like in the rough ballpark, with all health + other benefits etc. Not sure all they included in this salary. Loaded salary is much higher.
Hiring a contractor to do the eqivalent work in significantly more expensive. Then again, there is alot more flexibilty in hiring/firing.
I spent few years in the government 15-20 years ago. I was disgusted by the waste andd inefficiency. Going to contractors is no panacea. Beltway bandits, revolving door contractors seemed to put their own company’s best interests first rather than of the government.
With the drawdown of military, which has already started I would be very very nervous if I were a contractor in any function not directly involved in critical wartime operations. Gates announced $100M in cuts in last couple days. We saw a doubling of the defense budget in recent years. San Diego will likely be disproportionally hit.
Very interesting read of the growth in the spook work in the Washington post series. This has also seen huge growth in last 9 years. Very difficult to control the growth of black programs with relatively minimal oversight. Anybody involved in that kind of work will likely see big budget pressures in coming years.
President Eisenhower warned of a self perpetuating “military industrial complex”.
Defense is critical to the safety and security of our country, but it also diverts resources from real economic drivers.
