WASHINGTON (AP) — America's citizen soldiers, who train in their hometowns for a weekend a month and two weeks a year, are paid more for one day of training at home than their fellow National Guard and Reserve members earn for a day serving in the war zone.
Pentagon officials are defending the discrepancy as incentive for National Guard and reservists who give up weekends and are ready on a moment's notice to serve. It's one of many problems in the complex Guard and Reserve compensation system detailed in a new Pentagon review recommending changes to make salaries and benefits more equitable.
The study says Guard members and reservists get two day's pay for each day of weekend training, compared to one day for those called to active duty and deployed to Afghanistan.
