Well, then they should get a pay raise. It's about time anyways. You can easily make $150k a year as a private contractor.
Numbers like that are likely to represent gross pay. Military personnel deployed to combat zones are meanwhile tax-exempt, and receive comprehensive benefits.
The arithmetic for comparing deployed military and private contractors is probably similar to the comparison between full-time employees and freelancers.
and cops all over the country who on average make 30-40k
I think "enables them to live in the community in which they serve" is a key point that doesn't apply to military personnel in the same way.
I don't see anyone saying people in uniform shouldn't be making better wages.