Do a quick online search for military discount or military offer and thousands and thousands of webpages come up.
And it’s not just restaurants or retails stores, car rentals, apartment rentals, colleges and car dealerships all offer special pricing and discounts for active duty service members, veterans, National Guard and military spouses.
Add in our medical coverage, housing pay, debt relief, and educational and retirement benefits, and it’s not hard to see why some feel that service members and their families receive too many special privileges and considerations.
Despite the stereotypes, members of the military community aren’t cheapskates. We’re not sitting at home hoarding all the savings we get from military discounts.
But even though we know more than anyone that these benefits and privileges are earned by our service members, it can be disheartening when we find ourselves in the crosshairs of public opinion.
Often when these arguments are raised, we feel like we are standing on the other side of some kind of cultural divide.
Can the average American truly appreciate our way of life?
Can they understand why these special provisions are available for military families?
At the same time, we must consider our own motivations. Are we asking for too much?
The Difference Between Benefits and Privileges
To those who think we are, as a community, overpaid and over-privileged, a quick review of the difference between benefits and privileges is in order.
The housing, educational, retirement and medical benefits are just that – benefits.
Just like any other job, these benefits are part of the total compensation package offered by an employer to an employee upon the acceptance of a position.
Yes, these benefits are funded by federal taxes, a system our community also pays into, but any American who chooses to apply and accept a position in the military is entitled to receive them.
These things are not privileges, they are earned compensation.
That being said, it is important to understand that there is a limit to these benefits. I’ve heard military spouses complain about the military not paying for an airline ticket home for a funeral or about how school loan debt for dependents should be forgiven.
While arguments could be made for additional benefits in both cases, the truth is, the military isn’t a I-want-it-so-give-it-to-me free for all. We cannot simply expect that our every need and want be subsidized by the American taxpayer.
The U.S. military is not a welfare state. We must be careful about considering ourselves to be a community more deserving than others. We are no more American than our civilian neighbors.
Benefits earned should be benefits received. Everything else is on us to manage.
All Those Military Discounts
While most businesses offering a military discount do so as a way to give back and say thank you, let’s not lose sight of the fact that it is still a marketing technique used to attract customers.
The U.S. military community is fairly unique as far as our spending habits are concerned. Job security offers our community of consumers the ability to spend more than their civilian counterparts in many areas. Offering a discount attracts customers from the million plus strong military community.
It’s no different than offering a discount to those who have student ID or are over 55 years old.
And when you consider that a lot of military folks I know tend to spend more when there is a military discount offered or leave bigger tips, any military discount is funneled right back into the economy.
Despite the stereotypes, members of the military community aren’t cheapskates. We’re not sitting at home hoarding all the savings we get from military discounts.
A Community Apart?
We are a community unlike any other in that we exist because our nation demands a strong and professional military. And while our role as citizens is unique, we must not lose sight of the fact that we are part of much larger whole and should continue to serve our country with grace and humility.
We must not close ranks, but instead remain open and engaged in the conversation about the future of this country, including its military.
After all, while long and distinguished, even a career of service in the military must come to an end. And we will need to cross that cultural divide and rely on the strength and acceptance of our civilian communities to help us make that transition.
I disagree that these are benefits. These are entitlements we earned for serving 20 or more years in service and /or served in a war zone. Benefits are all the goodies members of Congress receive. During my 28 years service, including a year in Vietnam and a year in Thailand during the Vietnam War, I hated the term benefits. Were the aluminum caskets that members killed in Vietnam were placed in, to transport back to the US a benefit? They earned it and were entitled to something better than a wooden coffin. Military members earn every consideration they are offered, especially those that served multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not benefits! Entitlements!
Unfortunately Lou you will never convince some people that the military are overpaid and receive to many benefits. I spent 20 years in the military and everything I get I earned. I have pretty much given up with them and just tell them if you want the benefits then do what I did and enlist. believe me very few of them will but it does shut them up.
Perhaps some in the civilian community may feel that way, however they should try and understand that what we receive in “privileges” is well deserved.
Until they are willing to put their lives on the line for the betterment of their fellowman….there is no reason what so ever for the few who do bellyache to complain.
Military service is a great life, and it can also be very taxing. We love what we do and appreciate those who acknowledge it.
Military personnel and their families endure hardships that the average civilian cannot imagine. Those benefits are payments for services rendered to the country and for those civilians who sat at home safely.
A local business has this posted on their wall– “Veteran: a person who at any time in their life gave a blank check to the US government payable for any amount up to and including their life”.
No civilian can ever understand the sacrifices made by not only military members, but also their spouses and children. I’m not even talking monetarily, I’m talking about the hours or weeks or months or even longer our veterans are away from home and family, the fact that our children are uprooted from their home and friends and moved from school to school to school and have to adjust to a new lifestyle every few years, the “free” housing that was sometimes so nasty I wouldn’t have let my dog live in it let alone my children ( I admit it’s much better, even nice, now in many places). My husband is retired AF, and numerous times throughout the years he was offered at least double the salary to do the same basic job as a civilian…..without the added dangers of serving during wartime. Military “benefits” don’t even come close to that amount of extra salary he could have made.
When businesses offer military discounts, they are acknowledging and showing appreciation for the service and sacrifices made by our veterans. The appreciation means as much as the discount. I love to see businesses that also honor police and firefighters, or teachers….there are many people who deserve a little extra recognition for the service they provide.
Our Air Force base is the largest employer in it’s area for a civilian workforce. It keeps the economy going in the area. The military assigned to the base also contribute to the economy of the area in buying/renting homes, paying taxes towards schools and purchasing goods and services. The military retirees who have decided to set down roots and make this community home also contribute in purchasing homes, goods and services, paying taxes and volunteering in the community. We bring a lot to the table of a community – but if that community thinks we are entitled, or are jealous of what they perceive as free benefits – no one wins. My husband served in the AF for 27 years. He retired as a Major and had a Masters degree. At any time after he got the Masters degree, he could have gone out in the civilian sector and made twice as much money as the AF was paying him in salary and so called benefits. The military offers these benefits to entice the best people possible to stay in the military. It doesn’t make them level with their civilian counterparts – but it goes along way towards making life affordable for military members and their families. The benefits or discounts offered to the military from outside businesses, to me, is a way for the business to acknowledge the benefit of having a large military installation in your community, to thank the military for their service and to attract business. At no point does a military member get anything he/she has not earned.
I have been around the Military my entire life my father served 22 years in the U.S. Army, I went in the year he retired while I was serving I married my husband so a total of 56 years with benefits I don’t know what I would do without them. I also think in away I deserve them my father was gone a lot he also served 3 tours in Vietnam, he was in Korea for a year without his family the Military took a lot from us as children needing both parents being in the Military I took from my children didn’t always get to see first steps or hear first words, Then being a mother while my husband had to spend a lot a time away from us as a family, if I didn’t have my Military Family at time I had no one, all my children were born while my husband was deployed or he left the day after they were born. How many civilians have to miss holidays together? How many have had their spouse come back a different person because of the war? I think we deserve these benefits we have earned them!!!!