Bring them home - Throw them out

I doubt that few people outside of the military are aware that not only are we “bringing them home” but we are throwing them out.  The services are unilaterally discharging people, many of whom do not want to leave.  Hardest hit are the mid-grade enlisted (E6’s) who have about 15 years of service.  By discharging them the military prevents the possibility of retirement at 20 years.  If the member is fortunate enough to be able to get into a reserve unit to complete their “20” their retirement starts at age 62 vice at the 20 year mark.  The net effect is a saving for the military of retirement benefits that can exceed $500,000 per member.  Many of these people have deployed multiple times to Afghanistan and Iraq.  Our thank you is to boot them out the door into a terrible economy.