Money talks: Nothing like cash to recruit, retain world’s warriors

Free college tuition. New cars. Complimentary passes to government gyms. And cold, hard cash.

Militaries all over the world are at war right now. They are getting creative with pay and benefits to lure recruits and to keep battle-hardened veterans in their uniforms for another round.

Ukraine, Russia, Israel and Iran-backed terrorist outfits such as Hamas and the Houthi rebels are boosting pay and crafting other, sometimes nontraditional, incentives to replenish their ranks.

It isn’t easy to compare the pay and benefits offered to service members from one country to another. America’s GI Bill and other military benefits that help troops pay for higher education do not have direct equivalents in Russia, where most citizens get tuition-free college. Up-front enlistment bonuses or other financial incentives may not translate in the same way in Israel, where all young men and women must join the military for at least two years.

One universal truth seems to apply everywhere: Money talks.

The U.S. military offers college, retirement, housing, health care and child care benefits to its troops, but specialists say bigger paychecks remain the best way to attract and retain talent. The incentive question has taken on an even more vital role as all the military branches have faced rising recruitment difficulties and missed manpower targets in recent years.

“There is a lot of evidence over many years, in many studies, that people respond to monetary incentives,” said Beth J. Asch, a senior economist at the Rand Corp. who studies military recruiting and pay.

“Some people will join the military not because of the money but service to the country, patriotism. This doesn’t deny that,” she said in an interview. “It doesn’t mean everybody is motivated by money. It means the evidence shows that at the margin, when they increase pay, we see more people wanting to stay. When they increase pay, we see more people entering the military.”

The U.S. is directly involved in multiple conflicts around the world, such as battling the Islamic State group in Syria, fighting the terrorist network al-Shabab in Somalia and the American-led air campaign against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The pay and other benefits for those troops can vary wildly.

This year, an enlisted service member with a pay grade of E-1 will receive $2,017.20 per month in basic pay, according to a Military.com breakdown. A new officer’s basic pay is $3,826.20. Those with years or decades of service can make thousands of dollars more, up to $18,491.70 per month for Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other service chiefs.

Those base pay numbers tell only part of the story. Service members can receive other payments, such as food and housing allowances, retirement benefits, subsidized or free health care through the Veterans Health Administration, college tuition benefits and subsidized child care.

So, too, do veterans of the Israel Defense Forces. Late last year, the Knesset passed legislation to cover the cost of higher education for combat veterans. Tens of thousands of IDF troops are seeing combat right now, with Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, in Lebanon against Hezbollah, and elsewhere in the region.

Pay for IDF service members differs significantly and is highest for those in combat zones. Other Israeli troops, particularly “lone soldiers” with no family in the country, receive other benefits such as food assistance, housing aid and, in some instances, holiday gift cards.

Israel’s top regional foe, Iran, has its own problems with military compensation. The Times of London reported this year that soldiers with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s most elite military unit, make an average of just $300 per month — less than a computer programmer or a schoolteacher in Iran.

Some Hezbollah fighters reportedly say they make well over $1,000 per month. Some Houthi rebels have claimed to make as much as $300 per month, though verifying those numbers is difficult. Some Yemeni government officials say Houthi fighters make far less.

Hamas fighters also make a few hundred dollars per month on average, but the group has reportedly offered major financial incentives, including a free apartment for any Hamas member who captures an Israeli hostage.

New incentives in Russia, Ukraine 

Russia, which has reportedly sustained nearly 700,000 casualties since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, is desperately trying to attract more manpower while avoiding a politically perilous mandatory call-up.

Russian soldiers can earn as much as $34,955 in basic annual salary, with the potential for as much as $60,000 in additional payments and other benefits, according to recent Moscow Times figures. Being dispatched to combat zones almost always results in higher pay.

A recent Rand analysis found that the Russian government also offers after-school care for soldiers’ children, assistance to elderly relatives, a housing stipend, vocational training for next of kin, clothing and food allowances, and free season passes to sports complexes and gyms run by the Russian Defense Ministry.

Russia’s battlefield opponent, Ukraine, recently hiked its military pay. The minimum base payment is about $800 per month, but that figure quickly rises to at least $2,400 per month for those involved in direct hostilities against the Russian army, according to a recent breakdown by the media outlet The New Voice of Ukraine.

Kyiv’s recent mobilization reform also includes meal compensation, additional vacation time, mortgage assistance, exemption from interest on loans and rewards for destroying or capturing enemy equipment.

Kyiv also offers a certificate worth about $3,600 toward the purchase of a car.

What if a soldier doesn’t drive? That benefit, along with countless others offered by militaries worldwide, won’t mean much to many service members.

“It’s hard to measure the value of those things. The [U.S.] military offers subsidized child care. If you have small children who need child care, that’s an incredible benefit. But there are a lot of people who don’t have kids,” said Ms. Asch, the Rand analyst. “Even the military retirement benefit, a lot of young people in their very early 20s, they don’t even know what a retirement benefit is.

“The thing about money is that it’s meaningful to everyone,” she said.