When people give figures for the cost of war (in general but let’s use Iraq for an example), does this cost include the salaries of the soldiers deployed or otherwise involved in the war?
They were enlisted and salaried, anyways, but is there an increase in the cost of staffing the military during the war? Is this increase included in the cost of war?
And while we are here, How many man-hours per day are put into the war? How many man-hours would you estimate for one soldier per day (8, 16, 24)?
According to this letter from the Congressional Budget Office, personnel costs do not include basic pay of active duty personnel, but it does include the pay of reservists called up for duty.
To clarify a wee bit, active duty soldiers get paid the same base pay if they’re sitting around playing Nintendo or if they’re kicking butt and taking names. Reservists only draw substantial amounts of pay when they’re called to active duty, and combat pay and other bonuses aren’t “normal” peacetime costs.
As a result, the estimates of how much has been spent in the war do not include pay for the active duty types, but do include pay for reservists and the various special pays.
Thanks. Are the active duty soldiers paid bonuses for being in combat?
Is there an increase in the number of active solders?
What about the man-hours question. I don’t think they are doing 8-hour shifts and kicking back the rest of the day. What is a fair estimate? 12 hours? the whole 16 waking hours?
What I don’t think gets estimated is the cost of replacing people who had other jobs. In most wars that would be a non-issue, but when you have reservists and national guard “over there”, it may be important.
Just a WAG, so if someone can provide factual information I’d appreciate it.