Change to military retirement plan

Last month the Pentagon proposed replacing the military's pension system with a 401 (k) style contribution program. Under the plan, "...all troops would receive yearly retirement contributions if they served at least 20 years -- a stipulation of the existing system. The money, however, would not vest until service reached at least three to five years and would then be payable at retirement age. If personnel left before that three-to five-year mark, the time served would be rolled over into Social Security.

     What do I think of this possible program? I don't like it. I've been in the military for 14 years. For the first 10 years of my service, I greatly benefited from the military. I learned leadership, management, and a lot about technology. In that first 10 years I got my B.S degree and an M.B.A. However, during my last 10 years the military will greatly benefit from my skills and expertise. At 14 year mark of service, the prize of a pension is a huge motivator to stay in and provide my expertise at half the cost I would expect as a civilian. 

     There are about 1.5 million members in the United States military. Of that number 1.1 million of those personnel are enlisted. Enlisted personnel are middle class families. Before the 1990's internet stock boom, the stock market was seen by the middle class as a rich man's game. I guess the rich got tired of trading each other's money and started getting the middle class in the game to bring some new cash in the mix. In the 2000 stock crash, millions of middle class people who didn't know any better lost their shirts. Don't get me wrong, you can make money in the stock market, but most people don't know what their doing. It's not their fault and the military shouldn't force it's members to become stock traders. In the stock market there are no guarantees and I believe that we owe your military members, who put their lives on the line, a guarantee that their families will be taken care of after they complete their service. 

     It's clear that the military needs to take some pain like the rest of the country, but cutting middle class military members pay and benefits is not the way to go. I think everyone in the military knows the truth about government spending. We all know tons of other ways the government could save money. Most of us have seen the outrageous end of year spending spree's, contracts and contractors that are paid enormous sums to do basic jobs, and many other ways the military could save money. Before enlisted members get on board with cuts to their hard earned retirement and other benefits, we need to see some real changes in the way the military and it's leaders spend money. I have a good way to start saving money, how about if we end the two wars that are eating up most of our budget?