So let me get this straight- we pay big bucks to blackwater, then pay more to our commandos

To keep them from going to Blackwater! What a friggin' scam. A private company would have their employees sign a non-compete clause. But not the USA! We LOVE to toss money around!

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top10oct11,0,6281437.story
Six-Figure Bonuses Retain US Commandos

By RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press Writer
3:04 PM PDT, October 11, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has paid more than $100 million in bonuses to veteran Green Berets and Navy SEALs, reversing the flow of top commandos to the corporate world where security companies such as Blackwater USA are offering big salaries.

The retention effort, started nearly three years ago and overseen by U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., has helped preserve a small but elite group of enlisted troops with vast experience fighting the unconventional wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Defense Department statistics.

Overall, more than 1,200 of the military's most specialized personnel near or already eligible for retirement have opted for payments of up to $150,000 in return for staying in uniform several more years.

The numbers gathered by The Associated Press and other Pentagon research indicate there has not been an extended exodus of commandos to private security companies and other businesses that value their talents.

"Back in 2005, we saw quite a few exits," said Rear Adm. Michael LeFever, director of the Navy's military personnel plans and policy division. "What we're seeing lately is just the opposite. We've become very aggressive."

So, yes, maybe each one wasn't so much, but over the total it is money we shouldn't have had to spend.

If we want to give raises based on merit, fine. But we set up a bidding war with a company we are propping up.

They gave me 30 days mess duty when I turned them down. Of course, I wasn't a "commando".

Not that the Armenian genocide isn't important, but it's now 100 yo history.

This is going on now and it's an outrage that taxpayers must fund both Blackwater and these huge bonuses because of Blackwater. They should just disband the merc outfit en total now and that will save taxpayers billions.

but the US military should not be competing for who gets the best soldiers in the world.