I was just wondering how much civilian employees of the Department of Defense make, and it can't be that much. I'm sure the benefits are good, but according to this table of government salaries top level cabinet secretaries only make $175,700 per year, so there can't be much room for growth down in the lower levels of government service... which is why the government is often forced to hire contractors. Interestingly, if the salaries of these top level people were raised the government might actually save money because it could directly hire skilled employees rather than bringing them on as expensive consultants.
