>>1229090So going back to the point about veterans-
I'm a veteran with active duty during war time. I have no purple hearts and no service-related disability. My work is roughly equivalent to a GS-10 to GS-13 in the gov. I have a
M.Sc. and handle budgets of $1-$5million/year. I regularly field a crew of 30 on average. I'm fluent in Federal Acquisition Regulation and have most of the training required of a Contracting Officer or the COR.
I would have some difficulty getting a GS-9 or higher position because I'd be competing with career government workers with better resumes. However if I did get a position I could expect to make $75-$125k/year after overtime.
As a private contractor I gross millions of dollars a year and generally make $125k AT THE VERY WORST. I often make $350-$750k in a good year as my NET. I have a lot more risk though. I only get paid if I'm great at my job. But there's no limit on what I can make, and in fact the government actively helps me grow my business with various programs.
So any competent vet isn't going to be a government employee. It's a great place for the mediocre to excel and the incompetent to get by. But the very best, the cream of the crop, will be working in private industry. A significant number will avail themselves of government programs and hiring preferences to build multi-million dollar businesses. The veterans in government service do very well financially, but the really great ones usually spot opportunities in the private sector. They're not generally the guys you'll see applying for the entry-level government jobs.
