I'd like to suggest, in the interest of reducing federal expenditures and overall fairness, that a "cost per volunteer MARS member metric" be developed to compare the baseline cost of what a MARS member costs the taxpayers in each of the 3 service programs.
One number for Army. One number for Air Force. One number for Navy_Marine Corps.
My understanding is, (I might be wrong) [that] Army is the only service MARS using contractor staff personnel. If true, based on my experience as a DOE contractor myself, contractor FTEs cost significantly more than do federal civil service or active duty military for the same effort.
In the interest of fairness, the most economical MARS organization ought to be the standard by which the others are judged. Off hand, my speculation would be that either Air Force or Navy-Marine Corps would be the most economic and should be the model for all.
I'm willing to send the numbers to Eric Cantor and Ted Cruz when they're ready. :-)
73
Lee