Every year the military gets a standard across-the-board pay raise. Sometimes it’s enough to keep up with inflation, sometimes it’s not. In the 26 years since 1993, the pay raise has been positive 16 times and negative 10 times after accounting for inflation. Over time, however, it tends to outpace inflation by a bit. Adjusted for inflation, military pay rose about 4 percent during the Clinton presidency; 9 percent during the Bush presidency; and 4 percent during the Obama presidency. During the Trump presidency, it’s been negative both years so far, and the cumulative pay raise has been about -0.1 percent.
