Tax breaks...a great idea but....
The US DoD have to reimburse the IR (or whatever the US equivalent is) so the break is paid for by the defence (defense
?) budget. Therefore with a limited pot of gold, something else would have to suffer (ie equipment!!).
Secondly, the average US serviceman's take home wage is approx 28% allowances (they even receive a version of LOA at home). Therefore their pensionand wage structure is not something we would want parity with.
If it is going to be done then do it properly, ie through the treasury and without losing anything else. I don't see much chance, but I did recently fill in a survey on what I would like to see to improve morale (yes another one, but this one was based on 'quick wins' )and I DID put down operational tax breaks (as did others) and I DID see the final piece of paper go through to CAS with a 4* signature block...so the point is being made.
By the way , aside from the tax breaks, the most populat 'QUICK' wins were regrading of poor accommodation to ZERO cost and extended bank holiday weekends (ie back to the old days of report to work on Tue afternoon).