I agree with TOFO. I worked with the RAF as a Civil Servant after retiring from the RAF and it used to bemuse me that my blue suit colleagues would say " If I got that job in civvie street I would be earning ..." I used to point out that to equate to their RAF pay they would need to earn 20+ % more to allow them to pay into a comparable pension. The non-contributary aspect of service pay makes the cost of such provision invisible to the average serviceman.