Before Bullshidt Ruled The World The Military Would Tell You What It Cost To Field An "Army Of One"....,

30 Years old, so you know that the current cost is some multiple of what it was back in the days of Desert Storm.  Total estimated annual cost for the current Soldier System is $138.3 K per year which includes individual soldier personnel cost - $39.5 K, soldier clothing and equipment - $1.6K, soldier supplies - $2.6K, division support - $40.8K, and Echelon Above Division support - $53.9K. Current Soldier System equipment represents about 1% oftotal system cost. 

What does this mean? From a system perspective, even significant increases in equipment costs translate into only minor system level cost increases. For example, a 500% increase in soldier clothing and equipment cost for a future Soldier System would translate into about a 6% increase in total Soldier System cost. In turn, for this increase to be cost effective, the future Soldier System need only generate a 6% increase in soldier effectiveness to be more effective than the current Soldier System.

CONCLUSION. The current expenses for soldiers' clothing and equipment represent about 1% of the total Soldier System cost. The investment in advanced equipment/material technologies for future Soldier Systems, even if significantly more expensive, need generate only minimal improvements in overall Soldier System effectiveness to be cost-effective. Analysis of Current Light Infantry Soldier System Costs 

- Now, on to the current bullshidt

NBCNews |  “The least important part really of the cost of a soldier, sailor, airman or woman is the equipment, helmets, boots, even airplanes and tanks and things like that,” says Daniel Goure of the Lexington Institute. “The real costs are the personnel costs, we’re talking about training, we’re talking about housing, we’re talking about dependent care for families, daycare for children, we’re talking about health care, which is a huge issue.”

Let’s just look at recruiting alone. This year, recruiting one Marine cost $6,539, including advertising, college fund and enlistment bonuses. Train that marine and you add $1,614, including the uniform, gear, laundry and chow. Then give that recruit some real classroom learning and tack on an additional $301. Remember, you haven’t paid him yet. Pay, allowance, clothing and moving expenses will add $19,973. Give him some ammo at $787 and then provide him with a staff of drill sergeants, teachers and support staff for $15,674. Total value of a new Marine: $44,887.

But in the interest of accuracy, we’re still way off.

“We have an extraordinarily technical military,” says Goure. “The majority of people are not on the front line, coming off the beaches with rifles. They are behind the scenes, running equipment; they’re the people running unmanned aerial vehicles like the Predator.”

HIGHER EDUCATION

Old-fashioned infantrymen are in fact one of the rarest commodities in today’s military, a force now filled with Ph.D.s and highly specialized officers. What about that kind of education? Last year, the cost of graduating one officer, likely specializing in science and engineering, from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point was $340,000. But let’s say that officer likes to fly. Put him in a $19 million F-16 fighter.

So what’s the overall average cost of sending a soldier to defend our freedom? Well, that was my assignment, and after spending two weeks trying to pry that number out of the U.S. military, our crack team of investigative journalists in the Washington bureau came up with the following answer: it’s simply not a knowable number. Suffice it to say, the figure is priceless.