He’s saying “they expect us to be happy at 1/3 the pay”

No, they’re expecting you to do the job you voluntarily signed up for. If you don’t like it, find something else.

Military guys are just “lucky” right? It’s not fair. Well, go spend 10-20 years in the military yourself and then say that. I don’t see a lot of the guys who complain about pay volunteering for high paying contracting jobs flying a king air for 6 months in Afghanistan either.
“I can’t do that because...”. Ok- well, what are you expecting, a handout?