I've worked for the DoD, so I've had to think through my take on the ethics of it all. IMHO the issue is that a country's military can be used for good and/or

I've worked for the DoD, so I've had to think through my take on the ethics of it all. IMHO the issue is that a country's military can be used for good and/or for evil, and people generally are unable to participate when and only when they agree with a mission. But I also agree about the pay. Even for labs on the DEMO pay scale, the median pay isn't very competitive with the private sector for well-qualified software developers. And there's no possibility of competing with the potential high-end of private sector pay.