UK army chief earns double his US counterpart

Air Chief Marshall Sir Stuart Peach is paid a gross annual salary of between £255,000 and £259,000

BritainÕs Royal Air Force hails UAEÕs Ôtop-classÕ air combat exercise
Senior commander: exercise demonstrates UK-UAE friendship  The commander of the UK Royal Air ForceÕs (RAF) operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan on 10 April praised the UAE for staging Ôone of the worldÕs very bestÕ air combat exercises. Air Commodore Al Gillespie spoke on the final day of the Advanced Tactical Leadership Course (ATLC), an international exercise hosted by the UAE Air Force. Eight RAF Tornado GR4 fast jets from 31 Squadron, based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, England, took part in the exercise, which opened on 16 March.
During the exercise RAF aerospace battle managers and 31 SquadronÕs aircrew and ground crew worked with their Emirati counterparts to improve both air forcesÕ ability to work and fight alongside each other. The UAEÕs expansive airspace provided the stage for intense air-to-air combat training. Aircraft also practised air-to-surface tactics with support from the British Royal Navy frigate HMS Somerset. The RAF is a frequent participant in exercises alongside the UAE Air Force, and last exercised in the Emirates in December.
Wing Commander Rich Yates, the officer commanding 31 Squadron, said he was grateful for the opportunity to exercise in the UAE. ÒThe infrastructure here is excellent,Ó he said, Òand the size of the airspace means we can set up packets of aircraft to attack a ground target defended by other aircraft. The training has big benefits for us at the tactical level. As a boss itÕs always hugely rewarding to see the Squadron come up to speed.ÓWing Commander Dave Crump has been the RAFÕs senior liaison officer at the UAE Air Warfare Centre for three years, and helped organise this yearÕs exercise. ÒThis is my eighth ATLC,Ó he said. ÒThe UAE has grown much more advanced in this exercise, and the RAF brings lessons learned from its operations worldwide. Consequently the exercises are more demanding now, and the qu
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Britain's army chief earns almost double his American counterpart's salary, despite overseeing a far smaller military, it has emerged.

Air Chief Marshall Sir Stuart Peach is paid a gross annual salary between £255,000 and £259,000, the UK's ministry of defence disclosed.

In contrast, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, earns the dollar equivalent of £133,800, his office in Washington told The Times. He also receives a personal allowance of £2,820.

The disparity in pay is all the more conspicuous when taking into account the size of Britain’s defence budget and military, compared to that in the US.

UK defence spending amounts to £35 billion, whereas the US defence budget is more than 12 times bigger at £429bn, MoD figures show.

The UK military has about 200,000 personnel, according to the MoD. This compares with 1.3 million in the US, The Times reported.

Labour MPs have criticised the difference in pay between the two army chiefs, particularly at a time when defence spending in the UK is at risk of cost-cutting measures. In addition, there is a 1 per cent pay cap in place within the armed forces – a policy which the Labour Party has repeatedly pledged to abolish.

"It doesn't feel right and, more to the point, it isn't right," Madeleine Moon MP, a defence select committee member, told The Times.

Professor Trevor Taylor, a research fellow in defence management at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said “there is undoubtedly a difference [in pay], which is quite surprising”.

However, he defended Air Chief Marshall Peach's pay by arguing it was still small compared to what chief executives in the private sector earn.

“If you take the armed forces as being an organisation of 200,000, if you were running a company with 200,000 employees, you’d be paid in the millions,” he said.

“In some ways, Gen Dunford’s salary is surprisingly modest given the scale of his responsibilities,” he added.

An MoD spokesman said the comparison in salary does not explain the full picture, given other elements of remuneration.

"Comparing pre-tax pay between the UK and US militaries is misleading, as the US has significant differences in other aspects of the total remuneration packages," the spokesman told The National.