Coast Guard actually has the best benefits, and is probably one of the least dangerous, although they say Coast Guard is the hardest boot camp by far, even harder than the marines. My grandpa has 3 friends that retired from the Coast Guard in the 60s and they get $3,500 a month, while his brother retired from the Navy and his other brother retired from the Air Force around the same time and get less than $2000 a month. These days a Coast Guard member that retired after 20 years would be getting over $5000 a month probably.