Free college tuition. New cars. Complimentary passes to government gyms. And cold, hard cash.

Militaries all over the world are at war right now. And they’re getting creative with pay and benefits to lure in potential recruits and to keep battle-hardened veterans in their uniforms for another round.

Ukraine, Russia, Israel, and even Iran-backed terrorist outfits such as Hamas and the Houthi rebels are boosting pay and crafting other new, sometimes nontraditional incentives to replenish their ranks.

It’s difficult to directly compare the pay and benefits offered to service members from one country to another. America’s famed GI Bill and other military benefits that help troops pay for their higher education do not have a direct equivalent in Russia, for example, where most citizens get tuition-free college. And the concept of up-front enlistment bonuses or other financial incentives may not translate in the same way in a country such as Israel, where all young men and women are required to join the military for at least two years.

Still, there’s one universal truth that seems to apply everywhere: Money talks.

Specialists say that in the U.S. military, which offers a host of college, retirement, housing, health care and child care benefits to its fighting force, bigger paychecks remain by far the best way to attract and retain talent. The incentive question has taken on an even more vital role as all the branches of the U.S. military face rising recruitment difficulties and missed manpower targets in recent years.

“There is a lot of evidence over many years, in many studies, that people respond to monetary incentives,” said Beth J. Asch, a senior economist at the RAND Corporation who studies military recruiting and pay.

“Some people will join the military not because of the money but service to the country, patriotism. This doesn’t deny that,” she said in an interview. “It doesn’t mean everybody is motivated by money. It means the evidence shows that at the margin, when they increase pay, we see more people wanting to stay. When they increase pay, we see more people entering the military.”

The U.S. is directly involved in multiple conflicts around the world, from battling the Islamic State in Syria to fighting the terror network al-Shabab in Somalia to the American-led air campaign against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The pay and other benefits for American troops fighting those battles can vary wildly.

This year, an enlisted service member with a paygrade of E-1 will receive $2,017.20 per month in basic pay, according to a Military.com breakdown. A new officer’s basic pay, meanwhile, is $3,826.20. Those with years or decades of service can make many thousands of dollars more, all the way up to $18,491.70 per month for Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown and other service chiefs.

But those base pay numbers tell only part of the story. Service members can receive a host of other payments, such as food and housing allowances, in addition to retirement benefits, subsidized or free health care through the Veterans Health Administration, college tuition benefits and subsidized child care.

So, too, do veterans of the Israeli Defense Forces. The Knesset late last year passed legislation to fully cover the cost of higher education for combat veterans. Tens of thousands of IDF troops are seeing combat right now, with Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, in Lebanon against Hezbollah, and elsewhere in the region.

Pay for IDF service members differs greatly and is highest for those in combat zones. Other Israeli troops — particularly “lone soldiers” with no family in the country — receive a host of other benefits such as food assistance, housing aid and, in some instances, even holiday gift cards.

Israel’s top regional foe, Iran, has its own problems with military compensation. The Times of London reported this year that soldiers with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s most elite military unit, make an average of just $300 per month — less than a computer programmer or a schoolteacher in Iran.

What’s worse, some Hezbollah fighters reportedly say they make well over $1,000 per month. Some Houthi rebels have claimed to make as much as $300 per month, though it’s difficult to verify those numbers. Some Yemeni government officials say Houthi fighters make far less.

Hamas fighters also make a few hundred dollars per month on average, but the group has reportedly offered major financial incentives — including a free apartment — for any Hamas member who captures an Israeli hostage.

New incentives in Russia, Ukraine 

Russia, which has reportedly suffered nearly 700,000 casualties since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, is desperately trying to attract more manpower of its own, while avoiding a politically perilous mandatory call-up.

Russian soldiers can earn as much as $34,955 in basic annual salary right now, along with the potential for as much as $60,000 in additional payments and other benefits, according to recent Moscow Times figures. As in the U.S military and others around the world, the pay can differ dramatically depending on where a soldier serves: Being dispatched to combat zones almost always equates to higher pay.

But the Russian military is offering more than cash. A recent RAND analysis found that the Russian government is offering after-school care for a soldier’s children, assistance to elderly relatives, a housing stipend, vocational training for next of kin, clothing and food allowances, and even free season passes to sports complexes and gyms run by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Not to be outdone, Russia’s battlefield opponent, Ukraine, recently hiked its military pay. The minimum base payment is about $800 per month, but that figure quickly rises to at least $2,400 per month for those involved in direct hostilities against the Russian army, according to a recent breakdown by the media outlet The New Voice of Ukraine.

Kyiv’s recent mobilization reform includes a host of other benefits for its fighters, including meal compensation, additional vacation time, mortgage assistance, exemption from interest on loans for the service member and their family, and rewards for destroying or capturing enemy equipment.

Perhaps most interestingly, Kyiv is offering a certificate worth about $3,600 toward the purchase of a car.

But what if a soldier doesn’t drive? That benefit, along with countless others offered by militaries all over the world, won’t mean much to many service members.

“It’s hard to measure the value of those things. The [U.S.] military offers subsidized child care. If you have small children who need child care, that’s an incredible benefit. But there are a lot of people who don’t have kids,” said Ms. Asch, the RAND analyst. “Even the military retirement benefit, a lot of young people in their very early 20s, they don’t even know what a retirement benefit is.”

“The thing about money is that it’s meaningful to everyone,” she said.

• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.