WIC for active duty; is it appropriate for an E-6?

I am SFC with 13yrs in the military (go look up my pay), I have 5 children at home and a spouse who has a full time NONPAYING job. The next ignorant person who makes another asinine comment about a stay at home parent CHOOSING to not work will only further demonstrate how UNPREPARED for leadership they truly are. Raising a family, no matter the size, is a difficult and daunting task. Do not judge others until you have walked in their shoes. My spouse chooses to stay at home because her presence enhances the lives of our children and allows me to focus on my career as the primary breadwinner. My spouse runs the house on her own, getting kids to 3 different schools (elementary, middle, high school) while caring for our 2 little ones that are under 5. She has ZERO support from ANYONE, especially now that I am deployed. She does all of that without being compensated, financially. If the government will provide assistance, you can bet I will be their to collect all that I am eligible for. We receive WIC but turned down the $7 in food stamps we were eligible for. You don't see all these corporations turning down their government benefits. If you really feel the need to point out an injustice in the world, why not focus on the wasteful spending the defense department does by giving the commissary a $1.4 BILLION dollar subsidy so they can have the privilege of providing over-priced products. My family saves over $25 using the local supermarket (HEB) and Wal-mart versus buying from the commissary. And the commissary often doesn't even carry the WIC items we are authorized to purchase. You have no idea of the minute details of that servicemember's life that led them to where they are today. SSG Robert Burns is 100% correct, WIC offers very little, but it helps. BAS and BAH are not pay, they are allowances, stop comparing what the military receives to what civilians receive, they don't have the same level of risk every single day they go to work. Military compensation will NEVER reach a level that is commensurate with what we are asked to do, but we don't do it for the money. Maybe this E6 is supporting his extended family back home in another country? Maybe he is an alcoholic?

Bottom line? If you don't like how the system works, don't rail against the recipients, GO FIX THE SYSTEM! Run for office, make a difference, educate yourself about policies and who is voting for what.

(Did I forget to mention this a touchy subject for me?)

Here is why you are NOT wrong to be upset about it:
1) This was not who this program was designed for. WIC's stated mission is to "safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk." Meaning people who do not have the funds to provide adequate food for their families. When people complain about the shear dollars going into "entitlement" programs, this guy has his thumb on the scale. When he and people like him, cause these programs to be cut by 10, 20, 25%, he can shrug because he didn't *really* need the money anyway (unless...see #3). Meanwhile, across town, another family is standing in line at the church soup kitchen.

2) I am sick to death of people talk about how they saw the person a head of them in line at the grocery store pay for a handful of items with WIC and then proceed to run up a second order of groceries totaling $200+ then drive away in a car newer than theirs. For people who care about these programs and the families they are intended to serve, it is important to point out these loopholes. We are hemorrhaging money as a nation and misdirected/misguided/misused social programs become a lightening rod for those seeking to eliminate social programs altogether.

3) The bigger concern I have is that WIC (in many states) asks you to disclose all savings and will DQ you until you spend your savings. So after 10 years, this guy has nothing saved up? I am suspicious that his situation is, in fact, more serious than he is letting on and that his remarks about deserving it as much as anyone is deflection. Is he up to his eyeballs in debt, does he have a sick parent, struggling with an out-of-state mortgage, what's wrong? He isn't in your chain, but I would be concerned that there is something going on here. If I knew his leadership, I might mention the issue but in terms of concern about his family and I would drop any mention of your opinion of his morality.

I guess the government never thought of that. Thank God they have you to point that out to them. The bottom line is whether you think he deserves it or not is irrelevant. The government set a standard and he meets the standard.
A mother staying home with 2 children is not unemployed. She has 2 full time jobs that don't pay anything.
I don't know if you have children or not, but raising a family of 4 on a single income, E6 or E2 is not easy.
How much does it costs annually for a 3 or 4 bedroom house annually in Maryland? Why are you upset that someone is getting the assistance that they need to take care of their family. Or is it you live in his house and you know better than he does if his family needs it or not.