TimLee, is this all about the money? You are chasing the wrong things, brother. Extrinsic rewards such as money, company cars, good retirement systems, nice working facilities, will never measure up to intrinsic rewards such as job satisfaction, personal accomplishment, pride in yourself and what you do with your life. If you want to make some real cash, forget the military and forget federal law enforcement and get an MBA move to Wall Street.
I spent several years as a Naval Aviator and then worked over two decades in federal law enforcement. I certainly made more money as an agent, had a take home G-Ride, got to do some interesting things and had tremendous job security. But it never quite matched the satisfaction I felt being in the Navy. I learned a lot and grew as a man, and those talents certainly helped me in my personal life and federal career. Don't toss away your chance of getting a commission lightly, or you may wonder what you missed as you approach retirement age. That federal LEO job will be there in the future - just be cognizant of the age limitation and understand that getting picked up can take a year or so, depending on whether or not Congress has frozen agency budgets, which comes and goes but is commonplace.
You will be even more competitive for a federal LEO slot after your commissioned service. The old KSAs (knowledge, skills, abilities) that federal hiring board measure will be stronger. Folks reviewing your application will look for leadership experience, communication skills (think writing enlisted evals, giving squadron presentations, briefing field and flag grade personnel), etc. If you have the opportunity to gain some law enforcement-related experience (legal officer), you'll get points for that. While law enforcement investigations are a different animal, any investigative experience you gain, be it an accident or a JAG investigation, puts you ahead of other competitors. If a federal agency wants you now, they will want you even more after a military tour.
There has been lots of discussion in this thread about FERS retirement. Yeah, you'll get 34% for twenty years, but you can't retire on that. The key is to max out the TSP and never look back. Don't borrow from it for any reason. Get your loans elsewhere. Consider that money sacred and you'll have a great retirement. It is not hard to retire at a 100% equivalent of your salary with some planning and discipline.
You will find many former military members within federal law enforcement. The sense of community is similar, but not quite as tight, and you will miss that post Navy.
The final kicker - the federal government is the only employer I know of that will give you some credit for time served in the military. You will reach the point were you earn 8 hours of annual leave for every 2 weeks worked before your civilian colleagues do. But the best thing is the retirement credit. You can "buy back" your military retirement for a small percentage of your total base pay and for annuity computation purposes, you receive an additional 1% for each year you served. As noted earlier, if you retire from federal 6c service at 20 years you would see 34% of your base pay as your OPM annuity. It you have 5 years of military service (or prior federal or postal service), you could buy that back and change that 34% to 39%. Try doing that elsewhere! Back in the early 90's, I bought back 9 years of combined military and postal service (had a part time job when I was 19). My 34% was bumped up to 43% and will remain that way until I die, and then my wife gets it all. I paid about $4500 to buy my time back and I get about an additional $13K yearly.
Im my life I got to chase both Soviets and Colombians and wouldn't trade the experience for anything. My suggestion...Forget the cash for now. Accept the commission, kick some ass, learn some things, and have some sea stories to tell to your kids and grandkids. After a few years, go chase bad guys and kick in some doors. Stay in the reserves. In this case, you can have it all.
