Knowing people who work in the defense/military sector, this is what I gather as well. Pay is lower, sometimes much lower, compared to other jobs. I know some people stay in it out of ideology, or because they're natural lifers, drifted there, it was ok, and they stayed, not bothered by the low pay very much (no hard feelings, I'm a natural born lifer too!). It can be stressful but I gather that those companies slowly start to realize they're losing their old workforce and try to attract younger crowds by making the work environment "modern, young and dynamic" like startups (except for the actual pay, of course). I don't know if it works. Probably not.
