You take away post retirement benefits, no one in their sane mind will join the armed forces.
Literally not a single person from Alevels and advanced schools join the army. The recruitment is slowly being diverted towards people with less caliber who wants to changes social classes. No one in their sane mind is willing to waste their youth by being blown apart while they can go abroad or private life with better economic propects. Overseas pakistani thinks army is heaven, it's not. The benefits are being scaled down massively, officers gets apartments now and barely any plots on junior levels. Brigadier and generals benefits are also being curtailed. Army isn't that lucrative anymore and it's just a matter of time it becomes punjab police 2.0 the way especially overseas chutyia awaam is targeting the military and the standard of candidates coming in.
As far as MRAPs are concerned the army doesn't have the money to buy them. TTP negotiation are being down to close that chapter permanently and focus on balochistan. Money is everything and the enemy has alot of it while we do not.
Let me address your points below:
1) Benefits
They definitely should remain, but should be linked not only to some obscure and opaque internal GHQ review (which rewards careerist people and not daring thinkers) --- rather, linked to the overall security of Pakistan as judged by a national committee (like the NSC, or similar). If a certain high command managed to deter RAW's support to proxies that target our people, great. Give bonuses. If it's this same current new normal, cut things back. This is because the new normal is a very unstable place of a catastrophic deterrence deficit. India can kill our people with impunity through proxies while we cannot do anything in India proper or directly target the Indian officers responsible for such actions.
2) The Brain Drain
You paint a much rosier picture than the reality. The recruitment has gone toward people with lower caliber and no experience/exposure to globally competitive standards/the outside world as of a few decades ago. Since I've worked with and know many, many people in the Forces at various different levels, I agree that the benefits are being cut back, etc. But that's not the real problem. The real problem is that no 'idara' has made any real effort to improve the quality of its intake. There are active efforts in the West (and always have been) to recruit the very best and brightest. The highest achievers from Oxford and Cambridge in the UK and the top three Ivy Leagues (Harvard, Princeton, and Yale) in the UK are actively enticed. Then they are tested using very rigorous intelligence and problem-solving type test batteries, not some BS memorization ratta match. The CIA complains of the same issue but have found solutions: Google and Goldman Sachs pay 3x, yet they are able to attract some top minds. Why? How? Because (1) they have created a culture where public service is prestigious and people are okay with taking a pay cut, (2) they know the CIA does everything it can to remain a ruthless meritocracy and take on daring, creative missions (it is the opposite of the fauji "yessir" culture), (3) they are entering an agency that is at the cutting edge of everything. A better example is Israel, where they implemented the
Talpiot and
Havatzalot programs decades ago to directly recruit the brightest students into the national security space for a few years before freeing them to pursue more lucrative opportunities in the private sector.
Talpiot members have served their country with great distinction, earning an amazing amount of accolades and going on to found tech companies that are worth (combined) billions. What is our excuse here? At least TRY to get better people. It is a sad, sad country that can only attract top talent through $$$ and nothing else. Such jobs have to appeal to a person's desire to strive toward something a little greater than just the amount in the pay check (while ensuring that it's enough for a dignified living).
3) "Overseas Ch**tiya Awam"
I'm guessing you're not older than 25. These are the views I had before I realized that Pakistan would have sunk long ago, and could sink today, if it wasn't for their contributions. Secondly, you have often equated criticism of the Army as some kind of mortal sin (this is also how I felt many years ago). Let me assure you that the opposite is true. There is an important degree of nuance here. If some sold-out foreign payroll pseudo-intellectual liberal professor does it, there's a chance it's being done to sow discord and subvert an important institution. But when real patriots do it, as I consider myself one, you should pay attention to the details of their critique. Quite often, they have valid points. The Army needs massive reform, as does the intelligence community (IC). A combative attitude toward anybody who points out shortcomings does not help anybody.
4) MRAPs, etc.
People here might argue that the benefits (especially the value of plots, commercial and residential) allotted to a 3-star general are somewhat disproportionate to the overall economic health of the country. Therefore, those things may be restrained further so money is freed up for MRAPs, drones, etc. This is, of course, a crude solution, but you get the point. Also, as my post mentions, I never talk about these things as they are all (at best) tactical solutions when our real problem is strategic. There is no incentive for the top brass to undertake daring, creative solutions and deterrence rethinks because their personal interests are protected even if the country's overall interests are not. This was my key point.