When Democrats were in charge this sort of blatant politicization didn't occur, and accommodations were made to ensure military pay. Not so with the feckless Republicans.

This video has been viewed more than a million times on Twitter, but is unlikely to ever be shown on Fox News. Of course.

Source: Oliver Willis

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would not allow military pay to be left unmolested by the Republican Party’s decision to shut down the federal government. Once again, Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have made the military suffer as a result of their political gamesmanship.

The move, occurring at night as the Senate debated the shutdown, is a change from 2013, when the Obama administration ensured that military pay would not be disrupted by a shutdown.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced a resolution that would have secured pay for service members, noting that Trump has been trying to divide the country by invoking the military and putting the blame on Democrats if they were to go unpaid in the event of a shutdown.
...
McConnell quickly objected to McCaskill’s resolution — and instead left military pay up in the air along with the other casualties of his party’s decision to grind the federal government to a halt.

But that won't stop the Trump administration, in this case, VP Mike Pence, from lying about it and demonizing the Democrats.