This is a contract so you will mostly work with GS (government) employees who see you working hard everyday, but the contract leadership is on the East Coast and they have no idea what we do or how stressful the job can be.
Job responsibilities and skillsets are immense and cover most disciplines of networking including layer 2 / 3 switching, routing, Cisco / Juniper, wireless, VoIP, cyber / IA compliance, ticket work, project work, busy work, etc.
My starting salary is higher than my mentor's salary. This shows you that you don't get what you deserve but you get what you negotiate. The contract does not care about being fair, so take care of yourself by knowing your needs, knowing your worth, and communicating these.