Agree with pretty much everything you mention.
As a military (medical) retiree receiving a pretty substantial pension, term federal employment overseas in short stints has been good. Fixed duration, I live in cool places, LQA and post allowance is good and quality of life tends to be way better than in the US.
For my friends who left military service, bought back their time and went in to the reserves, its also a very good deal. Every few years, they do a tour a duty and continue their step increases etc., while maximizing their benefits while being mobilized.
For others who do jobs that aren't available in the private sector and its a calling for them, I think it makes sense as well. For many others, its golden handcuffs like you say. Even now, I want to extend overseas 6 months so my kids can finish school and it looks like the only option I'm being given is a 2 year extension with a take or leave it mentality.
In what way do you mean more freedom? Just in terms of bureaucracy and more freedom to innovate and figure out the best ways to solve issues?
That's certainly part of it. I found the entire environment a bit stifling at times. They were very big on "staying in your lane" and not speaking uncomfortable truths. Problems were sometimes covered up to protect powerful people. And yes, the bureaucracy was momentous.
But I also meant freedom to retire early. The FERS pension is a decent deal if you work until traditional retirement age and were hired before 2012. But if you want to retire early, like virtually everyone here, it sucks. It's golden handcuffs of the worst sort, where they yank out one of the legs of that three-legged stool if you dare to contravene the accepted career timeline. Stay forever and you're taken care of. Do anything else and you're fucked. It's a prison.
There are other reasons to choose a career in federal service, of course. The paychecks used to be more reliable than the private sector, until Congress started using furloughs as bargaining chips. You can genuinely make a difference in your own country by directly making it better with the work of your own hands. I found a certain level of professional respect came with the title, and sometimes you get to play with top secret stuff. But I don't think any new hires should choose a federal career for the money, because the starting pay stinks and the raises are worse. You definitely shouldn't choose a federal career if you're trying to RE. If you really love government work, state government seems like a much better place to pursue that goal.