Tough Call
- If you are not making enough income to survive make plans and get out when you committment is up. I will admit it is a tough call. Also the gap between O1-5 and E's needs to be reformed. This is not the middle ages.
- —Guest Big Game
New Tricare policy
- A few days ago I would have said yes we are paid enough however thanks to the new Tricare policy I now would have to say no. My husbands gear to deploy was about a grand and all of it was out of pocket expenses. He just got two of his four bags today. 10 months into the deployment so essentially that was 500 bucks thrown away. Also counting all allowances he makes 5 dollars per hour to risk his life. That stuff did no bother me to much until I found out he is not allowed to bring that gear home with him and we have to replace half of it. On top of all this thanks to the cuts made to tricare recently there are no local doctors around that will see me and I can not refill my birth control prescription. Part of the benefit of being in the military is having the best health care possible. We no longer have that and without that benefit I feel that soldiers are underpaid. I could just go see a doctor on post but there is a three month wait for an appointment.
- —Guest Army Wife
E-3 in a slow promoting MOS
- Just to put this out here, most of the people happy with their pay are E5's and above, which of course you are going to be happy. But in the E3 and below world, living in the barracks, the QOL is shitty. The barracks managers don't take care of anything, who conveniently are E5's and say suck it up, you should be happy to have a place to live, as they go home out in town with their BAH, even if unmarried. The pay is decent, however it doesn't make up for the QOL Also, leaving isn't "just get up and go". You have an enlistment contract, and you can't just get up and walk away. A plus side of that is, you can't get fired so you are guaranteed a job and pay for X amount of years, unless you become an E5 and don't promote to E6 within 10 years, then you are SOL because you aren't re-enlisting a second time. PS, I love my job, and the military, but I wish the QOL were a little better stateside. Especially the chow hall food. Soon to be married, so it won't matter for me soon anyways.
- —Guest Steven
yes and no
- We have 9 children and my husband joined solely to serve his country. I think everyone would like to make more but it still provides a stable and decent income. And no I do not get extra money for havong more children, we get the same rate as someone who is married with no children.Now if you factor in the hours,rusk factors,and duty responsibilities the hourly rate really isn't that great.You won't get rich certainly but there is no reason you can't not live comfortably.
- —jtulcu
If only I could
- We have a few issues to address here. 1) those of you who are an E-5 or below should be grateful to get ANY special allowances. I do not receive any allowances because i am a Marine. And, just so i don't have to hear that pitiful excuse anymore, YES i did sign a contract. And don't you worry your pretty little head, there is no possible way i would ever stay in the military. That being said, i am very proud of what i have done in my time in the marine corps. 2) BAS. I also do not receive any allowance for food. Although the chow hall is generally not available to me because of working hours, I have been told to do what any good marine would do. ADAPT AND OVERCOME. Who needs food anyways? 3) I live in a building that was condemned before i deployed to afghanistan. Now, magically, it has been UN-condemned. Mainly because they are building ALL BRAND NEW HOUSES for married boots and forgot about me and my fellow Iraq/Afghan veteran corporal roommate living in a once condemned building.
- —Guest MCBH EASer
Everyone's got something to say
- I love my pay and benefits. I have never had a better paying job in my life! And for the record, BAH w/ dependants is only higher because the goverment takes responsibility for housing us, and it costs more to house a person with a family than one without. They also feel those with a family should get a small compensation when forced to be away from them. If you got a problem with that, go get married. As far as base pay, it reflects the civilian sector, so if you are unhappy with that, I welcome you to get out and find a job that gives you as much as you get now, especially with the economy the way it is. My only gripe is twofold. One, I agree with Disgruntled Employee. We were not given nearly enough clothing allowance to get the new NWU(not for four sets, at least). My other is, where's my re-enlistment bonus. I'm an FMF Doc out in Afghanistan right alongside all these Marines getting $15-20K to resign. Where's mine? I got zero to sign up, and I'll get zero to re-up.
- —Guest Greenside Doc
Military Pay is JOKE
- CRA is a JOKE. HUGE Joke. Let's see...I have to get 4 new sets of NEWU's..priced at $80$ for a complete set fully patched, $320...right there..new boots..$129.99...$449..Blue Ts to go with, at 4$ a piece x 10, and the parka and inner liner, at $276...$710 for the new NWU roughly, that's not including my peanut butters that I need to get, add an additialn $75...$800 to get all the new uniforms required by COB 2010, and..I got $268 for my annual clothing replacement this year, 2nd year mark. FML. CRA is a Joke. I hate it. Whatever happened to a "here's money to buy all those nice new uniforms we didn't issue to you at training"..and and I had to pay $1100 for my GI bill, just so that a year later, they now give it out for free, where's my $1200 at Uncle Sam. FML
- —Guest Disgruntled Employee
Not enough.
- Now if you where issued the new uniforms, or where in for four years when the first clothing allowance was paid I don't see a problem. If you happened to join in 06-07 and where issued from the bullseyes/johnny cash's/ice cream men's and recieved all the partials without the offset then you are screwed. To buy one NWU boots gortex and all is more than a single yearly clothing allowance. Let alone having 4 to make your sea bag, and 4 of the NSW's.
- —Guest Justin3yrs
Perception is the key
- the real bottom line is this. The pay is one thing in the military that everyone has in common so it is common griping ground. If we recieved 100,000.00 every paycheck there would still be 2 privates irritated that they aren't getting paid enough. It all goes with how much you cherish it. Same goes for the food, I am a 92G and I have people who come in to my defac after sitting in a chair all day and gripe about the chow while I have a gaggle of 11B or 14K who come through and ask for seconds of the same food the pecil pushers turned their noses up at.
- —Guest Donnie D
E-5 USN
- Are you serious?!? You can't make over 40k a year in the civillian sector with a high school diploma. I don't know of any civillian jobs that gives employees EXTRA money for having dependents. If you don't have enough money in the military its because of one or two reasons: Piss poor money management and or too many dependents.
- —Guest Guest USN
E-5 pay
- Im happy with the allowance/pay that I recieve in the Navy: My needs are met! My only complaint is that the BAH for single and married couples should be the same for obvious reasons!
- —Guest christopher
In response to E-3 with 5 dependents
- It's not the Military's fault someone joined the Military with 5 dependents. Nor is it the Military's responsibility to pay them more just because they decided to have a family they couldn't afford. Family planning plays a large part in that and dumping the responsibility on the Government is shameful. They should consider going back to College and getting a degree if they want to make more money. While we're on the subject, Military members with families get more accommodation and special treatment than they ever would in the civilian sector. They also get an increased housing allowance and dependent medical coverage even though they perform the same job as someone without dependents. A study was recently released that stated there is no performance difference between someone with a family and someone who is single so the balance is already tipped in their favor. I've seen plenty of married E-3's getting dependent BAH while their wife brings in even more money.
- —Guest Rob
In response to Guest Qrock
- It's the Military's fault someone joined the Military with 5 dependents. Nor is it the Military's responsibility to pay them more just because they decided to have a family they couldn't afford. Family planning plays a large part in that and dumping the responsibility on the Government is shameful. They should consider going back to College and getting a degree if they want to make more money. While we're on the subject, Military members with families get more accommodation and special treatment than they ever would in the civilian sector. They also get an increased housing allowance and dependent medical coverage even though they perform the same job as someone without dependents. A study was recently released that stated there is no performance difference between someone with a family and someone who is single so the balance is already tipped in their favor. I've seen plenty of married E-3's getting dependent BAH while their wife brings in even more money.
- —Guest Rob
Blessed
- We get paid very well. Believe me. If you were in my shoes you would see. I was recently diagnosed with Epilepsy and I am facing a Med Board in 32 days. I'll never find a job in today's market that compares to my current pay. Just don't take what we have for granted. Sure, I would love another 3.5%, but it does not always happen that way. For those of you who would publicly speak out about your Commander in Chief on a website should remember those words you swore to, no matter what you think or say behind closed doors. V/r,
- —Guest AF Pararescue (NM)
Not at all
- We go through financial challenges that we never would've faced if we had not joined. How would you like having to pay $75 a night just for a real bed and shower?
- —Guest Ashley
