Still, he is right in that even today, although you have a decent latitude of choice of occupational specialty, you are still subject to being assigned “for the needs of the service” to a unit that will come under fire, with no input on your part, whether you chose it or not. At the start of the 2003 Iraq war a number of purportedly “rear echelon services” reserve units that got sent overseas got the really unpleasant surprise of how with a highly mobile and diffuse battlefield, they could end up being the ones under fire.
Don’t get me wrong: there’s a lot of very big problems with how the military treats its people. I can only speak for the Army, but there are things that happen every day which would lead to civil suits and possibly criminal charges in the civilian world, and they’re just brushed under the rug. The Army is, unquestionably, a shitty employer, with unspeakably toxic leadership. That said: the pay is fucking fantastic.
I’m current a junior enlisted soldier. When I joined two and a half years ago, I had precisely zero experience in my chosen military career field. In July, I received my monthly base pay of $2081. Since I’m stationed overseas, I also got a cost of living allowance of $315. Since the Army cannot accommodate my religious dietary requirements in the chow hall, I also got $350 to spend on food. I also, hilariously, get $8 every month ostensibly for ‘housing’, despite living for free in the barracks. So my net income for the month is $2756, and $665 of that is non-taxable.
I’m single, so I live in the barracks, so I didn’t pay rent, or bills for electricity or gas or water or refuse removal, or anything else other than my internet bill. Going off my last civilian residence, that’s about an extra $500 per month value.
I get completely free health care. I get completely free vision, including two pairs of glasses a year. I get completely free dental. I get completely free prescriptions, mental health services, physical therapy, and literally any other medical care I need. That’s, obviously, a hell of a lot better than any insurance plan I’ve ever heard of. The insurance I had before joining cost me about $100/month, and had a $2000 deductible, and didn’t cover vision or dental. I’ve had an orthopedic problem which ultimately required surgery since I’ve been in, so let’s go ahead and say that’s a lifetime savings well into the five digits. To keep with monthly figures, I’ve filled four prescriptions this month (pulling numbers out of the air, let’s say that’s $60), and gotten my OTC allergy medication and some Tylenol for free at the clinic (let’s call it $20). Add in two medical appointments and we’ll say total medical savings for the month: $120.
So that’s an extra $620 or so, on top of my monthly salary. Even ignoring the various tax benefits, it’s like I’m making $3,376 per month, in a field which I have roughly 18 months experience in, because my employer hired me knowing I was at that point unqualified for the job, and they didn’t just train me for free, they paid me for my training.
Oh, also they’re paying back about $45,000 in student loans, spread over three years, so that’s an extra $15,000 per year, bringing my annual salary to about $55k/year. Not bad for an entry-level position.
There’s a thousand things to criticize about the military; how they pay us is not a valid one.
This was one factor in my decision to enlist in the Field Artillery.
There’s a lot of jobs. Not all of them have meaning. Soldier is a job with meaning.
Don’t judge people’s motives. You don’t know them.
I know a few people, including my brother, who chose to go into the military because they felt an obligation to protect his homeland.
However, saying that a non military job might not have meaning (as implied) or that a Soldier is a job WITH a meaning is kinda perplexing. Surely many joined due to the draft or were in need of money. To them is was a job and likely not a pleasant one. To them it had little or no meaning outside of either extreme need or forced obligation under threat of jail.
And frankly, Soldiers get paid more than almost any other unskilled worker and they train you to be good at it and other things. There is no other job I know of that does that at all, AND give you free medical and even retirement plans. (Edit: Not to say that all soldiers are unskilled. Just that you can enter without any training and get paid while training to be one)
OT, but if there is such thing a soldier worship, and many soldiers are foot soldiers, then patriotic foot fetishists must be the happiest people.
Though they were mightily disappointed when we gave up the shiny black boots 
I know exactly the motives of the people I spoke of, I wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise.
I’m not even going to judge your comprehension skills.
Though I do believe we are well compensated there is a widely held misperception that our housing and medical are “free”. They aren’t “free”. They are part of my compensation package. I work for those benefits. They are by no means “free” an it irks me when people say they are. They are generous benefits, and do have real value no doubt about it and should be factored in when deciding if we are over paid,but they aren’t free.
Saying they are free would be analogous to saying that the guy working at GM who gets 2 weeks paid vacation per year gets14 “free” days off. Thank you GM for graciously giving him two free weeks out of the goodness of your heart.
Please show me another job which offers a similar benefits package where you are not expected to financially contribute to your housing and health insurance costs.
Wow. You guys really do get paid well. Back when I was doing my mandatory service I made maybe $100 a month, and I crashed at my parents on weekends.
Hmmmm. When I was in the military all I got was a lot of shit from those above me, and no one outside the military ever said that what I was doing was worthy of worship. All in all, not one of the best occupations I have had.
1980’s military worship:
Inside the military:
Boot camp company commander: “What the fuck did you join the navy for?”
Recruit: “To serve my country sir!”
BCCC: “Serve your country? You can’t even fold a fucking pair of skivvies!”
Outside the military:
Typical 1980’s SoCal young woman, on a San Diego-stationed sailor’s dating prospects: “as if!”
What didn’t you understand about my post? My housing and health insurance certainly have a significant cash value but they are not free by any means. You could make the argument that we are over compensated, and you may be right, but that’s not the same as getting something for free.
If your employer contributes to a health care or retirement plan does the part time rat McDonald’s who doesn’t get those benefits get to say you get part of your health care for free or you get free money for retirement?
If I stop reporting for duty I’ll stop receiving benefits very quickly. If it was free that wouldn’t be the case.
I was rich. I got $83.00 / month.
Out of that $$$ I had to buy my own
boot polish
razor blades, deodorant, after shave
stamps & letter material ( way before the digital / cell phone age ) only one TV for the whole building. ( a full company )
Extra uniforms because the free laundry service was too slow
ect., ect., etc.
So fun money was not really abundant.
Today it is better except for married men with small children especially. Make some rank & it gets better. You do not get to start out at E-7 though.
Ah… The budgetary advantages of Universal Service 
Why do some people feel the need to start thread after thread on the Dope expressing their annoyance with the status of people in the armed services?
As an alternative to these pointless resent-fests, have you considered taking direct action and organizing a protest march and/or picketing your local American Legion hall?
[quote=“Sicks_Ate, post:62, topic:666216”]
Partially bullshit.
If you’re married, you either get base housing or get paid to love off-base, and on top of that you get an allowance for food.
Another military benefit? Where do I sign up?
::d&r::
I do think that service members deserve real respect, but not the mindless adulation that sometimes occurs. And as a former service member, I personally don’t really want to be thanked for my service by strangers (it is embarrassing)…I would much rather we put serious money into vet health concerns and educational benefits than have kneejerk adulation.
I do think that teachers should be given more respect, along with other professions that aim to improve our society. And all occupations should be respected, including trash collectors!
Heh. Bear in mind, though, that we had zero expenses; especially seeing as our moms did our laundry (say what you want about the Israel military, but we had the best leave policy of any army in the world - I don’t think I went for more than three weeks without my mom’s cooking during my entire three years of service. The benefit of a really small country, I suppose).
Personally, I blew most of the money on movies and Magic cards.
Took the words right out of my mouth.