While buying something at the PX today, I noticed the headline on the front of the Air Force Times newspaper: “Pay Raise This Year to be Lowest in 13 Years”. Howzat? It seems we’re being admonished (if not bludgeoned) every ten minutes to support the troops, but our government can’t seem to ante up a decent pay raise for those who are in harm’s way. This seems hypocritical in the extreme to me, but I guess the gov’t has to get the money for bombs from somewhere, be it cutting back on body armor or paychecks.
Having read the title of the thread, and the first few words on preview, I thought this was going to be about an annoying PX cashier finishing the transaction with a cheery “Support the troops, please come again!”
Well, it’d be funnier, anyhow…
It’s all part of the Bush-is-pro-military-and-tough-on-terror Big Lie, the most successful Big Lie in the history of the world.
Well, before you get too worked up about things, think it through rationally. This is not a pay cut, this is a pay raise. I’ve never really understood how people could feel cheated because they didn’t get a big enough raise, but that’s how it goes.
Second, if you look at the pay scales and factor in benefits like medical care, food, uniform allowance, in my case flight pay, being on active duty pays quite handsomely for someone right out of school and gets better (and remains fairly competitive) for the non-college graduate over the time of service depending upon how long you stay and how far you go up the scale.
I’d be hard-pressed to say that anybody is getting ripped off. I understand the reason for the outrage, but if they paid us what we think we should be paid there would be no money left. Teachers, another valuable profession, feel the same way. Nonetheless, we are being paid fair market value in a sense, doubly so because we have the pay scale available to us before we ever sign the contract and we kow the deal up front. No unions, no strikes, it’s all very straightforward.
By the way, as an E-3 on active duty all year in 2003, counting combat and flight pay but not counting the ancillary benefits, I made $42,000 or so. That’s nothing to sneer at. It’s only gone up since then. Too bad I’m not on active duty right now, although I’m sure I’m not too long for another extended vacation at the beach (if you know what I mean). I never am.
Just checking the FY2005 pay scales, an E-3 with two years TIS makes a base pay of $1456.25, or $17,475/year. Even if you were the biggest & oldest fuck-up in the history of the US military and somehow managed to remain an E-3 for over 26 years your base pay would cap out at $1640.99, or $19, 691/year.
With combat, flight & “ancillary” benefits how do you get $42,000? I’m guessing major TDY & foreign cost of living allowances. Questionable ones at that. You’re not counting that little piece of paper they send you each year telling you how much you’re worth as a civilian who was getting “equivalent” medical insurance, leave & retirement insurance and tax-free income are you? Those things are bogus & everyone knows it.
Yes, but BAH and BAS are good things, as is tax-free pay and combat pay, as is no-cost SGLI. It was a pretty spectacular year, and while far from the norm it is fairly representative of your average soldier over in Iraq, give or take a bit. Probably $35,000 or so is reasonable for your average married with one kid E-3 under those circumstances.
Perhaps you might think so, but do you know how much medical insurance cost my family out-of-pocket on active duty? Zip. Nada. Do you know how much it costs when I’m not covered by the military? $6,000-$8,000 a year. I’ll settle for something that “bogus” any day of the year.
Airman Doors hit 3 big things in military pay that levdrakon missed just looking at base pay. Base Allowance for Housing (BAH) and Base Allowance for Substenance (BAS). These are parts of a soldiers pay package. Also, completely free medical as opposed to any type of copay. Few employers offer 100% covered medical.
That said, I would expect raises in military pay to at least keep pace with inflation, as measured by the CPI. Also, even with combat bonuses, I don’t think the pay adequately compensates soldiers for the inherent risk in their job. Lastly, given the way the military has changed over the past few decades, there is a need to keep the best and brightest, and the pay scale is not designed to do so. People who are taught portable skills can almost always do better as a civilian.
When I was deployed my BAH was about $2000 a month. That goes by zip code so of course NJ would be higher than most of the country. BAS around $200. Family Separation allowance $250. Hardship duty $50. 4% cost of living allowance. No combat pay and I had to pay taxes (on the other hand no one was shooting at me). As for health insurance, Tricare sucks. The health care is fine if your family lives near a base. If not you have to rely on Tricare. Luckily we were able to continue my regular health insurance.
Someone who raises in rank gets decently compensated. Not wealthy but it isn’t bad. I don’t know how the lower enlisted do it. I don’t know how I did it. On a part time basis they barely make gas money on a drill weekend. Many lose money each time they drill since they give up overtime at their regular job.
Well, I would give something to support the troops, but I’m also being told to spend, spend, spend to keep the economy up. And lacking a substantive tax cut, there’s only so much money to go around.
And 42K is pretty good scratch, but as you say, Airman Doors, USAF, it’s far from the norm. Your figure of 35K, how realistic would that be? And is it for someone deployed anywhere? Or just Iraqle or Afghanistan?
Lev didn’t miss anything. Airman Doors didn’t mention having a spouse & kid. They almost always make out but it’s disingenuous to imply an E-3 makes $42K/year. Even with BAH, BAS, COLA, exorbitant, extended TDYs, etc, Combat & Family Separation Allowance (FSA) @ around $475/month, (most of this non-taxable) $42K is still a stretch for the vast majority of E-3s.
Taking into account your 30-day leave/year, your medical insurance, life insurance, etc; $42K is still exaggerating things, so far as I can tell.
If you’re going to make a statement like, “as an E-3 I make $42K/year, I don’t know what soldiers have to complain about,” you need to make clear you are far, far from the norm.
Mind you I agree with Airman Doors that if you’re reasonably intelligent, can get a good job in the military, you’ve got a spouse & kid, and you have little or no college education or work experience, the military can be a very sweet deal for you.
It sort of equates to bonuses and annual pay raises in the private sector. When you expect certain things to be there and then they’re not, it impacts your life. If you expect the cut in your raise, it’s one thing. When it’s arbitrary and at the whim of some bureaucratic process, it’s very much like a pay cut. Right or wrong, people come to rely on things like COLA, bonuses, etc. as part of their income.
My point, though (as I try hopelessly to prevent this from descending into a pointless philosophical debate), is that we are sending people into combat and shorting them on the home front, while at the same time being exhorted by the people screwing them to ‘support the troops’, whatever that means.
I didn’t see what the new pay raise is but you said it is just lower than it has been in the past few years. I don’t remember the numbers but the pay raises have been much higher than normal over the last few years and included a couple of twice a year raises instead of the normal once a year. The was an attempt to catch up to a reasonable wage. It was obvious it couldn’t last forever. Probably back down to what it has been throughout my 18 years in the military, close to or just above the inflation rate.
Hey, GS isn’t any better. I like how the local paper’s “expose” on the wages paid are fantastically high, like 80,000 dollar high, but don’t includeanything under a GS-7. Of COURSE it’s going to be high when you take wages from the upper ranks (imagine CAPT and above). Now, the GS got a lower pay raise than military, which I support, but still had to pay a much higher percentage in health care costs.
Summary: GS pay went up $600 for Shecky last year. Healthcare went up $650 last year. I’d like my hard luck check too.
An E-3 PFC with two years in the Army, serving in the Old Guard in Washington DC guarding cemeteries and far from combat makes the following pay:
Base Pay= $1547
BAH with NO DEPENDANTS (no kids, not wife)= $1114
BAS= $272.00
This totals over $35,000 a year!! And this is not counting any type of specialty pay that someone might earn elsewhere. Like Airborne pay, language proficiency pay, etc. And it certainly doesn’t factor in the $20,000 enlistment bonus the E-3 got two years ago, any combat or hazard duty pay, or flight pay. And it’s completely ignoring the 30 days paid vacation every year and the FREE dental and medical care.
So… I dont think Airman Doors was at all exagerating with his 45K estimate.
Lets also not forget that an E-3 does not stay that rank for long. In like 6-12 months he’ll be an E-4 and making even MORE money.
If you really want your mind blown:
Let’s say an E-3 is serving his first duty station in Korea. He signs on to stay in Korea longer than a year and happens and either brings over his wife, or gets married over there. He will make this:
Base Pay: $1547
OHA w/ Dependant= $1500
BAS= $272.00
COLA= $160.00
AIP = $450
Save Pay= $150
That’s over $48,000 as an 18 or 19 year old. That’s not bad at all. Add an extra $150 a month if he is lucky enough to be assigned to an airborne unit there.