Does the army pay that well?

Question

My brother has joined (he has not left for bootcamp yet) and he says that they pay great they won't have any bills and says he'll have to spend at least one year overseas somewhere is this true?

He's been out of high school for over 6 years he's married and has 3 children plus one more on the way..

Answer 1

I just finished my four year commitment. I will honestly tell you that unless you're a commissioned officer, you will be paid horrible and there will be times that you work unbelievable hours.
I've worked HUNDREDS of hours "over time". It means nothing to them, so don't expect the compensation that you would get in a civilian job.

If I could go back and choose to enlist or not, I would definitely enlist because of all of the knowledge, training, and experience I gained. But whatever you do, do NOT enlist just for the money. Really, it's a ridiculous reason to go into the military.

Seriously, the military does NOT pay well unless you're an officer.


My $0.02

Nicholas - Admin
http://www.iConfessional.com

Answer 2

Once he gets out of Basic and AIT, he'll receive a monthly allowance for food ($242), Allowance for housing, if he chooses not to take post housing, and depending on his location can vary greatly), this is on top of his base pay, and these extra allowances are non taxable as well. Of course, if he doesn't go in as an E-1, than his pay will also be greater, but right now, the current pay for an E-1 with less than 4 months is $1178, after the first 4 months, he'll get about another $100 pay raise, and if he makes E-2 prior to that, that's even more money. E-2 is an automatic promotion at 6 months, unless for some reason the Commander decides he's not eligible (didn't pass the PT, or Ht/Wt standards, or pending some kind of Adverse Action). Never seen anyone not get promoted within the first 6 months though.

Answer 3

The military pay is the same for every branch of service. So I hope he wasn't told he would be paid better to go Army. Anyways, the pay is pretty good. At first it isn't much but as you progress through the ranks it gets much better. Having just gotten out of the military I realize how good I had it. Unless you have a degree prior it's hard to find a job that pays as well as the military. Plus health care is free. There are many good doctors that accept Tri-Care. For the bills, you still have bills. If your car isn't paid for, groceries, credit cards and so on, but they do provide housing. And if he lives in military housing then he has no house payment, no water, gas, electric. Unless it says in his contract he has to spend a year overseas he may not. I know of several people in the military that were never deployed. Just so you don't misunderstand some of the other comments, you don't get anymore pay for having kids. If he had three kids or if he had ten his pay is based on his rank. He will also be given extra money each month for food. It's around $250 a month. If and when he gets deployed he will receive even more money each month, separation pay, because he is away from his family. Not to mention while in they have tuition assistance and when/if he gets out he goes to school for free!

Answer 4

Military pay isn't bad. However, there are certain ranks with a family size that are eligible for food stamps. That's never good that someone who serves their country can collect that. Unless he joins bill free, he won't be bill free once he joins.

A breakdown of what he'll receive:

Base pay....will depend on his rank and time in grade.
BAQ.....money to HELP pay rent and utilities if you live off post. I usually doesn't cover the whole amount, but it's a HUGE help.
BAS.....money to feed the soldier. They don't pay to feed a family. At one time, if you were in the field or TDY, this was taken away from you, not sure now.
If he deploys, he'll get Family Seperation pay, Hazardous Duty pay and so on. The extra pay and tax benefits depend if he's in a combat zone or just TDY or seperated.
If he goes overseas, he'll get extra money to help cover the cost of that.

He has a good chance of going overseas. There's 2 types of overseas....with dependants or unaccompanied (hardship). Unaccompanied tours are usually a year in length.

He'll be able to get 30 days of leave (vacation) a year. You can save it up to 90 days, but you can't take that all at once.

He'll have to pay things like military denal insurance. Military also doesn't cover the cost of glasses, but you can get one eye exam a year.

I can't think of anything else right now. That pretty much covers military pay. He won't be rich by any means, but they should be able to do alright. We only have 1 child, but I've been able to stay home and raise her. Alot choose to be a 2-income family though.

Best of luck to him and be proud of him for making this decision!!

Answer 5

Pay great? No they don't. The basic pay is modest specially for new recruits. Even with all the subsistence pay and benefits, your brother with a wife and 4 kids will likely be eligible for food stamps. One year overseas? Possible but not guaranteed. The hardest thing a late joiner to deal with the military service is the first few years because more than likely he will report to somebody that's younger and his peers are also younger and single. So, being part of the group will be a little struggle and this symptom causes desire to be discharge out of the military. But, after dealing with this struggle for (in my opinion) about 3 to 4 years hopefully by that time he is in paygrade E-4 or E-5, then he would have adjusted to the military life just fine. He must finish his obligation! He will be judge all his life about his military service, good or bad (IMO). Your brother and sister in law must utilize to the fullest the services and benefits to include financial counseling, MWR facilities and knowing where to get help. Having served for more than 20 years and as a counselor, high number of new military gets in trouble by simply not asking. Please say thank you to your brother for his future service to our beloved country. Believe it or not, the duty station that me and my buddies actually saved money was at Schofield (Hawaii).

Answer 6

They do not pay well; but have free medical.

E-9 - $4022.10
E-8 - $3292.50
E-7 - $2288.70
E-6 - $1979.70
E-5 - $1814.10
E-4 - $1662.90
E-3 - $1501.20
E-2 - $1427.40
E-1 - $1273.50
E-1 with less than 4 months of service 1178.10

Answer 7

I am Navy 20 years, the pay is just adequate when you first join, the benefits are what make it good. The fact that we receive a paycheck without fail on the first and the 15th each month is great, you can really plan for things that way. The more rank you get the higher you pay and entitlements go, so it pays to do well study hard and give every job 100% so that you can advance in rank.

Answer 8

Believe me, a privates pay is nothing to brag about. You don't really start making good money until you've been in for alittle over a year or so. He is right he won't have alot of bills. The army pays you to pay your bills. For example, you get BAH which is money to pay for your housing and utilities. You get money for your dependents. All your medical care is free. But there are some things that you have to purchase on your own. Uniforms stuff like that. They will issue him a few sets plus all his pt cloths when he gets to basic training. then they will take it out of his first check. My husband just spent about $300 on gear to go to Iraq. And he still has more to buy. So it has its pros and cons. It depends on how you look at it. Sometime the benefits that you get for free that you would have to pay 100s of dollars for as a civilian make the difference.

Answer 9

Yes, your brother will have bills. Even some millitary bases require its residents to pay utilities. This program begins in October of this year. When you first enter the millitary, the pay is not great, but adequate. It improves greatly with rank. Every other year, you even recieve two pay raises instead of one. The benefits are outstanding. We pay nothing for medical care. I have given birth to three children and had two surgeries, one being an emergency. We paid 0. It is likely that your brother will go overseas, I am sure it is a fact he is aware of. Ignore Cantcu, he has issues. As for survivor's benefits, if your spouse dies in a war zone you recieve 500,000. If your spouse dies in a non combat area, you recieve 400,000. That is the Army's standard life insurance policy that you pay nothing to recieve. Tell your brother good luck with bootcamp and thanks for serving our country.

Answer 10

Well, he will get extra money because he is married with Dependants....so, that helps.
If he comes on Orders for Overseas, it depends WHERE he is going....Korea is Overseas and from what I am hearing, CANNOT take his family....I think that Tour is 18 months, I am not sure on that as it changes from time to time. If he comes to Europe, he will be here 18 months if UN-accompanied *family stays in America* and 36 months if they come along. BUT, they may have to come at a later date....he has to get things squared away here/wherever first.
About being overseas a year....I am going out on a limb and say that you are talking about Downrange...yes, that is 'usually' a year, though it has been known to be extended....