Are members of the armed-forces underpaid or overpaid?

Question

Many people are demanding that the armed forces deserve better pay, but I don't understand this argument. Surely, by being a member of the army, you don't have many of the fixed costs, bills, fees, taxes and duties of your 'regular' citizen - and wouldn't your accommodation be covered by your employer when on operational duty anyhow?

If members of the Armed Forces earn 'too little', isn't this in proportion to their costs?

I hope this doesn't cause a huge argument, but I'm curious because these days everyone in the public sector is demanding bigger slices of the monetary pie - and I'm trying to establish for myself whether certain groups really deserve pay increases.

Answer 1

So, what fixed costs do you "Regular" citizens have that a married military member don't?

Lets see...

I pay rent, water, garbage, electricity, phone, Internet, dental, social security, federal taxes, state taxes, and more...

All these things that you are assuming us military members DONT pay cost me in the realm of 2500 dollars and I get paid 970 for housing allowance and 240 for food. Lets see...minus 500 for social security and federal tax...that still puts me around 850 dollars in the red.

how would you like 850 dollars of your 2800 base pay removed on top of the 500 for tax and then I still have my car, insurance, etc. to pay.

You do the math hero. figure it out


edit.. forgot... I am an E6, an E4 makes about half my pay.

Answer 2

Yes the regular army personnel are underpaid in several ways, they dont enjoy the big breaks you mentioned. Reservists and National Guards can be acccommodated by their employers but all Regular Military personnel are volunteers and do not have that cushion. Many have families to take care of and yes they do have bills to pay, fees, taxes & so forth. Even though some breaks come from the 1940's Soldiers and Sailors Acts they, still pay income taxes, State income taxes in their home state, social security taxes etc. most get breaks on income taxes only while actually serving in combat zones, otherwise they pay taxes as every other good American's pay. They used to enjoy a break on goods bought in their Base Exchange stores but not any more. only sales taxes are exempted from the goods they buy. Moving every time they change duty stations are very expensive although Uncle Sam pays to move their furniture, the ones who own large mobile homes foot a bigger share of the expenses than the Government, Such as packing un blocking and set up fees. though they are reembersed for a portion of that mobile home move, it does cost military personnel big-time.

Answer 3

The armed forces troops are very under paid.
It was that way when I served and it still is today. Most military people don't work an 8 hour day and go home and they have the same bills and responsibility of anyone else.
These friggin politicians surely don't need to be making the money they are making sitting on their butts all day - let them donate their pay to help fund our troops.
It makes absolutely no sense to me why in this country we can pay a football player millions of dollars to play a sport, but we cannot properly fund those who give everything for their country.

Answer 4

OK. Let's break it down.

E-2 Navy. Married. 1 1/2 years service.
$1300 Base Pay
/2 for 2 paydays a month= $650
$1250 for housing.
My rent is $1234.
$250 for food a month.

$100 average electric bill.
$81 average cable bill
$25 average water
Car payment, plus taxes.
I end up with about $800 a month for misc stuff. I'd say underpaid.

Answer 5

your not getting all the facts here, yes we have some good benefits but then we have to pay rent, food, some medical, definitely dental,utilities and it might be high if we are stationed in high cost of living city, take san diego for instance, most navy people are either on food stamps or live 1 hr away or more from military base because that is all they can afford, especially if you have a family your expenses go up, cant tell a military member to not have children, SO YES we need a big raise, the problem is as soon as we get a raise our rent will go up

Answer 6

Growing up during the war told me a lot of things about military pay. Bush gained favor among the military in the first election because he promised a long overdue increase. During the deployments, I knew many children who were on food stamps, and what is worst the hazzard pay soldiers received gave them just enough money to knock them off welfare. The pay soldiers receive is not enough to support a family. My father was a Major and he received more pay in one year working a civilian job then he did four years in the military.

Answer 7

the military , especialy enlisted , is under paid for what they do .
1. long hours , 60 + a week
2. poor working conditions
3.severe hazards
4.inpolite middle management ( SGTS )
5. the competition is murderous

If these men and women were paid what they are worth , they'd make more than Congressmen ( who are basically worthless ) .
They don't do it for the pay, they do it for us .
Oh,yes , the public sector .
The "GIVE ME"S " .
The perpetual handout types .
This country became great because people took great risks . They bet their lives and capital on a dream , A dream the Kings of Europe didn't want dreamed .
Now , it's take from those who earn it and give it to someone else, mainly to get their vote .
Just GIVE ME and don't attach any strings or conditions .

Thank God , our troops don't think that way .

Answer 8

Definitely under paid considering the job they are doing and I'm not just talking about the lower enlisted. NCO's and commissioned officers make way less than you would expect on the outside. The benefits package is great though. You have base pay according to rank and years of service and there are ways to boost your pay. MOS re-enlistment bonuses (special operations qualified candidates get up to $40,000 now), parachute pay, language pay, temporary duty pay, combat hazard pay, non-taxable deployments, etc. If you want to make money while in the Army (don't know about the other services), you have to open yourself up to situations that others might find risky and often these special pay incentives are closed to women due to their combat apllications.

Answer 9

My mother is in the military. She is Air Force. I believe that the military people are underpaid. People doing the same job that are not in the military are getting paid more than people in the military. Think about how much the military has on the line everyday. If we go to war who do you think is going to defend us? The same people who complain that the military members have more benefits think on how much their families have to deal with. There are a lot of things that military members and their families have to deal with than 'regular' citizens do not have to. They don't have to worry about their parents dying in a war that they don't even feel they should be in fighting. If my mother was to die who would help me (a 21 year old who still has a lot to do in her life before she is financially stable enough to take care of herself and anyone else) take care of my brothers. Military members don't have enough more when you really think about it. They have to work more hours. If you break down what they get paid a year and how many hours they work, it will be less than minimum wage.

Answer 10

i feel that we are grossly underpaid. my husband puts in long hours starting at 4:30 and 5:30 in the morning and he doesn't get home till 8 or 9 at night. what's that worth in overtime in the civilian sector? my husband is getting out with 15 years of service. he's tired of being treated with no respect and little pay to show for it. we are a family of 7 and support our family with $1100 take home pay every two weeks. it pays the bills, but leaves little for anything extra like a car repair, new tires or clothing for our kids. we pay for all our so called extras. medical, dental and so forth. we pay alot out of pocket that our insurance doesn't cover.