Military Pay

Original Post:
I also don't buy the line about people in the military being underpaid. I have seen it come as a rude awakening to people who left the military only to find that they were in fact being OVERpaid based on the kind of wages/salary that their skill set commanded in the civilian world.
Postees reply to above post:
HA! you must be a POG or an officer that doesnt leave the ****ing green zone.COMBAT troops are under paid. My husband brings home 1600 a month. even when he picks up sgt he wont be making much more. So please tell me how hes over paid when a manager at micky d's is making more, or a wife working at the px is making more than he is.And if it wasnt for the BAH we couldnt afford to live on our own.So next time you decide to make a comment like that think about all the e-5's and below who are on the front lines watching their buddies get shot and killed for less than 8 dollars an hour all while wives like me are home trying to make each dollar count, and cutting costs any way they can.And FYI Infantry, mainly 0351 are some of the hardest MOS's to pick up rank in. Well in the Marine Corps anyway.
My reply to postee:

Okay I’m allowed to comment on this because I’m the fiancé of a former Marine and someone going into the Air Force after September. I’m assuming from this post that you’re husband is Cpl from the comment “even when he picks up sgt…” I will agree that your hubby most likely brings home a base pay of 1600 a month, but I will also say that you are receiving BAH as you said in your post, you’re also receiving other allowances that increas his pay. And as you say COMBAT troops are under paid yes fact I won’t argue with this however, if they are out there on the front line they are receiving even more in there pay check. As well as receiving money for you to sit at home miss him. Being over seas he has very little time to spend any of his hard earned money which means he goes busts his butt and trusts you to spend the money where you seem fit. Yes we sit at home making every penny count, but I’m also out working a full time job while raising our son. If you can’t figure out how to manage say an E-3 pay grade of well looks at the chart: E-3 is 1650, but you yourself said he’s a Cpl which brings in what? 1828 a month plus on average 1000 in BAH plus about 200-300 food allowance equals 3028 a month. Then what the heck are you doing with all of his money. Now I’m not posting this as is because I don’t know you I don’t know you’re situation, and therefore don’t want this to come off as a personal attack because it’s not its just annoying that military wives go in thinking oh my Marine or my Soldier or my Airman or my Sailor is going to provide me a fabulous wonderful life while I sit on my ass and do nothing.


Alright folks it’s time for me to explain all of this gibberish at the top. I’ve been reading this forum and the above is something that someone wrote on the topic of our Military Servicemen being underpaid. I feel very strongly about this because David just got of the Marine Corps, which appears to be the branch this “postees” husband is in, and I’m joining the Air Force after the wedding which means that I’ve been doing nothing but research on the topic for the past year+. Above “postees” husband would have to be the same rank as David was when we first got together, and therefore I know what his pay was and a little about managing this amount of money from month to month. The above chart shows that someone at their pay grade of E-4 for someone that’s only been in for LESS than 2 years (which if you go in right out of high school and have no way of receiving advance rank before you enter is pretty unlikely unless you bust your ass, of course if you’re a Marine then this is a hands down no brainer and you should be doing this anyway) None the less, The BASE pay is: 1828 a month. For those that don’t know this is more like your wages that are taxable and so they probably bring home around 1600. So lets divide this out: David was I&I so he worked approximately 60 hours a week (at least) so that’s $6.67 an hour. Extremely underpaid, HOWEVER what people don’t tell you is that he also receives 1675 a month of BAH. (Money given when you have dependents and live off base OR when you’re active duty and stationed at a reserve center that doesn’t have military housing. This amount depends on your zip code) This amount of money is considered an allowance which means it is NOT taxable so that entire amount is divided up into your 2 pay checks. So lets add that on ($1600(base pay)+$1675(housing pay)=$3275 and at 60 hours a week=13.64/hour) $13.64 still underpaid okay I’ll give you that. HOWEVER every military member living off base also receives BAS ((money to offset the cost of food and meals for the military member(not his/her family)) in an amount of $323.87 Lets add (3275+323.87=3598.87/month=$14.99/hr) okay so sure still underpaid, but lets add in the factor of free health care for you and your entire family (3598.87-0=3598.87 still brought home a month), plus free education for your family if you’re willing to do the research (3598.87-0=3598.87 still brought home a month), plus life insurance worth a quarter million dollars, free training, 99% job security in today’s economy, a retirement plan that can’t be compared to ANY other plan, plus the ability to buy a house for little or NO money down and low mortgages, plus if he unfortunately does get deployed and is away from dependents for more than 30 days he receives FSA of 250 a month, he also receives other bonuses for being deployed to certain areas. I’ve known many many many military men and women that have come back from a combat zone after 6 or 7 months with an EXTRA AFTER ALL OF THAT PAY approximately $25,000. AND the BIGGEST reason this gets to me is: NO ONE SAYS YOU HAVE TO JOIN THE SERVICE. It’s a choice!! The pay charts are right in your face before you sign that contract. AND if you’re a wife (or husband) that wants to complain about what your other brings home if you can’t make 3600 dollars a month work then you need A. money management classes and/or B. go get a job!! It’s not that hard of a concept there are hundreds if not thousands of sites out there for jobs for military spouse employment help because businesses know the military travels so often and therefore they’re understanding! Not only that but I’d also like to mention all of the places that offer military discounts to help you save money, some places all you have to do is ask and they’ll hook you up! We went to a Phillies game and “normally they don’t do this” but we paid for 1 ticket and got the other free. AND the above calculations are for a person of an E-4 rank with less than 2 years of service. Each year of service receives an increase of pay, a clothing allowance as well increase of pay with promotion which depends on how hard you bust your ass. AND if you’re into receiving an education many many many schools offer online classes, a military discount to service members as well as spouses and dependents and military leave/deployment option. You put your education on hold while you’re deployed and resume classes when you return. I could go on and on, but I won’t I think I’ve made my point. On the other hand I will say that our military does put there life on line however as I said above it’s a choice in life not a requirement.
If anyone would like my sources on this info I will be more than happy to give you my researched information.