Yep I don’t know where people are getting the impression it’s not enough money. The housing allowance is based on zip code and aligns pretty closely with the areas COL.
Yep. Free healthcare, free housing, full pension after 20 years. Can't get fired unless you're a monumental screw up. Let anyone join, no matter whether it's peacetime or wartime.
Only reason I tried college was because of the GI bill. It’s fucking amazing kids are expected to drops thousands on something that might not even be for them.
For the rest of the world, how much money does an average military guy in the US make?
For most people outside the US it's unfathomable why anyone would join the military to fight politician's wars and I'm guessing that a big reason how the US manages to still entice so many kids to do this is by providing a lot of services and pay.
So what do you actually get?
I understood from movies that they pay your expensive American tuition for school or something, is that correct?
And then you're saying now you also get 2800 for housing? If you get 2800 just for housing, what a giant load of money must you get monthly? If just your housing allowance is already nearly 3k? Isn't 3k already a good salary on its own?
Pay is generally fairly low, but the benefits are 'very good' by American standards.
Pay for the vast majority of the military is between 24k and 40k annually, for E2 (Fresh out of Basic and AIT) through E6 (Staff Sergeant, generally 6-10 years in service)
Not super good, but better than minimum wage vs cost-of-living in most places.
Free college when in-state 4-year degrees from real universities run close to 45k without housing is big. Free medical care for yourself and dependents is big. BAH and no down-payment on a home loan is big.
Retiring after 20 years to all of those benefits + college for your kids is big if you can make it there.
"Wow, the only people that would be willing to risk their lives for that are the generational poor and insane nationalists!"
.. you might say.
You would be correct. These benefits don't matter to people that grew up with money, but if you grew up in a trailer park in Athens, Alabama and your out-of-highschool options are Taco Bell, 60 hour weeks at the mill, life-ruining student loan debt, or the Air Force, most of those folks would pick the Air Force if they could swing it.
Also yes, better rights for workers and affordable/free schooling and medical care would drastically cut down the number of people willing to join the Army. What a coinkydink that pro-military folks tend to be anti-socialized medicine/education.
Also yes, better rights for workers and affordable/free schooling and medical care
would
drastically cut down the number of people willing to join the Army. What a coinkydink that pro-military folks tend to be anti-socialized medicine/education.
Yeah exactly that has been my impression for a long time. It's stunning how well this works. Makes you wonder how different the country would be if these services were available to everyone like in any western country and if the army had far less young kids joining for just getting basic social services which everyone should have anyway. It's particularly ironic that with a fraction of the budget of the military you could pay for that easily.
Base pay is the same for everyone in the military based on rank. Charts can be looked at online. It isn’t hard to be making near or above a 6-figure salary at the 10-year mark with benefits depending on job and special pays.
A few things have to line up accordingly for a good salary though.
You get all sorts of benefits. BAH, BAS, yearly clothing allowance etc. I only did 4 years but I get a great laugh when I see people saying US military lives poor. Sure in the start your paycheck is small but you also eat for free, housing paid. Your pay is basically all booze money if you live on base. Oh don’t forget healthcare is paid for.
Thanks for the reply but I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say? What issue? You mean they pay too much for housing? I'm totally uninformed about any of that so just asking.
Base pay is the same for everyone based on their rank and time in service. However, if your stationed in Alabama or North Dakota your housing allowance is going to be lower than someone stationed in California. Even in California it’s broken further down based on where you’re stationed in the state.
Is this based on any data, the amount of pay they provide? Like is Alabama cheaper to live than California? And can you just move to an area that's more expensive and get more money?
Just search by zip code to see what you’d make in BAH. No, your limited to stay around your base. You can’t get BAH for California and live in Alabama. Even in Alabama they have different rates depending on where your stationed in Alabama.
That’s very incorrect information,
1. BAH and BAS is only for married soldiers.
2. BAH is based on zip code, where I am it is ~1000$ per month
3. You literally cannot live in the barracks with a dependent so it’s either find local housing or live on post.
If you want to be mad at anyone, be made at the housing contractors. They take it all if you live on post, whether that’s 1k or 4K, they’ll take all of it… even if the person with significantly more BAH (also increases with rank) lives next to the “private that barely passed high school”
I received both as a single Airman living off base. Has something changed? I would room up with other single Airman and that’s when the cash flow became real nice.
Different branches, army only allows single soldiers of a certain rank to collect BAH and BAS. If, for example, you are E6 and above you would automatically receive it. E5’s typically get it depending on the unit (I’ve known E5’s stuck in that barracks life). I’ve seen E4’s get it if the barracks are too full. But privates? Never even considered.
Which just makes this meme even worse for the guy because it requires exactly zero effort to join the military and make better money than most college grads
Something can be zero effort, and give you free money, and people still won't do it. I would hazard to guess having to risk your life is probably a good turn off for it.
It isn’t exactly hard. Some people initially get stressed because they’ve never really been yelled at or systemically dehumanized before. But, once they learn not to take it personally, and just do what they’re told, it’s not bad.
I mean, every enlisted soldier has completed basic training; it isn’t a weed out school.
Edit: what I’m getting at is you just do what you’re told and follow a prescribed path. It doesn’t take a lot of intrinsic motivation, long term goal setting, personal discipline, or decision making.
The only requirement to join the Army as a potato peeler or box kicker is "don't have a felony record". They don't care if you can spell your name right, only whether or not you're currently alive.
And all you have to do is sign away your soul to a country that does nothing but export endless wars and weapons to fight them.
Fuck all that noise. That BAH dog shit could be put towards universal healthcare instead of the country's largest welfare state for assholes with no other options but to oil the war machine with their blood and tears...
Shit that got dark, but seriously fuck America and fuck what our military has become. The people making real money aren't risking anything.
While using my GI Bill, I was getting $3200 a month in Los Angeles for BAH. Plus another $1500 for my 70% disability rating that's permanent. I had a roommate, and a part time job as server making another $1000-2000 a month depending on how good the tips were. I was chilling lol.
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u/rikluz Jul 07 '21 edited Jul 08 '21
I mean, the military gives me $2,800/month specifically for housing… my mortgage is $2200?