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I believe an accurate translation of the question would be "Are you Officer or Enlisted?"
Gotcha... I missed the "joke" on that one. I am enlisted.E-6. With my allowances, TIS, I make just over $70,000 a year. Pay is not as bad as many people think.
Gotcha... I missed the "joke" on that one. I am enlisted.E-6. With my allowances, TIS, I make just over $70,000 a year. Pay is not as bad as many people think.
I definitively agree with this (and rep points to you).
What confuses people is the amount of "pay" that is benefits and allowances. There is an insane amount of bennies you get for wearing a uniform. That's just the compensation plan you signed up for-less pay, more benefits.
The tax-free component, the retirement plan, the food in the dining facility for enlisted soldiers (can't count the number of times when I was enlisted, burned through my pay partying, and ate in the DFAC for a few days), tuition assistance, the free gyms, the free libraries, etc., etc.
All they see is "I am underpaid! I am only making 38,000 a year!"
Well, try to duplicate your lifestyle with 38,000 a year (or whatever your rank/years of service combination is) in the civilian sector. It isn't happening.
Ya, it was nice not having to worry about paying rent. I guess I can't say too much about someone's motivation to join the military. I basically joined to get out of my crappy town.
I definitively agree with this (and rep points to you).
What confuses people is the amount of "pay" that is benefits and allowances. There is an insane amount of bennies you get for wearing a uniform. That's just the compensation plan you signed up for-less pay, more benefits.
The tax-free component, the retirement plan, the food in the dining facility for enlisted soldiers (can't count the number of times when I was enlisted, burned through my pay partying, and ate in the DFAC for a few days), tuition assistance, the free gyms, the free libraries, etc., etc.
All they see is "I am underpaid! I am only making 38,000 a year!"
Well, try to duplicate your lifestyle with 38,000 a year (or whatever your rank/years of service combination is) in the civilian sector. It isn't happening.
I am not even talking about that. My last LES was right around $5845. My actual CASH that gets deposited into my bank account is $70k+ a year. I am not even trying to say, "Well, I get paid $3K a month, but have health worth $400 a month, so I am gonna, for the sake of argument, do the math with $3,400 a month"
I know a lot of the time people will try to factor in their intangible benefits.
I make $70K+ in cold hard dollars a year. I get free health, vision, dental, college, travel discounts, uniform allowance, life insurance, retirement plan, on TOP of that. I haven't factored any of that stuff in.
What also confuses people, is if you look at a paychart for an E-6 with 10 years, they don't make that much. They forget, or don't know, that you'll get food and housing allowances. My food allowance is $3875 a year, and my housing allowance is $22,800 a year. So when people look at the pay charts, it doesn't look like much!
What confuses people is the amount of "pay" that is benefits and allowances.
You made some good points, I won't repeat them but would like to add:
1. Retirement - You can retire after you served 20 years. You draw your retirement right then when you retire, not when you get old and wrinkled like me. I started drawing my retirement when I was 42 years old (served in the U.S. Army 22+ years). I guess I have drawn about a half million dollars in retirement pay so far. I did manage to save and invest some of it. When I retired I got a very good paying job, I slaved in the Washington DC area for 10 years. I retired at age 52 (I do some part time work). I do not have to work. My wife works because she has a good paying job which she likes.
2. Medical - It is not all full free as they use to advertise. I am on what is called Tri-Care Prime. I think we pay about $400 per year which covers my wife and I. We use civilian hospitals for the most part. We have had some expensive surgeries... Check what medical insurance is going to cost you and your family. And I salute the US Air Force that took my son to an appropriate hospital by chopper when he was a child and drank what might have been poison.
Military looks good now that I'm on foodstamps and unemployment and can't afford to buy new brakes for my car. I want the honest truth and opinions from those in the service, especially from the non-officers. The thought of being told where to live, where to pcs, go to Iraq, etc<<< that all turned me away from the thought of joining, but now times changed and I'm not doing well in school after all the times I try.
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As this seems to be a measure of last resort on your part i cant imagine how down you will be if you fail to qualify for enlistment.
Not sure how it works in the USA but up here in Canada you have to achieve a certain academic level before they will even consider you for enlistment in the forces.
DMarie, I am surprised you poste din this thread. I know had this cat walked into my office with this attitiude he'd have been shown the door. Classic time bandit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeorgiaTransplant
Some may disagree, but I actually found the movie Jarhead in many instances to be a pretty realistic portrait of what life in the field, in a combat arms unit, is like.
Some was over the top since it was a movie-the death in training so casually, the pyramid of sandbags in the rain taller than a man-but the idea of filling sandbags in the rain as corrective training, for an extended period of time, was spot-on. The article 15, 'you must pay for everything you say!', etc., all pretty close.
Many claimed the movie was boring, but honestly, being in the field or deployed in training exercises pre-Iraq was pretty boring. I imagine it still is at the COPs and FOBs.
Military looks good now that I'm on foodstamps and unemployment and can't afford to buy new brakes for my car. I want the honest truth and opinions from those in the service, especially from the non-officers. The thought of being told where to live, where to pcs, go to Iraq, etc<<< that all turned me away from the thought of joining, but now times changed and I'm not doing well in school after all the times I try.
What careers are there in the military?
What do I sign up for if I want to live in a warmer area?
Pay? Do newbies really get 17k a year plus 10k housing allowance, etc?
What areas have the biggest bonuses?
I guess I'd just like more info so I know what to ask a recruiter.
you don't join for the money you join to serve your country and get a college education or a skilled trade out of it too.
good luck passing the ASVAB
Your scores in four critical areas -- Arithmetic Reasoning, Word Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension and Mathematics Knowledge (see below) -- count towards your Armed Forces Qualifying Test (AFQT) score. The AFQT score determines whether you're qualified to enlist in the U.S. military.
Your scores in the other areas of the ASVAB will determine how qualified you are for certain military occupational specialties and Enlistment Bonuses. A high score will improve your chances of getting the specialty/job and signing bonus you want.
The AFQT is comprised of your test results in Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), Math Knowledge (MK), and Verbal Composite (VE) x 2. Your Verbal Composite score is a combination of your Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension scores.
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