…how much our troops are paid to do what they do? Well, here is what your average trigger-puller and his boss makes, courtesy of our benevolent Uncle Sam. "Over 3" means over three years service. Military personnel in combat zones are exempt from Federal income tax (state tax, too, I'm sure). And just for comparison’s sake, the last of the columns below show you what I made as an Air Force Buck Sergeant (E-4) in 1967.
(And please note: I had a bee-yotch of a time trying to import MS-Word tables into Blogger. I finally converted the table to text and manually inserted the required tabs and spaces to make this semi-intelligible. Gomen-nasai, ne?)
E-4 (Monthly, "Over 3")
(
USMC: Corporal,
USAF: Senior Airman, USN: PO3)
Base Pay $1,842.60
Housing Allowance (w/dependents) $574.20
Subsistence $272.26
Hostile Fire Pay $225.00
Total Monthly $2,914.06
Total (Annual) $34,968.72
Other (Monthly)
Family Separation Allowance $250.00
Sea Pay (USN) $280.00
O-3 (Monthly, "Over 3")
USN: Lt.)
Base Pay $3,941.70
Housing Allowance (w/dependents) $904.50
Subsistence $187.49
Hostile Fire Pay $225.00
Total Monthly $5,258.69
Total (Annual) $63,104.28
Other (Monthly)
Flight Pay (All Services) $188.00
Sea Pay (USN) $210.00
Family Separation Allowance $250.00
1967 Pay Scale, E-4, "Over 3"
Base Pay $222.90
Housing Allowance (w/dependents) $83.10
Subsistence $77.10
Total (Monthly) $383.10
Total (Annual) $4,597.20
Annual Total in 2005 Dollars $26,912.49
1. Military pay data from the Defense Accounting and Finance Service
2. The 1967-to-2005 dollar conversions were made using “How Much Is That Worth Today?”
The bottom line, however, is the money ain’t near enough, now, is it?
Kind of makes me wish I'd stayed in the Military. They make more than I currently do. If I had stayed single and childless, I'd still be in.
ReplyDeleteBut the sacrifices they are asked to make are worth more than any amount of money.
At least you're not getting shot at, Becky. Not that sailors get shot at a lot, generally, fighter pilots and SEALs aside.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you'd stayed single and childless you'd have given up a big piece of pay, i.e., housing allowance and seperate rats. OTOH, if you'd stayed in you'd probably be a Chief by now, right? And there's LOTS of worse things to be than a CPO.
Sometimes I miss it, sometimes I don't. That automatic deposit in my checking account every month is awfully nice, though! :-)
Couldn't resist adding my .02 (Pun intended).
ReplyDeleteFor me the biggest price to pay is the family separation. Our OPTEMPO (time away from homeport) is at an all time high. We spend far more time away from our families these days than we ever have.
All that being said, I'm proud of my time and for the most part the Navy has been very very good to me.