Military Pay

[softballmafia]

Subject: Military Pay



This is an Airman's response to Cindy Williams' editorial piece in the Washington Times about MILITARY PAY, it should be printed in all newspapers across America .

On Nov. 12, Ms Cindy Williams (from Laverne and Shirley TV show) wrote a piece for the Washington Times, denouncing the pay raise(s) coming service members' way this year -- citing that the stated 13% wage increase was more than they deserve.
A young airman from Hill AFB responds to her article below.
He ought to get a bonus for this..

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"Ms Williams:

I just had the pleasure of reading your column, "Our GIs earn enough" and I am a bit confused. Frankly, I'm wondering where this vaunted overpayment is going, because as far as I can tell, it disappears every month between DFAS (The Defense Finance and Accounting Service)and my bank account.

Checking my latest earnings statement I see that I make $1,117.80 before taxes. After taxes, I take home $874.20. When I run that through the calculator, I come up with an annual salary of $13,413.60 before taxes, and $10,490.40, after.

I work in the Air Force Network Control Center where I am part of the team responsible for a 5,000 host computer network I am involved with infrastructure segments, specifically with Cisco Systems equipment. A quick check under jobs for Network Technicians in the Washington , D.C. area reveals a position in my career field, requiring three years experience with my job. Amazingly, this job does NOT pay $13,413..60 a year. No, this job is being offered at $70,000 to $80,000 per annum...

I'm sure you can draw the obvious conclusions.

Given the tenor of your column, I would assume that you NEVER had the pleasure of serving your country in her armed forces Before you take it upon yourself to once more castigate congressional and DOD leadership for attempting to get
the families in the military's lowest pay brackets off of WIC and food stamps, I suggest that you join a group of deploying soldiers headed for AFGHANISTAN ; I leave the choice of service branch up to you.

Whatever choice you make, though, opt for the SIX month rotation: it will guarantee you the longest possible time away from your family and friends, thus giving you full "deployment experience." As your group prepares to board the plane, make sure to note the spouses and children who are saying good-bye to their loved ones. Also take care to note that several families are still unsure of how they'll be able to make ends meet while the primary breadwinner is gone obviously they've been squandering the "vast" piles of cash the government has been giving them.

Try to deploy over a major holiday; Christmas and Thanksgiving are perennial favorites. And when you're actually over there, sitting in a foxhole, shivering against the cold desert night; and the flight sergeant tells you that there aren't enough people on shift to relieve you for chow, remember this: trade whatever MRE (meal-ready- to-eat) you manage to get for the tuna noodle casserole or cheese tortellini, and add Tabasco to everything. This gives some flavor. Talk to your loved ones as often as you are permitted; it won't nearly be long enough or often enough, but take what you can get and be thankful for it.


You may have picked up on the fact that I disagree with most of the points you present in your opened piece.

But, tomorrow from KABUL , I will defend to the death your right to say it. You see, I am an American fighting man, a guarantor of your First Amendment rights and every other right you cherish. On a daily basis, my brother and sister soldiers worldwide ensure that you and people like you can thumb your collective nose at us, all on a salary that is nothing short of pitiful and under conditions that would make most people cringe. We hemorrhage our best and brightest into the private sector because we can't offer the stability and pay of civilian companies.

And you, Ms. Williams, have the gall to say that we make more than we deserve? Rubbish!

A1C Michael Bragg Hill AFB AFNCC

[Tucson]

My niece's husband ships out to Afghanistan on the 16th. He is career Air Force. He is 32 and has a wife and baby.

Brian earns $24,000 per year.

[MDSoftball]

I thought everybody knew about this one by now...

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/gipay.asp

[MDSoftball]

My niece's husband ships out to Afghanistan on the 16th. He is career Air Force. He is 32 and has a wife and baby.

Brian earns $24,000 per year.

Tucson, I would like to start this off with the fact that I spent 13 1/2 years in the AF. While I agree military personnel are usually under paid, your niece's husband's pay seems low. I also appreciate his service to our country.
You don't give his rank or years of service, so I will just assume that he is enlisted and go by his age to give a ballpark. My guess is E5 or E6 with about 10 years in. If that is the case, then he is either making $2811.00 or $3044.70 per month. On top of that, he is also receiving $784.50 or $872.10 as a housing allowance per month. In addition to that, he receives $323.87 per month for subsistence. The pay for the housing allowance and subsistence is NON-taxable which comes in VERY handy at the end of the year. Going with the low numbers and multiplying each of them by 12, I show him making $47032.44 per year. Of course, this won't include the separation allowance and hazardous duty pay he will receive while in Afghanistan. Also, his entire pay will also be tax free while over there. While his taxes might well show that he makes $24,000 per year, I can assure you he makes more than that.

If you would like to check my numbers, a military pay chart can be found at http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/militarypaytables.html

[GIMNEPIWO]

My niece's husband ships out to Afghanistan on the 16th. He is career Air Force. He is 32 and has a wife and baby.

Brian earns $24,000 per year.

Tucson, I would like to start this off with the fact that I spent 13 1/2 years in the AF. While I agree military personnel are usually under paid, your niece's husband's pay seems low. I also appreciate his service to our country.
You don't give his rank or years of service, so I will just assume that he is enlisted and go by his age to give a ballpark. My guess is E5 or E6 with about 10 years in. If that is the case, then he is either making $2811.00 or $3044.70 per month. On top of that, he is also receiving $784.50 or $872.10 as a housing allowance per month. In addition to that, he receives $323.87 per month for subsistence. The pay for the housing allowance and subsistence is NON-taxable which comes in VERY handy at the end of the year. Going with the low numbers and multiplying each of them by 12, I show him making $47032.44 per year. Of course, this won't include the separation allowance and hazardous duty pay he will receive while in Afghanistan. Also, his entire pay will also be tax free while over there. While his taxes might well show that he makes $24,000 per year, I can assure you he makes more than that.

If you would like to check my numbers, a military pay chart can be found at http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/militarypaytables.html

... worth every penny ... and more

[Joe]

While I agree military personnel are usually under paid, your niece's husband's pay seems low. I also appreciate his service to our country.

These carefully placed statements saved us from guessing the size of the anal passage you might be...Tucson's point is that the sacrifices that our men and women in uniform make doesn't measure up to what we owe them.

You did a superb job of diminishing that point...

As for Cindy Williams...feel free to plug in any other Hollywood idiot that says or thinks the same.

[Skarp]

Soldiers, like members of any other profession, are "worth" precisely what they will accept to do the job, and no more. It is up to employers to determine what level of pay is required to retain the quality of employees desired.

The notion that additional, "holy" pay is deserved by soldiers is simply absurd. Same goes for teachers and members of any other profession who try to sell us on the claim that they are worth more than they contracted to work for. They set their own worth when they signed the contract.

[Joe]

Soldiers, like members of any other profession, are "worth" precisely what they will accept to do the job, and no more. It is up to employers to determine what level of pay is required to retain the quality of employees desired.

The notion that additional, "holy" pay is deserved by soldiers is simply absurd. Same goes for teachers and members of any other profession who try to sell us on the claim that they are worth more than they contracted to work for. They set their own worth when they signed the contract.

Ahhh...maybe, kinda, sorta

...many choose the career despite the pay. My father stayed in for 30 years because he loved the military...and passed up lucrative offers in the private sector along the way. I would say his "worth", as you put it, far exceeded what the market or his employer were willing to anty up. Despite that, he stayed.

As for "holy pay", I would invite you to walk the tombstones at Normandy, France like I did last summer. None of those guys were asking for or said they deserved "holy pay"...and I believe they honored their contract!

Measuring what we owe them in terms of dollars in far too simplistic. Most would appreciate something like this:

Good Job!!!

[GIMNEPIWO]

I had a guy on my crew years ago that was a Vietnam Vet ... he told me when he returned home Combat Wounded that people were spitting on him in the airport ...

[Skarp]

Soldiers, like members of any other profession, are "worth" precisely what they will accept to do the job, and no more. It is up to employers to determine what level of pay is required to retain the quality of employees desired.

The notion that additional, "holy" pay is deserved by soldiers is simply absurd. Same goes for teachers and members of any other profession who try to sell us on the claim that they are worth more than they contracted to work for. They set their own worth when they signed the contract.

Ahhh...maybe, kinda, sorta

...many choose the career despite the pay. My father stayed in for 30 years because he loved the military...and passed up lucrative offers in the private sector along the way. I would say his "worth", as you put it, far exceeded what the market or his employer were willing to anty up. Despite that, he stayed.

As for "holy pay", I would invite you to walk the tombstones at Normandy, France like I did last summer. None of those guys were asking for or said they deserved "holy pay"...and I believe they honored their contract!

Measuring what we owe them in terms of dollars in far too simplistic. Most would appreciate something like this:

Good Job!!!

Hey, you'll be hard pressed to find someone who supports or is more appreciative of the military than I am. And I also think that pay should be increased dramatically in order to attract and retain a very high caliber fighting corp. (We can do that by getting rid of 90% of all other government employees, IMO, and with good results too...)

But framing it in terms of entitlement is just wrong-headed. We have an all volunteer military. So whether the compensation is solely in money, or whether some a love of the military or other personal benefit is received from service, military personnel are entitled to what they bargained to receive, and nothing more. The risk of death is clearly part of that bargain, and is thus built into the contract price. So while the fact that soldiers die protecting our country is deeply touching and praiseworthy, it doesn't mean that soldiers are entitled to more money.

They are entitled to profound gratitude and a "good job" from all of us though, and I've got zero use for anyone who believes otherwise.