Are Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, overpaid or underpaid?

Since 2018 Service Members have a Blended Retirement System. Reduced pension and 401k. So those who choose not to do 20 have something when they leave the military. If they do 20 then it is 40% of base pay not 50%. Then they also have the usual 401k similar to what most US workers pay into.

Alan

I think they're paid fairly and just right considering how many benefits they get including free housing and uniforms, and medical. I did some service for the navy and my only complaint is there's wayyyyyy too many sailors for how little work there is. I still bel2theu could cut the entire force in half, raise the standards, and pay higher wages.

If you retire from the military at 52 you're not going to want to work a government job until 72....You won't have the same energy and will be more easily broken down by the little things. You're looking at it from the perspective of your current health and fitness which is a flawed perspective.

Is that only for those who enlist 2018 or later or is it applied retroactively?

From a quality of life perspective, 20 years is just not worth it for some folks. I know a tall guy, 6'5 or 6'6 who did a little over 20 years in the Navy and retired. He got his pension but also retired with chronic health issues that led to him getting additional medical pension. My guess is that being his height on a ship caused a number of orthopedic issues over time.

Either way he looks a lot older than his age so I guess it's true that military members age at twice the rate of the civilian population. I wouldn't want to trade places with him.

Given that the supply is greater than the demand and we need to turn people away that would demonstrate that overpaid if the correct answer.

Actually the branches are struggling to meet recruiting goals. That's why they're doing all of these weird campaigns like using popular gaming streamers to help promote the military.

Overpaid for sure. Looking at pay scales means nothing. BAH + BAS at Fort Benning amounts to $13,600/year ($9,000 for housing @ $750/month and $4,600 for food @ $386/month). Add that to the scale and it makes a huge difference. Basically no bills, except for the BMW, Mustang GT, Mercedes, or Corvette that the 20-yo E2 owns - yes, the barracks my unit uses has about five BMWs, at least three Mustangs, and one each of the others that I have personally seen. Add to this free health care and a $400,000 life insurance policy and the pay is even better. Very few of the enlisted people can do as well on the outside, especially if they only have a GED and/or criminal or drug histories. And there are PLENTY who fit those categories.

Despite what the TV commercials show you, most people in the military spend at least 95% of their time in an office or motor pool doing simple tasks. They are rarely doing intense "Army training." I say this as someone who spent the early years of my career in the infantry including time in Iraq over a dozen years ago when there was an actual war going on. The person working the take out window at McDonalds during the lunch hour is working a helluva lot harder than 95% of the military, and doing it for probably less than half the pay and no benefits.

The military should devise different pay scales based on MOS. People in infantry, armor, cavalry, etc., deserve to be paid better than some POG who spends 20 years just sitting at a desk. These are usually the ones who never shut up about their "deployment" to Iraq or Afghanistan where they did the same thing - sat at a desk for 12 months. It's amazing how many war stories these guys have despite never leaving the FOB. On the other hand, I was on patrols five or six days per week in some really $hitty areas where you didn't dare hit a pothole or it could be the last thing you ever did. And yet, if we had the same rank and time in service, we both were paid equal down to the penny. Until we factor in "separation pay," which I did not get because I was single. The married guys pocketed I believe an extra $250/month on top of hazardous duty pay, etc.

Bottom line is the military is paid far more than we deserve for the amount of work we do, especially in noncombat roles. The thing is, nobody in Congress, whether Democrat or Republican, would dare advocate for a pay cut for our "heroes" in uniform lest they get destroyed by the public who thinks we put our lives at risk every day. Police officers in America are at much greater risk on a daily basis than our military.

Government jobs are very easy. I work with a number of DA Civilians and would take their job in a heartbeat. Most of these jobs are clerical in nature.

Alan

In 2018 current service members had to choose between the old system and the new system if they were (I think) 12 years time in service or less. I chose to stay in the old system.

Alan

I never actually said they were over or underpaid. I am just presenting facts and figures.

I think it depends on your MOS and optempo and quality of life.

In the mid 2000s when some Soldiers were deployed every other year I would say those Soldiers are underpaid.

Alan

Perhaps you should be more specific then. Your theirs paragraph in your opening first explains that you think they are underpaid.

Pics?

You receive higher pay in the army if you marry?

Yes. Or if you have a dependent child.

You receive BAH where you are assigned. So it changes every time you are assigned to a different installation (base). You can then reside either in military housing, which is usually townhomes and sometimes not the greatest, or reside off base on the economy. There are pros/cons to each.

Some Soldiers will buy a house at one installation and rent it out when they PCS (move) to another installation where they rent their actual home.

Alan

So therein lies one of the quirks with military life. We mostly renters into our 30s or 40s. We move every 3 yrs on average.

Just because the duty day ends at 1700 (5pm) doesn't always mean you go home.

Texts to push out info after you are home are common.

Alan

I work with some service members. Depending on where they work, they can make out like bandits on housing allowance.

They get a huge preference for hiring after their service is up too. A vet with no degree will beat out a phd when going for a federal job.

Lastly there is the gi bill. The vets may be a little older than normal college students, but going to college is easy street for them. With the hiring preference, they don't have to worry about what they study too much and they don't have significant financial stress.

Oh and all the vets get 100% disability. Its a joke, like getting a prescription for a marijuana was in california before it was legalized. They can make an appointment at the va hospital and say whatever they want, without any tests or checking and bam - now they're a disabled vet. If they go into federal service, this makes them all but unfireable no matter how bad they are at the job and how little effort they put in.

Depends. Some federal jobs are cake. Some positions in the military can be too. Most military personnel go through a sucky period - some come out into an ok period and others jump straight to easy street for the last few years of service. Repeat if they reenlist.