Asked if MAC would serve to hold down future military pay raises, Eakle said basic pay adjustments will continue to be tied, by law, to annual private sector wage growth.
Hmmmmm... Wage growth? I thought it was tied to the Cost Of Living Adjustment, more commonly known as "Inflation"?
At least in my job, I am making what a private sector pilot with my experience would be making. I know I will catch hell for saying it, but I feel well compensated for what I do.
I think that if you look at the rigor of the military lifestyle, taking into account deployment, duty and actual hours worked in a week, you would find that we will never be paid enough to be compared to a civilian. That being said, if you do what we do for more than one term then you are probably not doing it for the money alone. I personally love what I do and am damn proud...but the pay helps a little.
THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A STUDY OF A SYSTEM THAT IS BROKE BY THE VERY SYSTEM THAT IS BROKEN... I've heard it all before and time and again! Just like the BAH gap being closed LMAO and ROTFL Beale AFB, where I'm at now, is a prime example of the system failing the military member in that category. Rent prices have skyrocketed in the last 5 years, has BAH gone up or down; down ,right alone with the budget. Add on the SIMPEL fact that BAH is suppose to be for the cost of "HOUSING" not just rent and you have it plain as DAY!!! When the supplied BAH doesn't cover but 75% (or less) of the rent what takes care of the utilities? The member's basic pay does. The Gap is still there; most likely it always will be. Civilians like to feel better by telling themselves otherwise but when you don't have any experience in the military how in the hell can you be expected to know?
I have to agree that the absence of overtime and other private sector perks make the military pay still less than the private sector. We need to remember that regular longer than 8-hour shifts and regular more than 5-day work weeks significantly reduce the real wage service members are being paid. Private sector workers certainly would be protesting and/or striking if faced with the conditions a good number of our brothers and sisters are facing daily in the current military situation.
Leave it to an AF General in a cushy job to determine compensation for our Marines and Soldiers who deploy in harm's way on a too frequent basis. She should ask what a civilian would want to be paid for that.
At least in my job, I am making what a private sector pilot with my experience would be making. I know I will catch hell for saying it, but I feel well compensated for what I do.
No hell from me. I’m glad you are happy.
Sometimes it’s not all about the money it about fulfillment and enjoyment of your job. Not too many people get that out of their job.
I'm proud to think that our Government is saying that the military should learn to appreciate their pay. Of course, it is now on an equal with civilian pay. That is a joke!!! As you lay in that fox hole, work around the clock on your second or third tour in Iraq or somewhere else away from your family, or put yourself in jeoparty to lose an arm or leg or something even worse, our Government employees working on your compensation package are planning to take care of you on the cheap. What a crock - let these people continue to compare you to a mechanic at the airport, or a fireman or policeman that go home nights and gets overtime pay whenever they want, or whatever, these phony figures could go on for ever and ever. People see the military high paying jobs and are just rushing to join up. That is why we will give a foreigner citizenship to join, or a large bonus to entice the high school dropout. Yes, I put on my shoes with a pair of pliers.
Who do these number-crunching, bean-counting, chairborne-ranger REMFs think they are fooling?
Was anyone at DoD looking at prevailing wages for plumbers, electricians, computer techs, heavy-equipment operators and mechanics, pilots, aircraft A&P mechanics, firefighter-paramedics, police officers (read SWAT teams) and my personal favorite (or those in combat MOSs) private military contractors.
The list is long and distinguished and incomplete and doesn't even touch overtime rates.
My entry level of pay when I enlisted in early 1973 was $ 107 a month....and that was a recently enacted pay raise....three years later it had skyrocketed to an astounding $468 month, plus a $105 housing allowance.
Free medical , dental , and three squares a day were nothing to sneeze at either....
I really neve had a problem with the pay check that I was getting. I surrived. I think it is how one budgets one money is the answer. If all they came in the military was for a seady paycheck.. Then.....no comment.
GAO said the same thing about 6 months ago. I can believe it. I think several of you are looking only at Base Pay, or maybe even only at total actual gross pay. Either of those completely fails to take into account the following (which was the point of the article): -most active-duty personnel don't pay state income tax. -deployed personnel don't pay any taxes -active duty personnel do not pay anything for medical coverage. I know full-time, salaried civvies that pay 30% of their income to medical coverage. -military personnel in high-responsibility positions (like doctors, particularly) don't pay for personal occupational liability insurance -BAH and BAS are totally untaxable -a rather uniquely lucrative retirement pension program that doesn't cost a dime, with available medical coverage as well.
I am an active-duty Navy enlisted nuclear powerplant mechanic. Dept of Labor says a civilian would have taken home $63k in 2006 in my job (that was the last time I looked at it.) I took home $52k, before bonuses for a reenlistment ($20k more). That is purely cash in my account, and doesn't take any of the above into account.
I know that military pay may not give you the ablility to live like a senior pilot at a major airlines, but Migbuster is right - you have to budget for what you have. You shouldn't join the military for the money or you will never be satisfied. I think the Army Values sum it up - LDRSHIP for those that remember.
If David Chu hired this retired General then you know it was to stick it to the Military. Its impossible to compare the Military to civilian occupations. There is no infantry in civilian life. And a lot of other occupations are not compatable. Besides the fact that you are moved at the govs need, you are separated from your family a lot of the time. It goes on and on. The one thing I have always thought was that if your in a combat mos, you should be compensated for it, you put your life and limb at risk, and should recieve a decent compensation for that. Just my opinion.
"Defense leaders to adopt a new tool for comparing military and private sector compensation so that service members learn to appreciate the full value of their more favorable package of pay, benefits, allowances and tax breaks."
Originally posted by danedad: My entry level of pay when I enlisted in early 1973 was $ 107 a month....and that was a recently enacted pay raise....three years later it had skyrocketed to an astounding $468 month, plus a $105 housing allowance.
Free medical , dental , and three squares a day were nothing to sneeze at either....
I disagree. In fact when I enlisted in 1972 my base pay as an E-1 was $315 per month, and when I got out in 1975 I was an E-5 (over 3) ... $550 per month... plus hazardous duty pay, plus housing allowance... etc., etc.
I’m glad you are happy. 
