avidbrandy wrote:the dime is not a tenth of a ounce of silver. and the average soldier doesn't make minimum wage, he makes at least 3 times that even at low rank, plus significantly more if he's deployed.
In 2011 an E1 gets with under 2 years in service gets 1467 a month (before taxes). yes income tax is not paid when in a war zone plus you get hazard pay combat pay. ect in war zones so I will not caculate that in lets assume this pvt is on work ups getting ready to deploy he will be working 12/7 with 4 extra hours each 2-3 days (watch rotation) plus the 30 minutes on each side of shift for breefing/de so more like 13/31 month = 403 hours normal for the watch we will go with 3 days but could be more often 31/3=10ish 10x4=40 or
443 hours of work a month. at 1467 a month it comes to $3.31 an hour oh and don't forget he is on workups so he does not get the extra pay for being in a war zone and he still has to pay taxes on it.
but he is new who cares l
ets check an E4 with 4 years in just starting his 2nd tour. 450 hours a month a little more because he must make sure the lowers are doing what they should.
2231/month comes to 4.95 an hour. not min wage. these are the work horse of the military.
now lets see an E7 getting ready to retire after 20 years he is the boss and does not work as hard but still does (no watch/guard hours) 350 hours a month with $4189 comes to a wopping 11.97/hour don't forget to take out the taxes.
totals come from
http://www.navycs.com/2011-military-pay-chart.html that is not 3x minimum wage.
edit I was in navy 4 years army 12 years I did not get my 20 because I became disabled when I rolled a jeep. I currently get a va disability free medical, free pills, free hole to toss my rotting corps into when the time comes. I did not caculate this or other benifits in but when it comes to the hours YES they do work that many sure there are some that have cushy jobs maybe the AF or recruters or who ever is shagging the genral that don't but the true fighting men do. I