Idk if you guys are already off this topic but I just had 1 thing to say on the issue of not having a "good" life/military not paying much...

they pay for your room and board correct? They pay for your schooling correct? A lot of the time you get enlistment bonuses, and the army now also has the Army advantage fund where you can get up to 40k for a house or small business when you leave the military right?

Ok, now since all of that is free I think that even an E1 gets paid pretty damn well...1200+ a month with no bills, except maybe a cell phone or other such things, (not even including if you get special pay) sounds pretty friggin good to me. And for someone starting off as an O1 out of college getting about 2300 a month with no bills is not bad at all.

Think about it, say you have a $20/hr job in CT. That about $2900/mo after taxes. A rent will probably cost you around $900/mo, most of the time not including utils so well add on another $300, probably about 200-250 a month on food (possibly more), now say went to college, if your like most people youve probably accumulated in exess of $15000 in debt and are most likley paying about $300/mo on the loans. after all that is take out your left with $950 a month...compare that to an E1 after taxes and your making about the same thing.

now say you got a $10k enlistment bonus, for the first year of your service you are, in effect, pulling in pretty close to double what a $20/hr job would leave you with for personal expenditures. And if you go army and take the advantage fund thats another extra 8 grand a year durring the 5 year enlistment. (though you dont get this untill your enlistment is up)

Yeah the US military is not a bad place to earn money at all.

Originally Posted by giangreco001

Idk if you guys are already off this topic but I just had 1 thing to say on the issue of not having a "good" life/military not paying much...

they pay for your room and board correct? They pay for your schooling correct? A lot of the time you get enlistment bonuses, and the army now also has the Army advantage fund where you can get up to 40k for a house or small business when you leave the military right?

Ok, now since all of that is free I think that even an E1 gets paid pretty damn well...1200+ a month with no bills, except maybe a cell phone or other such things, (not even including if you get special pay) sounds pretty friggin good to me. And for someone starting off as an O1 out of college getting about 2300 a month with no bills is not bad at all.

Think about it, say you have a $20/hr job in CT. That about $2900/mo after taxes. A rent will probably cost you around $900/mo, most of the time not including utils so well add on another $300, probably about 200-250 a month on food (possibly more), now say went to college, if your like most people youve probably accumulated in exess of $15000 in debt and are most likley paying about $300/mo on the loans. after all that is take out your left with $950 a month...compare that to an E1 after taxes and your making about the same thing.

now say you got a $10k enlistment bonus, for the first year of your service you are, in effect, pulling in pretty close to double what a $20/hr job would leave you with for personal expenditures. And if you go army and take the advantage fund thats another extra 8 grand a year durring the 5 year enlistment. (though you dont get this untill your enlistment is up)

Say again?
Im sorry... the message you just transmitted is you telling me how my life is actually quite nice and how I make so much money. You might want to rethink telling other people what their lives are like.

I dont mean to be rude man, you have already proven that you have a level of respect for the military and the members of this board. But seriously, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Dont take it the wrong way, I love my job and I would sign up again. But dont tell me what my job is like or what my living conditions are like because... you arent living them.

Yeah but if you can deal with the life in the Army, it's not a bad way to earn money.