How much per hour, do we pay our Soldiers?

[dmp]

From the ArmyTimes...
For half of My career I was in the 1st group - averaging 45? Hrs per week, or so...with the occasional 24hr duty (about one or two days every-other-month)

For the other half, I was between the second and third groups.

So how much do you make? How to find out

By Vince Crawley
Times staff writer


Ready to trade in those combat boots for a job in the green grass on the civilian side of the fence? To make an informed choice, you might want to take a stab at estimating how much you really earn per hour in uniform.
The hourly pay charts calculated by Army Times are unofficial and intended mainly for individual comparisons. As any good car dealer will tell you, your actual mileage may vary, depending on your specific circumstances.

The charts were calculated using something called Regular Military Compensation, the same formula used by the Pentagon to compare military pay to civilian wages. RMC includes basic pay, food and housing allowances, plus the tax benefits that derive from those two untaxed benefits.

RMC is usually expressed as an annual “salary.” For example, a typical E-5 with six years of service would have to earn a civilian salary of $41,719 to match his or her current pay and benefits. (The current RMC chart is posted on our Web site at www.armytimes.com.)

To calculate hourly wages for our charts, we divided the annual RMC figures by the number of work hours for three levels of effort — those lucky enough to work just 40 hours per week, the majority, who work about 55 hours per week, and those at the far end of the deployment spectrum, who work 100 hours per week in combat (where they earn extra money).

Getting closer to your specific rate of hourly pay for any given week is relatively simple if you have a copy of your leave and earnings statement. Here’s how:

• Find the total dollar figure for your monthly net (pretax) earnings in the far left column of your LES.

• Multiply by 12 to get annual earnings.

• Divide by 52 to get weekly earnings.

• Divide by the number of hours you work per week.

This figure won’t be precise because it’s based solely on your earnings. It won’t account for tax advantages in the form of tax-free allowances and even more valuable combat-zone tax exclusions. Those tax breaks can be worth several thousand dollars per year.

Incidentally, given that there are 168 hours in a week, if the E-5 in our example wanted to eat, breathe and dream the military 24/7 — or even if he just pulled a 24-hour guard shift — he’d pull down $4.77 an hour for his toil.

Examples:

 

[5stringJeff]

Well intentioned... but divide a soldier's gross weekly pay by 40 hours to get a better picture.

Or, knowing that soldiers typically work longer hours than that, divide it by 50-55 hours. That might give a more realistic picture.

Regardless, soldiers are paid by the month for a reason.

 

[dmp]

Well intentioned... but divide a soldier's gross weekly pay by 40 hours to get a better picture.

Or, knowing that soldiers typically work longer hours than that, divide it by 50-55 hours. That might give a more realistic picture.

Regardless, soldiers are paid by the month for a reason.

• Find the total dollar figure for your monthly net (pretax) earnings in the far left column of your LES.

• Multiply by 12 to get annual earnings.

• Divide by 52 to get weekly earnings.

• Divide by the number of hours you work per week.

 

[JOKER96BRAVO]

3.5% pay raise for soldiers accross the board!

READ ME

 

[dmp]

3.5% pay raise for soldiers accross the board!

READ ME

It's not passed yet

Wait and see...hehe :-D


The Ad personnel are a lock to get a raise; it's the rest of us who may not get the full 3.5.

 

[dmp]

if that 3.5% DOES happen, coupled with a within-grade step increase I get in February, my pay could be up some $3500 per year from what it is now, come next march.

woot!

Beer's on me!

 

[JOKER96BRAVO]

Looks like I got out to soon.
Maybe now some of my friends will not qaulify for food stamps!

 

[fubar]

Joker, nice to see ya here. Local radio host here says "whatever we pay these guys, it ain't enough."

I think we should exempt anyone who was shot at in the service from federal taxes , for life.

 

[Annie]

Joker, nice to see ya here. Local radio host here says "whatever we pay these guys, it ain't enough."

I think we should exempt anyone who was shot at in the service from federal taxes , for life.

My dad would kiss you!

 

[MJDuncan1982]

My brother recently left the Air Force and he and his family had to have food stamps in order to get by. These guys and girls need more money.

 

[insein]

ironic and sad that a soliers pay raise cant make it through without delays but a Congressional pay raise goes through like clockwork. No offense to jeff but wtf is up with that?

 

[dmp]

ironic and sad that a soliers pay raise cant make it through without delays but a Congressional pay raise goes through like clockwork. No offense to jeff but wtf is up with that?

uh - the soldier pay raise is tied to the congressional; in fact, the soldier raise was 3.5%, the congression? 2.5

 

[insein]

uh - the soldier pay raise is tied to the congressional; in fact, the soldier raise was 3.5%, the congression? 2.5

thanks for clarifying. Still sucks that congress makes 3 times as much as any soldier.

 

[Bullypulpit]

Whatever the true hourly figure is, it's simply not enough.

 

[padisha emperor]

How much earn the US soldiers ?

 

[dilloduck]

How much earn the US soldiers ?

not enough-but you could try to read the chart or find out for yourself

 

[5stringJeff]

ironic and sad that a soliers pay raise cant make it through without delays but a Congressional pay raise goes through like clockwork. No offense to jeff but wtf is up with that?

No offense taken... I personally think Congress should freeze its own pay (COLA included) every year there's a deficit. That would give Congress a good reason to keep the budget balanced!

And as for soldier pay, I agree, soldiers should be paid well. A lot of times we look at a soldier's pay and think that it's almost nothing. However, most single soldiers get free furnished housing and three free meals each day, so they don't really have a lot of bills, which means their paycheck goes a lot farther than we might assume.

 

[dmp]

thanks for clarifying. Still sucks that congress makes 3 times as much as any soldier.

not General Officers

 

[5stringJeff]

not General Officers

But general officers (flag officers, to be specific) are akin to CEOs of their organizations... I would expect them to make lots more money, because they have lots more responsibility.

 

[NATO AIR]

i think the guys over in iraq and afghanistan should get an "extra month" of pay every year they're over there (a sum worth a month's worth of pay would help them out)... in addition to whatever pay increase all of us in the military get.

they're going through hell and getting paid dog food compared to what private contractors and others are getting over there.