I joined the Army b/c I was unemployed and in serious hock from student loans. Shortly after joining, my wife was diagnosed with MS. This has changed my military adventure from "something I gotta do for four years to get the Man off my back" to "holy crap, I might have to do 20 and retire to keep Tricare."
What is so ironic is that service in the US military is probably the closest thing we have to complete socialism, yet the majority of servicemembers are conservatives.
My compensation is broken down as follows:
BASE PAY - my salary - about $2000
Allowance for subsistence - about $300 for food each month (non taxable)
Allowance for housing - varies with duty station tied to local rental market (nontaxable) - about $1000 where I am stationed
Allowance for clothing - I get about $250 each year on the date I signed up for uniforms, etc. Mind you, I also get issued gear each time I change stations and I get a new set of uniforms and tactical neato stuff when the unit I'm assigned to gets deployed (nontaxable)
COLA - extra money if I'm assigned to a particularly expensive place like Hawaii, Japan or Germany (non-taxable - I don't get this right now)
Incentive pays - I get $250 extra each month for doing dangerous stuff and speaking a foreign language (taxable)
We don't have kids, but on-post child care costs about $125 a month (subsidized)
Health care is totally 100% covered. The only catch is that the military medical system is my HMO and I have to go to a military facility first. However, if I get sick away from any base and I show up at a non-military provider, those bills will be paid. If I and my wife are separated and she is residing away from a military facility, she can sign up for Tricare Prime which allows her to use a provider network - this was the case when she was diagnosed with MS. No copays, no costs out-of-pocket except $6 copay per prescription at a private pharmacy.
I have gotten orthopedic running shoes covered by Tricare at a cost of $250, which they paid me by check after I bought the shoes and presented them with documentation.
My wife's MS medicine would cost $18000 per year if we were uninsured.
If I stay in 20 years and retire, I get 50% of my last three years salary until I die. If I predecease my wife, she gets it until she dies. If I stay in 25 years, I get 65%. I pay nothing for this pension benefit.
I also make contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan (a kind of 401K). Contributions are not taxed, and during certain times the Gov't will match your contribution.
So my monthly compensation is:
Salary $2000
BAS $287
BAH $1000
Incen $250
Uniform $25
TOTAL $3562, or $42,744 annually.
But, I only paid taxes on $21,000 of income last year. So I'm in the 15% bracket instead of the 25% bracket, and obviously half of my income is tax-free. So my actual income is the same as a civilian making around $52,000 annually.
But wait, there's more!
How much is that pension and health care worth to you? What would those benefits cost me in the "real world?"
The pension is probably worth at least $4,000 per qualifying year, if not more. The medical benefits, I don't know, $6-8,000 per year?
So you see, a working class Joe like me can get a living wage, health care, decent housing, and a decent pension - he just has to sign his life away to the military to get it, engage in dangerous work and possibly get blown up for no good reason!
Oh yeah, and I can't quit my job or tell my superior to go fuck himself either.
That's fair.