Do the troops deserve a pay cut?
827908
Why should we get a pay cut??  Do you realize that the very men and women that protect your right to post crap like they don't make that much as it is??  The average person joining the military right now with a wife and child can qualify for food stamps.  The military is on call 24/7 and doesn't get paid nearly what's due them.  Their benefits are cut constantly and you think they deserve a pay cut because they failed to accomplish their mission.  In the first place, when did we fail??  As far as I know, we're still in Iraq and rebuilding the country.  We're bringing freedom to a people that need it and keeping terrorists at bay.  \n\nI think the only person that's probably a failure here is you.  If you think they deserve a pay cut or that they've failed, I dare you to go spend just a week in their boots.  Let's see what kind of attitude you have then.
754996
I read an article last week that made me mad. They currently have a paid voluntary army. It's reported that at any given time like even now during this war time that 25% are ALWAYS on vacation! They usually show up on pay day and during important excerizes only 2/3 of them show up.
973538
What fat pay check are you talking about? We enlisted don't get that much pay!! Geesh!! these civilians !! THE NERVE!!\n\nI joined to see the world! and I got my fair share of it. Still in the service!  Seriously, I joined to get a roof over my head, and sleep at nights without worries, and finished my degree.\n\nGO NAVY!! hehehe..=)
994324
When I was in Basic, my drill sergeant asked us this same question.  When I said that I would..  he berated me, and then instructed the right answer was that our job isn't to "sacrifice our lives", but to make sure we make the a**hole on the other side sacrifice theirs.  I liked that, and it's stuck with me.  I was in Iraq during the first Gulf War, I've been shot at.  If I had died, then that was how things were supposed to be.  Support our troops, recognize the politicians and media outlets that help put them in harms way for what they are, self serving, greedy arshholes, and remember the cost of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance.
544405
Yes, they definitely get paid too much.  There are other professions that deserve more, while sports deserve less.  The military definitely warrants better pay, because they fight for our freedom to enjoy those spectator sports.  Teachers deserve more because without them, society would lack the knowledge necessary to thrive.  Professional athletes are able to demand those high salaries because people allow them to.  If they weren't supported, they wouldn't make the money.
768495
This is in response to Anne Kat and Sherri.\nI don't know what kind of service the Army is...but your responses are ignorant and rude....All three of you women.  \n\nThe first comment, "If YOUR Soldier is wanting to Come home for Christmas,the ARMY will pay HIS Way,as long as it is LEGIT,any Soldier can fly Home from Just about anywhere,if they GO through the Chain of Command to do so!\nNO, he can Not JUST up and come home because YOU want him too! That would be Very Selfish on HIS part as well as YOURS.\nThe Soldier MUST Put in for LEAVE,Just like all the other Soldiers,ahead of the Scheduled time,so that EVERYONE will be given"\nNumber One...the army doesn't PAY for you to come home to see you family.  Even if it is legit...i dont know where you ever thought that!  He has requested leave for the past 3 years and has been denied each and every time.  Either because he JUST got back from iraq, or he was in training or he was in korea.  IT IS NOT SELFISH when you haven't seen a family member in  5 years and who has been to war....HE is a HERO  HE IS A SON AND A BROTHER AND FATHER.\n\nNumber 2..\n\n"I would donate $1.00 to bring a soldier home but here is what i don't understand. Being that the soldier is technically working for the "Government" then his expense's should be taken care of. He also needs to put in a request for leave. I honestly don't think that $1800 is enough money to fly a soldier home. In my opinion there are alot of scams out here in cyberspace collecting money from innocent trusting people and I think this is another scam. Correct me if i am wrong but I just want to be honest!"\n\nThe Goverment does not pay for you to see your family and child.    I don't know of one Goverment job that does pay for you to go home for the holidays.  You want to talk about a scam lady?  whatever govt. postion is paying for their employees to go home and see their family......THAT  is a scam.   \n\nAnd furthermore...everyone in my family has served in some way or another...for many many years.....I THINK WE ALL KNOW THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO REQUEST LEAVE....\nPlease do not treat us like we are stupid and don't know the correct way to take leave in the military.\n\n\nAnd Number 3...\n"No, I would not. Soldiers are where they are supposed to be. They have a mission whether we agree or not. The military is not Club Med and most people forget that. Soldiers do their job and they shouldn't complain since no one put a gun to their heads to be in the military. I am retired military and if my country sent me to do a job, well I'll go and do my best."\n\nAnd we Thank Your for your service.  The military is not Club Med...NO ONE EVER SAID IT WAS.  These soldier do their job every day they are over there!!  THEY MUST GIVE 110% OR THEY CAN DIE....If YOU Sir are retired military....then im sure you took leave and saw your family at least once in your 20+ years of service.  I find hard to believe you would never take leave....did you serve in Vietnam?  When your 1st or 2nd or 3rd tour was over....im sure you were able to take leave and see your family.  AND NO ONE EVER SAID HE WAS NOT GIVING HIS BEST....\n\nMY BROTHER LOST HIS MARRIAGE, SON, AND SOUL WHEN HE LEFT FOR THE ARMY AND TO GO TO IRAQ.....\n\nHE HAS GIVEN HIS 110% FOR YEARS.....DON'T INUSULT HIM OR DISRESPECT WHAT HIM AND OTHER SOLDIERS IN THE EXACT SAME POSTION ARE GOING THROUGH.\n\n\nThank you all for you time
541574
Yes - Are you like the reservist that thought the government paid so you could do what you want? If the government pays your tuition or a month pay, they expect something for it? Kind of like employers!
898171
Who said the military paid well?  It's not a matter of pay, but personal resposibility.  For example, I am currently stationed in Japan, and you see all these young troops with these souped up cars.  The NCOs and officers, on the other hand, tend to drive crappy cars.  Also, for the most part, the young ones go out every weekend, while the older guys stay home.\n\nSo basically, you've got these kids that, for the most part, are experiencing living alone for the first time.  They're given free room and board, and a paycheck on top of that.  They end up living paycheck to paycheck, and wind up in debt because they bought an expensive car, TV, etc. right off the bat.\n\nI'm not saying there are senior NCOs and officers that aren't doing the same thing, but it IS the younger ones for the most part.\n\nTrue, we get paid less initially, but if you add up room and board, it equals to about the same.\n.
903137
When our soldiers signed on into the military, they did so knowing and accepting that they might be sent to war. Now those that have signed up since 9/11, they know right where they will more than likely end up and still signed that dotted line over and over again. Our soldiers don't make a huge paycheck, they make very little actually when you consider they still have bills for their families back home. Throw in the fact that they themselves are out there getting shot at, fighting to keep our soil and families safer, they don't get paid anywhere's near what they should get paid. The ones that everyone is forgetting to blame is the terrorists, the same ones that flew planes into our buildings, the same ones that blew up ships and set bombs to our buildings. They are the ones that need to take the blame, not our soldiers or our government. This country has lost the reason that we are over there, they refuse to see what good has come from the troops hard work and thankless efforts. Yes, they shoot ppl, yes those ppl are being killed. Yet those that are shooting are getting shot at themselves and are watching as their comrades are getting blown apart by those "poor picked on Iracies". Talk to a soldier, talk to lots of them, you will find that even tho they don't want to be there, they also see the need to be there. If it was so bad, why do we have troops that are home safe and sound with their families reenlisting to go back?
1171282
I agree on some points and disagree on some others. I'm an Army Officer and I have lead soldiers at the platoon level and looking forward to the company level. I agree with you about the media. It is very one sided. Soldiers on the other hand...a few soldiers with bad leadership screwed up how the Army looks in the media but for the majority of our fighting force I would say, especially my soldiers, that they are still the most outstanding force in the world. These are not people who have been destroyed by our society but rather seek to better it and themselves. I'm proud to be a soldier and I'm proud of the Army as a whole. Hoooah!
1047651
They don't deserve a pay raise, because the American people have to make them do their job, especially when it came to immigration. they make enough money. I think the voter should decide when they get a pay raise.
555569
Yea, it is ok. KBR is a private company that can pay the people they send over there anything they want. The military is on a payscale and pays differently. It has always been considered shady, but welcome to a free market economy vs government pay.
404736
OF COURSE NOT! They are too busy using the taxpayer dollar to invade and rape and occupy foreign lands - to take proper care of the soldiers they LIED TO  - who are doing their dirty work for them...(this is not to suggest that the soldiers are not serving with honor - it's the government who dishonors THEM)\n\nThe betrayal of the U.S. soldier by the U.S. government is despicable - both on the battlefield and in the aftermath of "war"
317626
not enough, the military pay is very low, for the jobs that they do
636788
What people? If you are talking about a war, then that is what they are paid to do.
72371
Yes they're underpaid.  I'm the spouse of a military man who's deployed right now.  WOW, really?  A free apartment, which you can hear everything your neighbor is doing, trash pick up, dental?  That's the critera for being paid well?  Let's take your spouse away for a year, and see if you feel the same.  We have to use WIC for God's sake to be able to get our infant formula.  Whoever thinks the military are paid well, has never done this.
811273
They should put it on pay per view for $250. Millions of people around the globe would watch. The Iraqi government could use that money to train and equip their troops, opening the way for U.S. troops to leave.