As you’d expect, these positions can be highly competitive, dangerous, difficult, or intellectually challenging to an unusual degree. More often than not, the military offers these bonuses to a recruit after determining whether he or she is pre-qualified to fill duty slots that have opened up according to the military’s manning standards. In exchange for this bonus incentive, a recruit will be expected to enlist for a predetermined amount of time, as well as fulfill a specific duty. In addition special duty pay, it’s not uncommon for recruits to be promised a considerable monetary bonus for enlisting in the military. Some examples of the military’s special duty pay may include: Special Duty and Incentive Bonus Pay Programs (Enlistment Bonus)Īlthough a very broad topic, each branch offers added pay for duties that are exceptionally or unusually difficult, highly competitive, dangerous, or require specialized skills. Generally, the lower the pay grade, the shorter time you will spend within that rank. The only way to increase your base pay at that point is to get promoted to the next pay grade. For example, if you reach the pay grade of E-5 with 12 years time in service, you will find your salary caps out at $3,013, only increasing marginally each year. It’s important to note that if you are promoted, but fail to achieve a promotion at some point, you will max out your salary. For example, the above pay chart reflects military pay for 2012, but in 2011, an E-1’s base pay was only $1,467 instead of $1,491. As mentioned, each year a new pay scale for military personnel will be released. As you progress to your third year, fourth year and so on, your pay (and hopefully your rank!) also progress according to the pay scale. Right off the bat, of course, that time will fall under the <2 year column, located at the far left of the pay chart. The next element that effects military salary is how much time that you’ve actually spent in active duty.
For example, an E-1 in the Army will be address as “Private”, while an E-1 in the Air Force will be addressed as “Airman Basic”, but their respective paychecks will both reflect an E-1’s base pay.įrom there, the rest is intuitive: the higher ranking you are, the higher your base pay.
E-1 refers to the lowest ranking position an enlisted person can hold, but the title will vary from branch to branch. Regardless of which branch you’re talking about joining, enlisted rank is denoted with an “E” as the prefix, with the actual numeric rank as the suffix. Nor is it uncommon for recruiters to use salesy examples like “within 2 years, you’ll be making x amount” in order to make pay rates for military members sound more generous than they necessarily are.Ī little bit of enlisted rank knowledge helps in understand the table. Yeah luxury!īase pay for military members is established for all branches all across the board, but there is a bit of fluctuation, here are the factors:Īlthough it’s possible, it’s not very likely that your recruiter will launch into a breakdown of your branch’s salary or give a rundown of that year’s pay charts without being asked. In other words, in addition to learning a hell of a lot of stuff, you also don’t have to worry about where the money’s coming from, and if you’re leaving college to join the military then you don’t have to worry about where your next meal is coming from. Everybody thinks the troops should be paid more, of course (especially the troops), but the truth is that enlisted pay scale-namely for young soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines right out of high school-is nothing to sneer at.Ĭombined with the benefits offered, enlisting in the military as a young person turns out to be a viable source of income for many people.
Undoubtedly, one of the most frequently addressed topics with recruiters is the discussion of the enlisted salary and monetary compensation.