'Be All You Can Be'...For Minimum Wage? Re: Attack Of The Liberals

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Tue Nov 12 01:57:15 PST 2002


At 11:25 PM -0800 11/11/02, Jordan Hayes wrote:
> > Assume that our private (rank rating of E-1) has less than
>> two years experience. What is her annual salary?
>
>Don't forget that an E-1 is only an E-1 for a short amount of time, and
>that military advancement, unlike the hypothetical 'burger flipper' in
>the 'exercise', is based on length of service, especially in the early
>years. So if you're "making E-1 wages" you only do it for a short
>amount of time, whereas if you're flipping burgers, you're sort of stuck
>there.

Right, but E-5 may be the ceiling of a typical service member.

***** Enlisted Personnel:

There are 1.2 million who are within the E-1 through E-9 enlisted ranks. Of this group, 42 percent are at the rank of E-4 and E-5, and approximately, 75 percent are in the E-3 through E-6 ranks.

<http://www.defenselink.mil/acq/installation/hrso/tenant.htm#2> *****

***** Table 3. Military rank and employment for active duty personnel, April 2001

Grade Rank and Title

Army Navy and Air Force Marine Total DOD

Coast Guard Corps Employment

Enlisted personnel: E-9 Sergeant Master Chief Sergeant 10,197

Major Chief Master Major

Sergeant

--- --- Petty --- ---

Officer

E-8 1st Sr. Chief Senior Master 25,399

Sergeant/ Petty Master Sergeant/

Master Officer Sergeant 1st

Sergeant Sergeant

E-7 Sergeant Chief Master Gunnery 97,052

First Petty Sergeant Sergeant

Class Officer

E-6 Staff Petty Technical Staff 165,130

Sergeant Officer Sergeant Sergeant

1st Class

E-5 Sergeant Petty Staff Sergeant 231,750

Officer Sergeant

2nd Class

E-4 Corporal/ Petty Senior Corporal 247,691

Specialist Officer Airman

3rd Class

E-3 Private Seaman Airman Lance 207,432

First Class 1st Class Corporal

E-2 Private Seaman Airman Private 96,420

Apprentice 1st Class

E-1 Private Seaman Airman Private 60,228

Recruit Basic

Source: U.S. Department of Defense

Table 4. Military basic monthly pay by grade for active duty personnel, July 1, 2001

Years of service Grade Less Over 4 Over 8 Over 12 Over 16 Over 20

than 2 E-9 --- --- --- 3,197.40 3,392.40 3,601.80 E-8 --- --- 2,622.00 2,768.40 2,945.10 3,138.00 E-7 1,831.20 2,149.80 2,362.20 2,512.80 2,666.10 2,817.90 E-6 1,575.00 1,891.80 2,097.30 2,248.80 2,379.60 --- E-5 1,381.80 1,701.00 1,888.50 1,811.10 2,040.30 --- E-4 1,288.80 1,576.20 --- --- --- --- E-3 1,214.70 1,385.40 --- --- --- --- E-2 1,169.10 --- --- --- --- ---

E-1 4mos+

1,042.80 --- --- --- --- --- E-1 <4mos

964.80 --- --- --- --- ---

<http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos249.htm> *****

***** National Defense Research Institute An Analysis of Pay for Enlisted Personnel Beth J. Asch, James R. Hosek, John T. Warner Prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense ISBN: 0-8330-3012-4 © Copyright 2001 RAND

...Early on, RMC [the sum of basic pay, basic allowance for housing, basic allowance for subsistence, and the tax advantage due to the allowances not being taxable] lies between the 80th and 90th percentiles, but this probably exaggerates the level of military compensation. The average BAH [basic allowance for housing] for a first-term enlisted person is over $500 per month ($6,000 per year), based on local area housing costs. But many junior personnel are single and live in government quarters; these personnel often do not have the option of taking the allowance, which many would do if given the choice. Single Navy personnel surely do not value a bunk on a ship at the current level of BAH. For junior personnel, effective RMC lies somewhere between the RMC and basic pay lines, probably closer to the latter. Average RMC tracks the 70th percentile of civilian earnings from the 8th to the 20th year of service, while average basic pay tracks the 30th percentile. This difference occurs because nearly 40 percent of RMC comes from the allowances for food and housing and their tax advantage. Although not shown, average RMC rises rapidly beyond the 20th year of service because of the changing composition of personnel. Mid-ranking enlisted personnel tend to retire around the 20th year, while higher-ranking personnel tend to stay. After the 20th year of service (YOS 20), the enlisted force comprises mostly E-8s and E-9s, the top two enlisted grades; after YOS 26, it is almost exclusively E-9s. E-9 RMC approximately equals the 90th percentile of civilian high school graduate earnings. The 1 percent of recruits who successfully compete their way up the ranks to E-9 earn about the same as the top 10 percent of high school graduates of similar age....

<http://www.rand.org/publications/DB/DB344/DB344.pdf> ***** -- Yoshie

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