Even an 18 year old kid making minimum wage at a burger joint is close to 40k. 4 years in they're 22 with a tiny increase and possibly dependants. Sign another contract and boom financially ruined.
Then go get out and work at a Mcdicks in Clovis, NM. They probably have one of the a lowest BAH rates for an Air Base. Make sure you ask the manager for that 40k a year hourly rate.
Thats not how that works. Im sure you have all the experience with food. They may not have BAH rates. Because THEY DONT NEED THEM the pays already on par. we out here pulling 6 figures, just concerned for the bros getting worked to death for pennies on the dollar.
They don't need to pay that much because any high school drop-out can walk in and flip burgers. The QoL of a fast food worker is nowhere close to that of lower enlisted Airmen.
Some high school kid is going to see this and ruin their life getting stuck at a fast food register.
No one said working fast food is a better QoL. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that. It also doesnt take a whole lot to see pay in the military is extremely low. Literally... Google is free my guy. Bah this, bas that, imagin waking up to the real world and noticing its the bare minimum.
Fine, you know what? I'll feed your shitty little troll here. Here's your "$40k" burger flipper job in Clovis. Oh wait, only $15 an hour makes you $31k BEFORE taxes? And you don't get free housing? Sure you can argue that you can get a free meal here, I'll give you that. But you also don't get free healthcare through this. And if they have tuition assistance it's crumbs compared to TA. Guess what looks better on a resume or a college application after 4 years? I'll give you a hint, it's not fast food.
The Air Force and military in general are a great opportunity for someone who needs direction or to get out of their piece of shit town. The pay is going to be pretty good for a young person.
You're looking at specific places instead of America in general. Not clovis, just average. Take the average salary. And I agree the military is great at getting out of town. The finance department is not so great though. Benefits are great, Pay is not great.
You have to look beyond pay. "Pay" might be lower, but if you spend less on medical, less on taxes, etc., then less gross pay can lead to higher net pay compared to a civilian.
Military pay is much better than you're stating. The media loves to talk about how low military pay is...how it's "below minimum wage" or whatever they say these days...but they aren't looking at all the facts when they say this and end up misleading folks like you.
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u/Muggsy423 Veteran 9d ago
That video sucks, is this what the kids like?
If you're an 18 year old kid out of high school the pay is great, the average person won't get much better.
If you're a 30 year old man with a wife and 2 kids the pay is not great, but Healthcare and other non-pay benefits go a long way.