RE: military overcompensation - Page 28

**Lubaolong** · 06-01-2007, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cujo_Trey

I've got to throw the BS flag. As someone who used to be in the military for a few years I didn't even know hundreds of officers, (if you were in then MAYBE)and neither do you, or have you. However having been in the AF, I assure you that a good many of them have "hard" degrees in things such as meteorology, physics, aeronautical engineering, on and on. I've met these men/women and worked with them. To assume that because you knew two douche bags from your local HS who joined the Marines or Army with a basket-weaving degree, and project that on to all services and conjecture that most officers are dirtbags with "soft" degrees is ludicrous.

I was stationed at an OTS for 6 months and had breakfast with new classes of officers every 6 weeks. We also had a lot of officers around where I worked that went through every few months. I really did spend time with hundreds of officers

Cujo_Trey · 06-01-2007, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubaolong

They aren't inflated in the least. I was in the military for 6 years and I think they are pretty spot on. I was getting around $80-90k in Hawaii when I separated as an E-5. My MOS, along with some others there, could stay there indefinitely if they chose just because of the limited duty assignments available. I just think it seems unbelievable to a lot of people because they don't see all this extra money. They live on base and eat in the chow halls and don't see all the hidden money they are getting for housing, insurance, food, etc. I lived off base though so I collected all the money.

just to digress a moment, if you felt you were being so over-compensated then why did you get out? If you really were "surfing your life away" in Hawaii, making 90K, while being a spec5, so you had some authority, what's to hate?
Don't give me any BS about being a self-made billionaire and travelling the world, cause I won't buy it.
You got out IF YOU GOT OUT, because things weren't nearly as rosy as you are making them out to be.
And like I said, while your MOS/AFSC might have been able to stay semi-permanently MOST are not so those numbers are just plain bad.

Im not going to say in some cases you can get lucky in your base and make some money with COLA, but you can only be ahead for so long and then its back to BALAD etc. buddy, as you well know, and that as you may also know sucks.

devo · 06-01-2007, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubaolong

$24,000 is your taxable base pay. This doesn't include the free housing and food, or if you live off base, your tax free BAS and BAH. The 2nd engineering salary I provided is also for the Honolulu area average. Same location. Even if you look at places with lower paying BAH and BAS, there isn't a huge difference in the pay gap. Military members are paid more than they are worth IMO. No offense to anyone that is in the military or has served. I think a lot of jobs in the world are overpaid.

Thank God you're not my boss!

Cujo_Trey · 06-01-2007, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubaolong

I was stationed at an OTS for 6 months and had breakfast with new classes of officers every 6 weeks. We also had a lot of officers around where I worked that went through every few months. I really did spend time with hundreds of officers

The point is you weren't asking each one of the hundreds you met what they had their degree in.
And if you somehow had access to their personal records and are publishing it online as an official inside source then you could be guilty of privacy act violations. Name or no name, inside sourcing is against the UCMJ to protect PA.

Cujo_Trey · 06-01-2007, 05:25 PM

ps. did that thread on "cosby hating blacks" get deleted? Anyone know?

**Lubaolong** · 06-01-2007, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cujo_Trey

just to digress a moment, if you felt you were being so over-compensated then why did you get out? If you really were "surfing your life away" in Hawaii, making 90K, while being a spec5, so you had some authority, what's to hate?
Don't give me any BS about being a self-made billionaire and travelling the world, cause I won't buy it.
You got out IF YOU GOT OUT, because things weren't nearly as rosy as you are making them out to be.
And like I said, while your MOS/AFSC might have been able to stay semi-permanently MOST are not so those numbers are just plain bad.

Im not going to say in some cases you can get lucky in your base and make some money with COLA, but you can only be ahead for so long and then its back to BALAD etc. buddy, as you well know, and that as you may also know sucks.

Honestly, there was nothing wrong with the job. I loved my job. I was sitting an E-7 position, making decisions, being cool and all that.. but I never really cared for the military side of things. Too much BS. And I don't like Hawaii. it's a nice place to visit, but sucks to live here. It's a little rock in the middle of the ocean. The education system here is horrible and I don't want my daughter growing up here. I liked the job ok, but I know I can do more and I didn't want to always put up with all the military crap.

**Lubaolong** · 06-01-2007, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cujo_Trey

The point is you weren't asking each one of the hundreds you met what they had their degree in.
And if you somehow had access to their personal records and are publishing it online as an official inside source then you could be guilty of privacy act violations. Name or no name, inside sourcing is against the UCMJ to protect PA.

I didn't ask every single officer I met what their degree was in, but after eating breakfast with them every morning for 6 weeks you get to know some of them pretty well. And I always asked the officers I worked with. Every officer I worked with all had useless undergrad degrees.. like Russian Literature, European History, etc like that. I'm not saying there aren't some with technical degrees, I know there are, but I never met an officer that had one.

Cujo_Trey · 06-01-2007, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubaolong

Honestly, there was nothing wrong with the job. I loved my job. I was sitting an E-7 position, making decisions, being cool and all that.. but I never really cared for the military side of things. Too much BS. And I don't like Hawaii. it's a nice place to visit, but sucks to live here. It's a little rock in the middle of the ocean. The education system here is horrible and I don't want my daughter growing up here. I liked the job ok, but I know I can do more and I didn't want to always put up with all the military crap.

Bottom line: obviously you didn't feel over-compensated or you would have stayed in the job. Case closed.
ps. most secondary educatees go abroad or to certain midwest colleges to study. The it's the norm. I bumped titties with more than a couple chicks from the island back in school, they all seemed very well adjusted and struggled no more than the normal college student.
I know in Australia, they have a reputation for being a couple years behind the states in terms of primary and secondary education, but I didn't think Hawaii was lagging that much in the primary... like I said most of them seemed quite capable. Every new freshmen class had a brand new crop from one of the islands.... ahhhhh, good memories.

Cujo_Trey · 06-01-2007, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubaolong

I didn't ask every single officer I met what their degree was in, but after eating breakfast with them every morning for 6 weeks you get to know some of them pretty well. And I always asked the officers I worked with. Every officer I worked with all had useless undergrad degrees.. like Russian Literature, European History, etc like that. I'm not saying there aren't some with technical degrees, I know there are, but I never met an officer that had one.

Out of the hundreds that you mentioned earlier, how many did you interrogate about their degrees?
Assuming you didn't say "Hello Sir, My name is SPEC% _____ Nice to meet you, and you have your degree in what?"

Generally you wouldn't be working with more than a handful of officers at a time directly, even if you had a semi-formal breakfast with others you didn't know 8 times a year.

Don't be admitting to fraternization now. hehe.

**Lubaolong** · 06-01-2007, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cujo_Trey

Out of the hundreds that you mentioned earlier, how many did you interrogate about their degrees?
Assuming you didn't say "Hello Sir, My name is SPEC% _____ Nice to meet you, and you have your degree in what?"

Generally you wouldn't be working with more than a handful of officers at a time directly, even if you had a semi-formal breakfast with others you didn't know 8 times a year.

Don't be admitting to fraternization now. hehe.

There was nothing formal about breakfast. The officers were doing their officer training school and I was there doing my thing and we would all go to this little shop that sold breakfast burritos every morning and sit outside on picnic tables and converse. These guys were butter bars that had just finished college. Here I am a college graduate that speaks Chinese and a few years of military service. Do you think they are going to look down on me?