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Rebecca Miner
English 2010
July 20, 2015

Report Draft

Enlisted military pay is something that is being talked about and debated amongst
the American people. Some will talk about how the government is paying our troops too
much, while others might say they are being paid too little. Either way, it is a topic
worthy of our attention.
To start off, men and women from all across the country have joined the ranks of
our military. They have sworn allegiance and sworn to defend the United States of
America. In many ways, these individuals have given up their civilian lives, and have

Trang Tran
Rebecca Miner
English 2010
July 20, 2015

adopted a new culture and have been accepted to a new team. Essentially, they have given
up their own identity to give and contribute to the greater good.
Hours can be long and grueling and work isn't just from nine to five. Work is also
between 6:30am-7:30am for morning time PT, and then you work from 9:00am-5:00pm
on a good day. There are also shifts that can last for up to 24 hours and sometimes in
through the weekends. These kinds of shift are known as CQ, or staff duty shifts that
soldiers are obligated to perform when assigned.
Does an enlisted soldier get adequate compensation for all of this? The lowest
enlisted rank (E-1) with less than two years of time in service only makes around
$1,546.80 per month according to an official military site. That is $18,561.60 per year.
The average weekly earnings per week for an individual in the private sector are $860.78
as of June of 2015 according to Bureau of Labor Statistics. When you do the math, this is
$41,317.44 which means that enlisted soldiers are getting paid a lot less.
PFC Joseph Kendall can relate to this topic, as he understands and has lived off of
military pay. He is an average guy, who used to work a civilian job, and he has recently
joined the Army as an enlisted soldier as a Private First Class. He makes less money than
he did at his previous civilian employment and he states that work has become more
physically and mentally demanding. He states that after joining the military, he is not
getting paid what he is worth.
Another factor to consider is the fact that being an enlisted soldier in the military
can potentially be dangerous. Military personnel are sent all across the world and many

Trang Tran
Rebecca Miner
English 2010
July 20, 2015

of them in dangerous regions. Many soldiers face the stress of life and death situations
and potentially risk life and limb when called to fight overseas.
The median salary for a cashier is $18,970 in 2012 according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. How is it that an enlisted soldier that risks their lives getting shot at,
blown up, getting into an accident makes as much as a cashier? An Academic Mercenary
(formally known as Blackwater) also is a soldier that risks their life, but at a much more
advantageous price. Taking the same amount of risks as an enlisted soldier a private
contract mercenary can make between $150,000 to $250,000 a year.
The lowest ranking members of our military are getting scraps compared to a lot
of their civilian counterparts. In all practicality, a low ranking soldier has about as much
financial freedom as a person living with their parents and working as a cashier. It's
enough pay to live and have the basics all provided for you, but with so much more risk
and responsibility, as a soldier you would have been better off living at home with your
parents.
The job of a soldier is to go out and fight to defend our country. Often times,
military personnel are sent to foreign lands leaving their families and friends behind for a
specified period of time. They will be expected to fight, some will be captured, some will
go missing, and some will die. Its not guaranteed that these soldiers that are sent off to
fight will return home alive. This is devastating, and destroys families.
Enlisted soldiers deserve our respect for the sacrifices and the risks that they take.
Every action that they take and order that they follow is typically towards the good of our

Trang Tran
Rebecca Miner
English 2010
July 20, 2015

nation. It is mainly for the good of our people so that we may all live and thrive as a
nation, as they overcome any enemy force of aggression.
Enlisted soldiers spend so much of their time and energy to go through the daily
routines of their jobs. Military work can definitely be hard and exhausting, and our
enlisted military personnel deserve to be compensated more for the time and energy that
they put in.
When talking about single enlisted soldiers, they are especially not really living in
the best way possible. Living in government owned barracks, they are provided with the
basics. Typically, and according to some of my friends that are in the military, a typical
single soldier will live in a barracks room apartment with another soldier consisting of
two rooms, usually one for each occupant, and share a common kitchenette area, and a
bathroom. PCF Joseph Kendall live in a barracks room does not even have a kitchenstove top to cook any food. Finally for a low ranking enlisted soldier, these barracks
rooms are subject to inspections whenever higher-ranking personnel decide.
Finally the life of a soldier can be dangerous at home. Accidents and incidents of
death do occur. This can range from becoming a heat casualty, or even becoming a victim
to an accident out on a firing range, or even in a motor pool. With the nature of this kind
of work, you just never know what might happen.
These enlisted soldiers are taking risks for us everyday whether big or small. In
addition to that, their bodies can take a beating from some of the physical stresses of their
work. This is related to the amount of PT that they regularly do on an everyday basis.

Trang Tran
Rebecca Miner
English 2010
July 20, 2015

Their bodies even take a beating from jumping out of planes.

You must also understand what the soldiers go through to earn their paychecks.
Everyday, there can be, of course, long hours and hard tasks. Everyday, every soldier has
high standards that they must abide by. Every soldier is expected to perform to the best of
their abilities.
Some members of our armed forces that have been deployed to dangerous parts of
the world face many day-to-day challenges related to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or
PTSD. Not all, but many military personnel that have seen combat are suffering from this
mental health issues related to PTSD, and this correlates to the experiences that they have
had while facing the enemy. In all actuality, anyone can get PTSD, and for many people
this is a life changing experience and it is possible for a normal everyday civilian to get
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder depending on how they have reacted to a past situation.
This mental distress however is usually more prevalent among members of our military
that have been deployed and engaged in combat with an enemy force. This all correlates
to whether or not a soldier was actively involved in a combat situation. Many cases of
PTSD also lead to a higher rate of suicide.
Now more than ever, many of our lower ranking enlisted military personnel have
a higher percentage of suicide than the civilian population. According to Clinical Digest,
between 2007 and 2008 it is stated that 255 active duty military personnel committed
suicide. It is stated within the article that this is a rate of 20 per 100,000 soldiers a year
compared to the civilian population, which is 12 per 100,000 people per year. A lot of this

Trang Tran
Rebecca Miner
English 2010
July 20, 2015

correlates with the conflict that has been raging on in the Middle East, with those that
have been deployed to places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
The point that is being made here is that our troops go through a great deal to
defend our nation. It's not something we, as Americans consciously think about everyday,
but these troops really do earn every penny of what they are paid. Compared to other
civilians working in a regular industry that has fewer hazards, they deserve a little more.
At a regular job, you only sacrifice your time just to be at work. Enlisted military
personnel sacrifice their time, their families, and their own safety and well-being. They
give it all up, therefore; they deserve more.
To conclude, our enlisted military personnel are not getting paid what they should
be. They are separated from their friends and families, and are obligated to abide by their
military contracts. They face life and death situations and compared to others, are not
getting paid quite enough.

Trang Tran
Rebecca Miner
English 2010
July 20, 2015

Works Cited
"Military Suicide Rate." The Full. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2015.
"7 Reasons Our Troops Are Poor." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2015.
"TruthOut Archive." Multiple Deployments Lead to Major Increase in PTSD Cases, New
Study Says. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2015.
Richardson, Lisa K., B. Christopher Frueh, and Ronald Acierno. "Prevalence Estimates
Of Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Critical Review." Australian & New
Zealand Journal Of Psychiatry 44.1 (2010): 4-19. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20
July 2015.
"Clinical Digest. Steep Rise In Soldier Suicides Coincides With Military Action In Iraq
And Afghanistan." Nursing Standard 26.31 (2012): 15. Academic Search Premier. Web.
20 July 2015.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook,
2014-15 Edition, Cashiers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/cashiers.htm
(visited May 22, 2015).