He was a chaplain's assistant, which deadends at E-6, and had to pack chutes and jump with the Rangers to make ends meet for his family.
Okay, I'll bite.
An E-6 tops out at a base salary of $42,401 per year. Not exactly "Lifestyles of the rich and famous, but it goes pretty far in places like Kentucky (where Ft. Campbell is located).
He will also likely get a number of other payments even if not in a war zone- uniform allowances, subsistence (bas) allowances, etc which can be worth thousands of dollars more. On top of that, he could be getting additional pay for certain specialties and duties. Some of that pay and allowance is tax-free.
He also gets free housing (or money to pay for it), free medical, commissary privileges (usually much cheaper than shopping on the economy), education benefits, and a bunch more.
Then he can retire as age 37 and get 50% of that base pay for LIFE (that's $21,200+ per year), along with retaining free medical care, commissary privileges, burial benefits, etc. One of the best retirement programs around.
You won't get rich in the military, but it pays good money while serving, and fantastic retirement money.
The only soldiers who might have trouble making ends meet are VERY low ranking enlisted guys who do something stupid like get married young and start pumping out kids on an E-4 salary. Anyone else who can't make it probably just needs a financial counselor.
Are they liberty oriented?
