Originally Posted by
Taco280AI
Commissioned officer pay is pretty good. A 3 years in service O2 in their first unit gets $4586 plus $156 for 2 years of aviation pay. That is what they are taxed on, $4742 a month. If they're married and stationed in Colorado Springs, for example, they get $1587 in housing and another $254 for food, both not taxed.
Total compensation for a fairly new LT in their first unit is $6583 a month with only $4742 being taxed. Civilian equivalent being roughly $7k a month for a fairly new LT? And 30 days paid vacation a year. And zero medical/dental costs. They get paid pretty well. Plus they're getting paid to learn to fly in their first two years.
Now us Warrants, we don't get paid as well, but we're also not dealing with death by PowerPoint.
I'm intimately aware of what a commissioned officer makes.
My point wasn't that they are paid too much. It's that when someone says "Look at all this responsibility! We deserve $5 bajillion a year," I like to put it into perspective. Far more responsibility and they make less than $100,000 total compensation (including inferred and tax free benefits) for at least the first 5-6 years.