The Making of an American Soldier

Great pictures, boring story. Interesting though.

Outstanding photography. I wish I could take pictures like that. Also, the dude is lucky that he was able to stay in after admitting to drug use. That's usually a show-stopper, but it also depends on the circumstances.

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Originally Posted by Rhydant

You guys don't understand. If you are in the armed forces and you get married, you get a pay raise AND a larger housing credit (if you live off base).

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Pay raise? No.

Larger housing allowance? Yes. (And non-taxable.)

Also, you get a separation allowance for the amount of time spent apart due to a deployment or remote tour. (This is also non-taxable.)

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Originally Posted by Josh

The real tragedy is how bad his tattoos are.

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Like father, like son.

Also, we now know what Razor's been up to. HE'S IN BASIC TRAINING!!!

LOOK!

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http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured...soldier040.jpg

He'd be kicked out for sexual harassment before day 2.

I like how he's checking out that guy's sweet ass.

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Originally Posted by squall_vb

Pay raise? No.

Larger housing allowance? Yes. (And non-taxable.)

Also, you get a separation allowance for the amount of time spent apart due to a deployment or remote tour. (This is also non-taxable.)

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Pay raise? Yes!!!

It's actually a decent amount (when I was in, it was nearly $100/wk). Even on base housing for a married couple these days is quite nice and is a great bit of money if you're considering saving up for a house while you're in the military. The pay isn't great, but if you spend in an intelligent way while you're in the military, you can nearly save up all of your earnings.

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Originally Posted by Gohron

Pay raise? Yes!!!

It's actually a decent amount (when I was in, it was nearly $100/wk). Even on base housing for a married couple these days is quite nice and is a great bit of money if you're considering saving up for a house while you're in the military. The pay isn't great, but if you spend in an intelligent way while you're in the military, you can nearly save up all of your earnings.

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I think you might be confusing base pay with certain allowances. The actual base pay is determined by pay grade and time in service, and can be found on the military pay chart for any given year. It is set in stone by Congress, and it does not change on account of dependents.

The housing allowance does go up if you're married (substantially, in most cases), so if you saw a boost in your pay, this is most likely where it was actually coming from.

http://www.army.mil/symbols/Images/NewRanks_01.jpg

Well he did get bumped down to E-1 after going in as a E-3. He could of made E-4 easy. That's a big pay cut. I thought the story was great, brought a tear to my eye watching the basic photos, ah memories.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../Pay_grade.gif

Wow, this was amazing. I don't know how you could think that story was boring, I guess since he didn't DIE or anything, why bother, huh?

As for the quick marriage thing, another reason besides the pay increase is that in the military you can be sent to another base at a moment's notice, so many couples get married just so that they can stay together. The divorce rate is pretty high and I noticed when I dated military guys they always had this "You are good enough for right now" kind of mentality and never were in it for the long run. They also cheat on you a lot, there is a whole lot of swinging and whatnot going on.

I am much happier dating a civilian with a government job now. :)