Do you think American soldiers are put on too high of a pedestal

[Catholic_Lady]

What?! the US military pays poorly??
How?!
Don't they get like half the federal budget?
Where is the money going?!

Do the people who join know upfront what they're getting themselves into?

Yes, very poorly. Often below minimum wage, depending on rank. Even officers who make a lot more than enlisted soldiers are still earning less than they should.

The money from the defense budget mostly goes to equipment that the average soldier never touches. Also keep in mind that the defense budget is entirely separate from the budget for veteran aid, which is insultingly minuscule.

Yes, soldiers know (to an extent at least) what they are getting themselves into when they sign up. There's obviously more than pay behind it. I enlisted because there were no job opportunities where I was and I couldn't get away without money from those non-existent jobs. It was so much simpler to get into the military. It's sometimes a way to open doors when you have none.

My husband is an officer and a pilot, so he gets paid more than the enlisted folks. But yeah, not nearly as much as he should, for what he does and what the job demands of us. He works 12-14 hours a day, 5 days a week. Sometimes he has to travel on the weekends on top of that. He hasn't been deployed yet because right now he's a flight instructor, thank goodness, but his next assignment will probably be having him deploy and go TDY all the time, as that is the standard. Some pilots are gone 300 days total out of the year when you add up all their deployments and TDY's. Sometimes they have to go live in Korea or Saudi Arabia for an entire year and families aren't supposed to go with them. 

He's constantly busy the whole time he's at work... for the entire 12+ hours. Doesn't even get a lunch break. I pack his lunch for him with 2 sandwiches and some snacks. It has to all be food that is quick and easy to eat bc he eats as he's doing stuff. He doesn't get to go sit at a table to have lunch. He usually munches on his sandwich as he's walking out to to the plane. Sometimes it comes back bc he didn't have time to eat it. I can never get ahold of him when I call. Twice I've had an emergency and couldn't get ahold of him. We live in the crappiest little town out in the middle of nowhere. We don't get that much of a say in where we get sent to next or what aircraft he'll be assigned to fly next. Sure, he get's to make a dream sheet of his preferences out of the pool that's available, but it's not at all guaranteed that he'll get what he wants. And yeah, one of the first things I was told as a wife when my husband first joined was that he was expected to put service before his family, and that I'm expected to support that and not complain. Eff that noise.

We knew what we were getting ourselves into. But we, like everyone else, had out reasons to join. The government knows that and takes full advantage of it. 

We did it because he wanted to be a pilot and it's very hard to start out in the civilian aviation world here in the US, and aviation school is EXTREMELY expensive. Usually you don't get good money being a civilian pilot until you've been in for a while, and it's hard to get a job at first. It's one of those things where, you need experience to get a job, but you can't get experience unless you have a job. Well, you can get experience... but it comes in the form of even more specialized training which costs even more and more money. Going into military flying solves all those problems, and when he's out after his 10 year commitment he'll be able to get a good job as an airline pilot right off the bat. It's really hard to get in as a pilot in the military and it's super prestigious (which is another reason he should get paid more), but once you're in you're set for life as far as your pilot career goes. Just so long as you don't screw up that is. Then it's over.