The Microcosm of the US that is the Military: Is the disparity between Enlisted and Officer Pay just or unjust?

your right in the missile command back in good old 1976

before they took it all apart there where professional e grads to E-8 they where tech jobs they did not march troops or do any combat training other than job related and then came the SQT and hard stripe get it done NCO core that wanted all soldiers to have the skills to do both and I can say with no issue that we lost a lot of good people do to the change we lost radar techs that where working on next gen radar to riathion general dynamic and so on nut we had also just lost a major war with Vietnam and there was looming issues in east and middle east it was hard times back then housing was getting taken from us cuts in budget so bad we ditched two all most completed air defense platforms so they could keep medical going

^^^^^What's the chances of finding someone else named Lonny Self^^^^
I knew a pastor back in Leeds, Alabama named Lonny Self.

Back in the day, they had Specialist positions up to the E-9 level. My father was a SPC5 in Vietnam, getting paid the same as a SGT. SPC4 (now just "specialist") gets the same pay as a CPL.... that doesn't seem to fit the "pay equals responsibility" argument.

Had 6 years TIG as a CMSgt when I retired after 32 years in 1989 ! With my 100% Combat Disabled Vietnam VA Compensation, Social Security and AF Retirement I receive $10,000 a month with no taxes. In 1957... I made $78.00 a month before taxes.

If I may join the fray..... I am a supervisor in the civilian world. My job classification would be akin to the E-7 level in an Army unit. I hold a great deal of responsibility in not just lives and product, but in the maintenance of equipment. My manager would be akin to a CPT. He sets forth direction. I give his direction action. I don't know what my manager makes but would guess it is in the low to mid 6 figures while I make in the high 5 figures. His retirement (assuming we have similar deduction rates and time served) will reflect greatly a disparaging difference in amounts. This is the nature of the beast. I take the responsibility on the ground. He views things from 5000 ft. The military and their policies reflect these principles as well. Fair? Not sure, but I'm not jealous. I earn every penny as does my boss.

I completely agree with your argument. However, I believe that along with the higher pay military officers should be held to a much higher standard than they are currently. The officers who are the mentors, examples, and leaders that they are needed to be are to far and to few in between.

Precisely CSM (Join to see) !!!

Just,but with that said the military in general especially at the lower levels suffers poverty.You Ladies and Gentlemen should all be getting paid more than your civilian counter parts.

Exactly!!! And you sound like a pretty good Officer Candidate, too, SSG Robert Burns !!!! Green to Gold, brother!!!

I do not believe that tells the entire story about "if you want to be paid more, go to college". There are some who only go to college first because they are avoiding what may be wartime during what would be their first or second years of college (Example, some of the new 2LTs who started full time service in 1994, some of which could be seen as cowards who avoided Desert Storm. I do not believe those willing to fight out of high school should be less compensated for more courage/bravery/give-a-damn-about-(greater good/above self).

I also might suggest that one's overall ASVAB score be a factor in....well maybe not directly to pay, but into the promotion points calculations which could result in faster promotions which increase pay. A piece of paper doesn't always mean a higher IQ or any other given ability.

The college level education system is archaic, and mostly about the profit that lies within the "business of education". Some do not need a piece of paper to be able to clarify to others that we have an IQ above room temperature, and some need that so very desperately that they are willing to take on all of those lovely expenses and spend years paying off student loans and such.

Don't get me wrong here. I am not bashing Officers. Just those bottom 5%-ers who may very well indeed fit some of the descriptions I've covered here.

The issue is not to have comparable pay but that the divergence in pay given the level of responsibility should be adjusted. Second, the income levels between your sister and yourself are due to a very different level of education and training required.
While I do think that the pay gap needs to be reduced, more so on the officer side than raising the pay for E-9, you do have a point in that people make their career decisions.

Not true, just because you go to college and get a degree doesn't mean you can be an officer. The medical standards are different. You can get in as an enlisted and not be accepted as an officer candidate because of something buried in your medical file.