Comments on: Should Military Members Receive Special Benefits?

By: Ryan Guina

Ryan Guina — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:42:08 +0000

Hi Matt, I respect your opinion, but many of the items listed in your comment are only partial truths. I addressed these issues in the following article: Are Military Members Rich? A Look at Pay and Benefits. I hope this gives you a better understanding of some of the benefits our military members receive.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:10:18 +0000

Ok here’s my problem I believe military personnel are actually rich when you consider the following factors. You say that with a promotion in 5 years the average pay is around 28,000 dollars. Now at first glance, that seems like not very much at all right? That’s lower class. Except that: their housing is free, the food is free, their healthcare is free, and sometimes even their car is free. ALSO THE 28000 DOLLARS IS UNTAXED. So basically it’s their own personal PLAY MONEY. Now let’s take an officer for example. You said in 5 years it’s about 56,000 dollars. Ok, their housing is free, their healthcare is free, and their food is free and the stores on base offer discounted products of all kinds free of taxes. PLUS THEIR MONEY IS UNTAXED. WHY IS IT UNTAXED??????? When if I were to work for the Federal, State, or Local government I wouldn’t get my paycheck untaxed. Even police officers have to pay taxes.

I honestly would feel a lot more sorry for them if they were paying the ridiculous taxes everyone else has to pay. Bottom line is what would you do if your house was free, food was free, and your healthcare was free? I mean I would be saving that money to get a ferrari or something it’s ridiculous.

By: Ryan Guina

Ryan Guina — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:38:06 +0000

Cpt. Olvera, while it’s true that many service members don’t put themselves into life threatening positions every day, the fact remains that servicemembers train for and are on alert to be called into that type action at any moment. This includes things such as deployments to combat zones and hazardous duty assignments, but it can also refer to working in dangerous positions in non-combat environments.

Some individuals go an entire career without incident, while others go to the front line every day. The willingness to train for these assignments, and more importantly, the willingness to go when called upon, is indeed a noteworthy sacrifice, even if a truly life threatening event only happens “some” of the time.

By: issac olvera

issac olvera — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:04:33 +0000

I’m an infantry Captain in the Marines and the argument can be made that “some” members of the military have it better than any option they would have in the civilian world. So in some specific cases the military does offer too much but my real contention is the comment used in the article:

“The benefits … make life a little easier for some of the people who put their lives on the line everyday”

We should not misrepresent the reality of military life. Most people in the military will go an entire 20-year career in the military without putting their life on the line even once. So let’s not create an image that Servicemembers stare death in the face every day. The truth is this: SOME people in the military put their lives on the line SOME of the time. The comment in the article, while flattering and well-intentioned, is dishonest to the public and to ourselves (the Servicemembers).

By: wes

wes — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:28:48 +0000

yea sam its our fault that we joined, everyone of us joined to leave our families and pay the sacrifice that keeps America free. you don’t know why people joined.

By: wes

wes — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:13:08 +0000

i love the fact that there are so many people that can say the military doesn’t deserve what we get. To think that you can sit at a computer and think that all the benefits that a soldier gets is to much is b***s***. let me ask you this tim tom, if you got hurt doing your job wouldn’t you get some kind of compensation?? so if a soldier gets his legs blown off you don’t think that the government should do all it can to help him out. what a lot of you people don’t understand is that as a soldier yea we might have get the benefits we deserve but we loose so much. it must be nice having a 9-5 job knowing that you can sleep with your wife or see your kids everyday but imagine going a year with out them and not knowing if your going to live through the next day. then tell me you don’t think a soldier deserves what he gets.

By: CN

CN — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 01:48:29 +0000

this is for all the people who said military families shouldn’t receive benefits…i come from a military family..and actually my uncle is in the marines and my cousin is in the Army in Afghanistan as we speak. he doesn’t make a lot of money to support his family either and he has to rely on the benefits. And why are you guys bashing on the military when they are serving and protecting YOU! Without those brave men and women who knows where we will be. And until you put yourself in their shoes you have no right to bash them because you have no idea what its like. and next time think about what its like to be away from your loved ones.
To those who served for this country…i would like to THANK you for your service and heroism. I’m so moved by this topic that I’m writing my speech for one of my classes on this topic.

By: terry somody

terry somody — Fri, 20 May 2011 18:07:26 +0000

Boy, is this typical. The ahole disagreeing with the benefits is no doubt a liberal (sounds like he is related to obama) and too much of a chicken**** to help defend the country himself. I suppose you have a dangerous job, lol, where you have a chance to lose a limb or worse. Punk, I was special ops in Vietnam, and while I went airborne, raider, and volunteered for all of it, all these soldiers in today’s military represent what I did 40 years ago. To all you military brothers and sisters out there, hoorah. To you *******, you can kiss mine.

By: Nate From the Jarhead Clan

Nate From the Jarhead Clan — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 02:26:28 +0000

Sam,
I find it demeaning to stoop down and speak to someone on your level. But I will say this:

I agree, we did sign the line and knew damn well what we were getting into. What we didnt know is that people like you have no idea what it is like to fight for something you love. I have served in cuba, haiti, bosnia, iraq and afghanistan. I did this for the thought that others would appreciate the freedoms we offer. Not for you and your ignorance. I did it for the children that were missing limbs from landmines in the former yugoslavia. The women that suffer from oppression, **** and irrefutable torture. Not you and your rights to be as flamingly homo-sexual or emo or chemically anti-depressed. I have served my country, missed my 2 children being born, my grandson being born, divorced, missed funerals and bent,broke and destroyed my body in the name of the country I so adore. So sir with all due respect you have no right to speak here.

USMC GySgt 18.5 years service

By: Tyler (0331 USMC)

Tyler (0331 USMC) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 21:47:37 +0000

Tim Tom you are a joke, I am active duty in the Marine Corps, and you’re right, I don’t have any college under my belt, but what I do have is a combat deployment to Afghanistan and I’m leaving for my second today. I have better friends that I have served with than anyone could ask for. I have a wife and a son and yes we pinch pennies even with all of our “benefits”. I don’t know what you do for work, what I do know is I, at 21 years old have done things in my short life that you will never be able to say you have done. My son and someday my grandkids will be reading about things I personally participated in, in history books. And for the record, I’m an Infantryman not just some dude in a combat zone never seeing any combat. If you want to bash the military so much, please by all means go down, enlist, and spend a little 4 years of your life doing what we do, then you can talk smack. But I can’t be mad about you bashing the military, because last I check, It’s the ones you think so little of that give you the right to say and do what you want. So I hope you have a good day with everything you take for granted, I am going to spend the next 2 hours with my family saying good-bye before I have to go catch a plane.