Military vs. Civilian Pay
Interesting article in this week's Army Times detailing the 2004 pay charts for the military, and the formula for the annual pay raises:
A 3.7 percent raise is the amount called for under a 1999 law that mandates military raises be set 0.5 percentage point above annual private-sector pay increases as measured by the Employment Cost Index. The Defense Department opposed this pay-raise formula when it was created and passed during the Clinton administration, and still doesn't like it.Congress approved the ECI-plus-½ pay plan in an attempt to reverse a 16-year trend of military raises that generally were lower than pay hikes for private-sector workers.
By 1999, the gap between military and civilian salaries was estimated at 13.5 percent. Today, the pay gap — the existence of which still is widely disputed — has declined to about 6.4 percent and would drop to about 5.7 percent after the Jan. 1 raises.
Apparently the Pentagon opposes the plan because "some grades, such as junior enlisted members and junior officers, make more than their civilian peers of similar age and education levels."
Now it's not really fair to compare the JAG program to law firms, because the work and lifestyle are so different, but here it is anyhow:
Army JAG (salary + non-taxable housing & subsistence allowances; these numbers are based on 2004 rates and assume I am single w/o dependents and stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia)
First year: $52,508.40
Second year: $60,808.80
Third year: $60,808.80
Fourth year: $63,123.60
I've left out my ROTC scholarship ($60,000 for three years of college) because most JAG officers are direct comissionees rather than ROTC grads (this also leaves them with lower basic pay, since I get paid for having 3 "years of service" for purposes of pay), and because I qualified for sufficient financial aid from my college that I didn't really "save" any money by taking the scholarship.
Anyhow, here's the place I'm working for this summer:
D.C. Law Firm (salary + minimum bonuses)
First year: $130,000
Second year: $140,000
Third year: $160,000
Fourth year: $175,000
So all totalled up, I'll make $367,750.40 less during my four years as a JAG attorney. That's an eye-opener, huh? (Though maybe the eye-opener is that so many law firms are willing to pay 25 year-olds $130k to read paperwork).
