Wait, My Military Pay Is High?

Photo by Shamblen Studios

During my last four years in Okinawa, I worked alongside civilians who offered perspectives that differed sharply from the Chiefs and Petty Officers who had spent their entire careers in uniform.

One civilian colleague pointed out something that stuck with me: when you factor in the entire compensation package—housing, base amenities, subsidized entertainment, all allowances—military pay is substantial, especially for enlisted service members without college degrees. He wasn't saying this with ill intent; he was stating facts. But at the time, I called bullshit.

From my perspective, base pay was low. There was no clocking in and out. You only received housing allowance if you got authorization to live off base, and I barely used most base amenities anyway. Plus, I had slept, eaten, and lived in far worse conditions when the nation called. Nice housing felt like luck, not something that could be calculated into "compensation."

The truth was, I had no concept of compensation or salary. Since I was 18, I'd received a paycheck every other week that increased bit by bit with promotions and time in grade. That was that.

Now I understand what he meant, especially regarding overseas duty stations. These days my dream is to relocate to Okinawa, a goal I'm actively preparing for. The best off-base rentals are priced at U.S. housing allowance rates, which run two to three times higher than what typical Japanese residents can afford. Many of these properties aren't even available to locals. As a single E-5 in my mid-twenties, I lived in an apartment that an upper-middle-class Japanese professional could barely afford.

The same holds true stateside. When you're a civilian salary earner, every expense comes out of your paycheck. It's not uncommon to land a job with few or no benefits: no healthcare, no 401k, no housing allowance, no TSP, no mess hall or gym exclusively accessible to you. Sure, some private sector jobs offer great benefits, but military bases—especially overseas—are worlds unto themselves. Inside, you have access to necessities that people on the outside often don't even know exist. The base is completely outside their consciousness unless they have ties to the military.

This creates a massive wake-up call for veterans. You take a job with a salary that looks big, but you don't understand what "total compensation" means. You don't know how to negotiate salary and benefits, or what 401k and PTO actually mean. After everything is taken out of your paycheck, your take-home barely covers rent and basic necessities. Healthcare has co-pays and deductibles. Dental is a separate beast entirely. It's overwhelming.

My learning happened post-military over time, through coffee chats, informational interviews, mentorship, and conversations with friends. I also learned at every job change. I don't have one piece of perfect advice, but I know this: none of this stuff is intuitive. You have to actively seek it out, and the learning can happen through many channels.

Take classes or workshops. Reach out for coffee conversations. Find mentors. Engage with people at work, through nonprofits, at your running club or jujitsu class. Whatever works. Note that there are general norms that apply to any job, but also industry-specific practices. This is one reason why surrounding yourself with people in your target industry is so important.

Try plugging your former military pay into the Civilian vs. Military Pay Calculator by Charles Schwab to appreciate how much salary you'd need to earn as a civilian. The point is acknowledging that this transition is massive and requires intentional unlearning and relearning.