Family life in the military

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Family life in the military

Wow.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), March 14, 2001

Answers

Lars,

I can relate. That piece doesn't do the feeling justice IMO.

-- (Sheeple@Greener.Pastures), March 14, 2001.


Yeah, that captures it. I lived most of my life in the Fayetteville, NC, area (Ft. Bragg - 82nd Airborne, Rapid Deployment Force, etc.), so I know all about it. It is really an eerie feeling to walk into a local restaurant during a major deployment and see how empty it is. Or to call a friend to see how they're doing with their spouse overseas.

The Gulf War was my last one before I moved here to Alabama. The drummer in our band had just decided to re-up when it happened. His wife had a new baby at home and there he was, headed to Saudi Arabia for a year or two!

Most people don't realize the sacrifices that military families have to go through. What makes my blood boil is those who respond with, "so? They chose that career, they can live with it." That may be technically true, but most of them go into the military because they love this country. We could at least APPRECIATE them for that.

They sure as heck don't do it for the pay.

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), March 14, 2001.


They sure as heck don't do it for the pay. Especially over the last 8 years!

The article clearly speaks of the devastating effects the Klinton administration has had on them to that end.

[snip]

"Our men and women in uniform give America their best," President Bush declared to applause before a joint session of Congress Feb. 27, "and we owe them our support." He announced plans to improve pay and benefits while modernizing America's "defense vision."

These are heartening words for Lisa and Randy Rotte (RO-tee) and the nation's 1.4 million military personnel and their families (52 percent of enlisted personnel are married, 71 percent of officers). They've felt squeezed by more family separations as a post-Cold War downsizing of 30 percent has been punctuated by the increasing demands of worldwide peacekeeping operations -- Kosovo, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Korea.

They've felt squeezed financially, too. Some 5,000 military families are on food stamps. A private first class makes $15,684 in base pay, a staff sergeant $24,552, a first lieutenant $31,440 -- plus various allowances and benefits, including medical care. Meanwhile, the civilian economy has boomed.

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), March 14, 2001.


You're only telling half the story Aint.

These are not privates on food stamps. Maj. Rotte makes $90,036, including $57,372 in base pay, a $21,024 housing allowance, $1,560 "subsistence" for items like uniforms, and a $10,080 flight- pay bonus to keep him from leaving -- which he considered five years ago.

-- dudesy (dudesy@37.com), March 14, 2001.


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