HUGE Pay Raise for Military in 2025 Still on the Table

[@insearchofprometheus]

They should eliminate income tax for uniformed services.

[@spicywater123]

No shit. I always thought that this was an obvious thing to do.

[@whm_w8833]

But the govt need the revenue. If they cut income tax, they probably gonna get lower tax

[@KDJi399s9cd0]

lol plz they already get enough tax differential. not sure why you think uniformed services deserve this exemption. Most of them do nothing and are hardly ever in any danger.

[@whm_w8833]

@@KDJi399s9cd0 because they get paid under minimum wage. if you are referring to generals and officers, then they could get taxed for their income because their income is high.

[@preis3220]

Who else is here after the BIG raise got approved!!! Let’s gooo!

[@prod.bykris]

yessirrr, e5 gang tho :(

[@vocaleditz9483]

WOOOOOO

[@AirForceJay]

E3. Here!😅 definitely appreciate this a tone!

[@kevinbell4570]

10% across the board for all service members. BAH and BAS included. Inflation is horrible for everyone in the nation. If you can give Ukraine 80 billion plus, then you can shell out 35 billion dollars for your service members over a 5 year period.

[@SFCBEITZ]

I’m a military content creator as well. I told my boy Team Swartz (content creator) about the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act. I read almost the whole thing (a whole lot of pages lol) and it’s exciting. He actually just sent me this video and said you’ve already touched on it, so that’s why I am here! I’m making a 2025 Army Pay video and that’s how I discovered the SM Quality of Life Act. Keep up the good work!

[@benjaminleisure1744]

Brother I'm fairly confident you JMPI'd me about 2 weeks ago for our C-17 jump, and now your videos are popping up all over my feed! Crazy! You were super kind, patient, and professional. From what I've seen so far, you're an awesome dude. High quality videos from a high quality guy. Subscribed.

[@GrittySoldier]

Hey man! Yeah sounds like that may have been me. Glad you found the community!!! 🤜 🤛

[@craiggorman2152]

19.5% pay increase for an E4 and a 4.5 % increase for an E5 absolutely is absurd. $3648 new base pay for E4 with 4 years TIS vs $3517 new base pay for an E5 with 4-6 years TIS. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE

[@paulfeasal6024]

I think base pay should be 4 grand a month for just enlisting. They have contractors making 100 plus grand a year starting off making twice as much as the military doing the same job at the lower ranks. I think certain jobs should give the enlisted personal more money. Because they are more physical or mentally demanding.

[@awesomedude1864]

That’s insane, that’s wayyyyy too much honestly. I think we get paid fairly . People just don’t know how to budget themselves .

[@paulfeasal6024]

@awesomedude1864 My fist shot at this is the average home in the US costs 495 grand. The average mortgage wear I live is 2900 a month. Rent is over 2200 a month. That 495 thousand for an average house is going to be more expensive than the 2900 mortgage by a lot. Your entire wage is less than what the average mortgage will cost you. Next when you are up for reenlistment. There's jobs for the government that will pay you 160 grand a year guaranteed that only require less than the qualifications you have in the military. Then will match your military retirement so you can carry it over to a government job. Meaning you can get paid both in retirement split the two pr use the credits to retire. Sometimes the government companies have way better benefits for their retirees. Then things line 401ks ans IRA's and maybe other types of shares in the company or companies. You make a lot more money as a government contractor or working for the government. So as long as you didn't get injured while in the military that would prevent you from doing good one of these jobs it's probably the best move. For example if you were a Nuke engineer in the Navy you could easily work for NASA or Space X, making the propulsion systems for deep space. I knew a government contractor that was making 300 grand a year doing this back 20 years ago and he didn't work full time either. I had battle buddies go to work for various government companies. Like infantry for example back then they paid 160 grand to work for Blackwater which changed their name and Dinacore. Boeing even has stiff for this MOS and payed over 60 grand at that time. You could have went to the FBI and or CIA and made that type of money. I made 2 grand a month in Iraq as an E-4 with 2 years experience. I guarantee you would be making more money with someone else doing the same job with the same amount of risk. Possibly more risk. Plus going into the CIA you would be training with people that are some of the best in the world with what they do. They have a group that is so good it's up their close to Delta Force. They do not miss.

[@Ryversimmons]

Great information you’re putting out. I just Soldiers young and not so young are running across your channel. Great tool to keep in the hip pocket.

[@GrittySoldier]

Glad to hear it!

[@bugsbunny8679]

Awesome couldn’t have said it any better 👍

[@jstewthompson]

Congress: "How are we going to pay for it?" Also Congress: "Lets continue to launder money to Ukraine, Israel and the Taliban instead of supporting our current members!"

[@whm_w8833]

If our men don’t have to fight in exchange for paying them, is that worth the pay - especially when Americans don’t want to be involved in war?

[@noona514]

This is great. I'm planning to commission soon. Gotta get writing.

[@DonaldPollard-g4z]

I can remember when we got 98 cents an hour way back in the early sixties.

[@STARBOYGAMING-cm8il]

Please give us an update as soon as a decision is made! Thank you!

[@DonaldPollard-g4z]

Yes and for those of us who have already been in combat and hurt we get very very little and suffer until we die.

[@markfleming8971]

Gritty, what’s your thoughts on men and women that are around my age “36” joining the military? I have a great job and make decent money but have always wanted to serve my country, and knowing that window of opportunity is quickly coming to a close, I’ve been thinking a lot about it.

[@nathanjohnson2767]

I just went to talk with the recruiter and I am starting the process to enlist, he said it’s actually more common than you think ( I’m currently 30 )

[@GrittySoldier]

I think that’s a really good question, one that I get asked quite often actually… I think what I’ll do is make a video on this topic going over all the positives and negatives that I see personally and hopefully that’ll be helpful. But to answer your question now is best as I can, I think if you desire to serve, it is something that you want to do at a personal level to satisfy your own Goals, then you should do it

[@CS-ww3bs]

What I've noticed is that often times older enlisted are often immigrants like me from South America, Asia or others from Africa. Often with degrees from their own country. Who want to give back to their new country. And it seems like a solid stable job. I'm happy in the army. When I went through medic AIT, the oldest soldier was 41, ex Canadian football player and current competitive powerlifter. The most miserable older soldier I've seen was a Haitian E2 who joined as a Cav scout. 😂 Combat arms is tough even on a young fella

[@markfleming8971]

@@GrittySoldier that would be great. Thanks for the response.

[@nirvanafan6669]

If you have a life already established I'd look into guard/reserves (Air National Guard or AF reserves would be my first choice). If you have a bachelor's try to comission.

[@Joeyq-si9ls]

That would be great as I'm enlisting

[@jeffreygarcia3512]

As someone who may be going back in full time next year. I think this is great 👍🏼

[@reidiculous4747]

The last three years the promotion rank in the AF from e4 to e5 has been almost non existent. It's crazy to me that they're worried about people not wanting to move past the Jr enlisted tier when they won't even let us unless you save the world, graduate from college and volunteer everyday on your EPR.

[@Stroles84]

Thanks for the update!

[@GrittySoldier]

🫡

[@MrAdventure96]

Just went from being an E5 in the Army to an E3 with the Coast Gaurd, and I dont understand how these junior enlisted survive. Im also stationed on Maui, so you can already guess how expensive it is here

[@TokyoJoe3]

I thought the USCG stopped dropping PS years ago. Did your MOS not convert to a specific rating?

[@lthughes]

Why did you do that to yourself?

[@jonathansalgado9265]

Hi I was wondering if you could tell me what brand of weighted vest you use? I’m training to reenlist and my wife is preparing to enlist too. Hard to find a quality vest that can take a beating lol Thank you for the content. I found your channel at the right time!!

[@theonereborn9299]

Especially for my boys and gals living out here in Carson. The cost of living is absurd, especially for my soldiers who also have kids!

[@RolandjGalvan]

colorado housing is getting out of hand

[@RolandjGalvan]

This is great news and it gets my spirits up, saving as much money as possible is very important for me right now. This would help tremendously.

[@nathanashley5260]

So my thoughts are as follows: The Army has recruitment and reenlistment issues, largely because of the lack of good leadership and financial opportunities. Traditional recruitment ads fail in comparison to word of mouth. And largely word of mouth currently is not great. So, the Army should consider moving wasted spending from over the top recruitment schemes(football, nascar etc) and Focus on the biggest asset…the Joes. Give us greater reasons to encourage others to join. At worse troops get a better quality of life (and not the Rock’s bank account) and at best, we tell others to join the party.

[@TokyoJoe3]

I totally agree with the piss poor spineless leadership. But don't forget how politicized the military is these days. We don't need diversity hires, we need qualified people in senior positions.

[@donaldmartin4980]

When I entered the military I got $750 per month…and I came in as a PFC. I was married with two kids, rent was $250 per month in Salinas, California…..first duty station was Fort Ord. I went all the way to E-6 while I was there.

[@paulfeasal6024]

I was always back East or in Asia. Both sides of Asia. Iraq, Kuwait, and South Korea was wear I was at in Asia. Then was pretty much back East for all my duty stations in the US, whether for training or my duty station, Ft Benning and Ft McPherson Georgia. Ft Leanerdwood, Missouri, Ft Lee, Virginia and Ft Knox, Kentucky.

[@donaldmartin4980]

@ I like my last assignment best….Fort Livingroom….

[@IFBBPRO917]

This is great! I remember when I was in and more money is always better.

[@Combateffective]

I think it's great especially for the lower enlisted. However, any bill that gets passed needs to have a stipulation that these lower enlisted must go through an economic class educating them on all things personal finance. It serves no purpose if an E-3 receives this kind of increase in pay and then goes out and still gets taken advantage of by some car dealership.

[@RolandjGalvan]

this is always going to be a problem..I've taken a few finance classes that were provided by the army..none went into depth about analyzing deals for buying cars or homes. along with all the tricks the salesmen use to gain as much commission from their sale.

[@LThompson-xp8jn]

I agree, it's not gonna change the dealerships are especially going to take advantage of any lower enlisted personnel,or anyone they can period. But they should be done at a battalion level, where younger individuals are taught how to handle money and budget properly, it's still hard as e4 to make the 2200/mo stretch with things as expensive as they are.

[@spicywater123]

I recently looked on the Army and Navy website. Apparently, you can be a felon and get a waiver to join right now. There are some exceptions, but its interesting.

[@LThompson-xp8jn]

Even if its a 15-16% increase in total thats perfection acceptable still than an e5 with a 4.5% increase, e4s take on NCO roles throughout most mos, and infantry e4s get squad leader roles but dont get the e5 promotion and the extra money would be really nice for us and the guys under us

[@martinmurray1016]

Why not a staggered raise with heavier portions at the bottom? IE 9.5 to E1, 8 to e2 etcccc

[@josuecamarillo3011]

Hey you followed through with this story from IG Sr.

[@GrittySoldier]

Awesome glad the word got out!

[@paulolsen7251]

Will the 4.5% also be for BAH and BAS?

[@GrittySoldier]

That’s a good question, but I believe that increase is set only for basic pay as it reads

[@Bleach-my-eyes]

I believe BAH and BAS are being reassessed based on all states and the avg home price

[@dw5723]

Not a big math guy, but if we had no tax on base pay, what would that look like for a pay increase percentage-wise? Would that "decentivize" a combat deployment (people volunteering for them ofc, sometimes you just gotta go)? Not saying this is THE solution but I'd just be curious to see what that might look like. Maybe somebody with a bigger brain can answer this.

[@GrittySoldier]

That’s actually a good thought I think, off the top of my head. I want to say taxes range anywhere between 20 to 30% for most, so if you were to cut out federal taxes that’s the kind of pay raise you would see but I’m not sure that’s an option since they’re having a hard time finding money for any sort of raises as it is and a lot of that money comes from taxes, this whole situation with the American economy reminds me of a tangled up hose that just pisses you the hell off and somehow never can come untangled…

[@dw5723]

@@GrittySoldier Okay, let's just say that it would be about 30% of our pay. Even if we did a 50% cut on taxes for base pay, that would potentially satisfy the requirement of meeting a 15% pay raise. I agree that the main argument over this is where will the money come from and what are they willing to cut to afford this but I don't agree with you in thinking that having a tax reduction on service member's base pay would have such a drastic effect on tax revenue collected. Quick google search says as of SEP 2023 we have 1.29 million active duty members, probably even less now. In my humble opinion, I don't think it this would have severe effects for that number of people to not be paying as much as regular folk but I am also not an economist, I'm just a dude on the internet.

[@edgarhuiltron2184]

Please I’m scraping by on this current pay

[@actualsnow345]

Can someone help me figure out pay. I am currently in the delayed entry program in the Air Force waiting to go to BMT. I will enter as a E3 because I already have a bachelor's degree. So what will my pay be after BMT and AFTER taxes per month? I was hoping to save $1000 a month, is that doable? No bills expect phone and storage which should be about $80 a month. Thank you.

[@Inkushu]

Fed pay raise isn’t gonna be shit so id expect the same, we all get shafted.

[@GrittySoldier]

I hope not…

[@terencekoppen5512]

the beef industry gets $38 billion per year. move some of that over to the troops

[@canvas11xD]

Lol if this passes all Midwest bases will be in high demand.

[@alejandroguerra8380]

But the government doesn’t have any issues sending billions of dollars to other countries 🤔🤔🤔they have all kinds of excuses to pass a military budget bill for our military but to send it overseas they don’t need authorization from nobody 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@paulfeasal6024]

I think tye military and veterans getting a military pension and or VA disability should be getting a 20 percent raise to keep up with tye cost of living hikes. I am all for it.

[@onyx8420]

they can change all the names because people complain, but you cant build better barracks, pay us just a little more, give us better food. Crazy

[@MrForeverchanged]

Would be nice if it was enlisted across the board

[@Mav0585]

Should be a 19.5% VA disability increase too

[@albenrir]

Thank you for keeping us updated

[@Sense_Per_Mile]

They could stop rubber stamping and paying the taliban 2 billion a year.. over 5 years that’s 10Billion or almost half that expense for an actual legal and moral reason. 🤷🏻‍♂️ just sayin

[@Bullydog377]

I'm shipping to bct in a month, and I'm kinda confused. At E3 the pay equivalent is about 17$ an hour, in Texas, which isn't great. If you add in BAH or get on base housing and your spouse works a comparative paying job it seems like that should be enough to get by. If you're wise with your money i feel like you can even thrive and put back money in savings. Am i missing something here?

[@TokyoJoe3]

The only point you're not making is that these junior enlisted SMs make bad financial decisions and not take accountability for their actions. You'll see when you get to AIT and see how much money those fools drop on weekends staying off base, partying, strip clubs, etc.

[@dawildebeastbc]

Yes you can get by as a junior enlisted, especially with the benefits. You will not be making great money, i think that they should definitely rescale the enlisted pay scale especially for e5 and lower, but it is doable, i have plenty of buddies that i served with who did it. Live on post, dont buy a brand new corvette for your family car at 25% interest and youll make it. It gets easier the higher up you get but youre never going to be breaking the bank as an enlisted member

[@Bullydog377]

@TokyoJoe3 I was talking with my wife, and we were both kind of confused, but maybe coming in with more life experience, understanding basic accounting, and how money works makes a difference

[@Bullydog377]

@dawildebeastbc well, I'm not joining to make great money. That's not the goal in my life. I was just confused because I've heard several people talk about not being able to provide for their families even they don't even have a mortgage or monthly rent.

[@TokyoJoe3]

@@Bullydog377 for sure those will all make a difference. as long as you make good financial decisions you will be good to go. when i was a junior troop i utilized all of the options on base as i could. periodically my wife and i would go to the dfac just because. i don't understand how people live outside of their means.

[@baecere2]

Question if I am trying to get 35M or 35L as a mos do I take the asvab first then dlab or does the recruiter ask me what mos I want then I take the exams?

[@dawildebeastbc]

Theyll typically ask you what you have in mind but obviously they cant really offer you anything until after your test scores come in. Also once they come in they might try to push you towards a low density MOS they need troops in

[@ralphramirez7504]

If Ukraine can have ONE HUNDRED GAZILION DOLLARS, they can afford to give us a raise.

[@daltonhartwell]

Regardless from e-4 to e-5 if ur not already married there’s BAH so there’s still a huge incentive to make e-5 and get out of the barracks.

[@elijahflores899]

In the army you are in the barracks til you make 6

[@bubbadiesel4961]

Pay raise before war, seems fair haha I'll take it

[@KDJi399s9cd0]

19% increase, ridiculous, there goes our budget again, with the military being as overinflated with useless people as it is. sigh.

[@DCas312]

Are you saying the military is filled with useless people?

[@ralphramirez7504]

I hope i get a raise

[@Adne.]

In my biased opinion, the government spends $20 billion like its nothing all the time and that extra few hundred dollars a month could have a huge impact on junior enlisted lives.

[@RS7evenSLDR]

Bro you should’ve just said places like Ukraine. 😂😂😂

[@robertg4905]

I’m waiting for my reparations. Retiree from the 70s thru the 90s. Nickels and dimes.

[@frankzappa9853]

The really need to do about 100% pay increase for junior enlisted it's ridiculous that they work so much and get paid so little

[@DCas312]

That’s excessive

[@frankzappa9853]

@DCas312 do the math you make more now working at McDonald's. And vastly less risk as well

[@donaldmartin4980]

Sure wish the retirees would get anything meaningful.

[@paulolsen7251]

Another item to consider is to let the soldiers who are in barracks on base and obviously single use their BAS at on base restaurants besides DFAC.

[@RS7evenSLDR]

Meals at restaurants don’t cost what a meal at the DFAC costs though.. 😂

[@THRE3KINGZStudios3kz]

Soldiers should get paid as much as the job title + experience + rank to not only increase incentives or joining but keeping military personnel in. We drop a dumb copious amount on multiple projects not including those with black budgets but we cannot increase more money for the average warfighter or personnel is crazy raassclaat 😂😂😂😂

[@kennyberger5377]

First :)

[@GrittySoldier]

High speed!!!! 🫡

[@brianemery3627]

Senior NCO's need about 25% increases.... all these kids ain't cheap 😂

[@GrittySoldier]

Bro you’re telling me me! 😆

[@spectralzvx1439]

This is the sole purpose of DOGE. to redirect ALL state/fed spending and make conversations like these alot less stressful.

[@junkymunky2741]

Thanks for the update!

[@GrittySoldier]

👍