Are we failing as leaders when our junior folks are forced into having to use food stamps to survive?

SFC Joseph B.<div><br></div><div>I would have to respectfully disagree with you. You said, "there is no other job in the world that requires you to be on call 24/7/365 with the possibility of DEATH." There are, however, many jobs that are just as dangerous (and sometimes more) than the military. Policemen, Firemen, Prison Guards, Boarder Patrol, Pilots, Lobster Fisherman, Structural Iron &amp; Steel Workers, Powerline Installers, Oil Riggers...to name a few.</div><div><br></div><div>While I'm very positive I never gave any indication that I think a Soldiers life is worth 40,000/yr or the "meager amount of money and benefits given".... I do have a response to that.</div><div><br></div><div>You are 100% correct. I don't think a Soldiers life is worth the 40,000/yr he/she makes. Likewise, If they were making 450,000/yr the loss of life would STILL not be worth it. Does that mean we should all be making half a million dollars? Surely, you can't honestly be leveraging the Soldiers that have made the ultimate sacrifice as a bargaining chip for a higher salary??</div><div>I would also like to point out that I deployed to Afghanistan as a Radiologic Technologist assigned to a Role 2 Forward Surgical Team. MANY. MANY, MANY lives were lost on a trauma table in front of me. For you to even suggest, or indicate, in any way that I "trivialize" the sacrifices of these amazing men and women is remarkably unprofessional, and staggeringly distasteful coming from a Senior NCO. When you get a trauma patient, blown up in an IED, on your table and you look down and see a tattoo of his three children on his right shoulder and KNOW he won't make it..... That's the worst feeling you can ever imagine. I understand the sacrifices we make. I have spent many nights in the dark of a runway in Afghanistan in Hero Flight ceremonies. I would politely ask you to rewind a little on the accusations.</div><div><br></div><div>Now..back on topic.&nbsp;</div><div>We do this for tradition, for patriotism, for the amazing experience, to defend our homeland, for education, or for many other reasons.. We do this because WE choose to do this.</div><div>You say we can't compare this to any other job because it can't be compared. I would be saddened to think you don't have the professional courtesy to realize the sacrifices of MANY civilian occupations. Police Officers, Firemen, Boarder Safety.... All of these people serve honorably, and through great sacrifice.&nbsp;</div><div>To get back to compensation... Let's say we pay this fresh out of high school Soldier who has never managed a budget, rented a apt/home, paid bills, held a full time professional career..let's say we instead pay them 85,000 a year. Do you see this ending bad?&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>You say we can't compare our Army salary to civilian salaries. I agree. Most civilians don't get full retirements at 20 years even if they don't contribute a dime in that timeframe, and an extra 2.5% additional for every year past 20.. Most civilians don't get free healthcare. They have these crazy things called premiums, and co pays, and max out of pockets, and catastrophic limits... Most civilians don't get free tuition for 48 months WHILE they are also getting a living allowance (in Colorado Springs it would be 1,500.00). Most civilians don't have an AER Fund if they fall in a rough spot. Most civilians don't get discounts or free entry into most major theme parks, zoos, or major attractions. Most civilians don't get to buy a house with ZERO down and not have to purchase PMI because the VA will GUARANTEE a large portion of the loan, why? Just for being a Service Member at some point in your life. Most civilians don't get to buy 3,000 TV's and pay 0 in taxes, or shop at grocery stores that are insanely cheaper than civilian ones. Most civilians don't get 10,20,30,40K bonuses to continue doing what they are already doing.</div><div>But here's the biggest one...</div><div>Most civilians don't get to say they volunteered to serve their Country in a time of war, wear this uniform with pride onto a plane that takes them into the fight, places the lives of their wives and kids on hold so they can be there for their brother or sister should they become wounded in battle. Most civilians don't get to say they saved hundreds of lives and made a difference or when a life couldn't be saved made sure that Soldier was treated with the highest level of respect, honor, dignity, and appreciation for giving everything for those he called brothers and sisters.&nbsp;</div><div>Most civilians will never get to put this uniform on and say they are a Soldier, Marine, Airmen, or Sailor that SERVED their Country.</div><div>I don't know how much you need for it to be "worth it" for you.... But for me it was everything I could have asked for...and then some...</div><div><br></div><div>Don't forget. You are a Senior NCO. Your Soldiers look up to you and learn from you. That can either be a good thing, or a bad thing. The outcome to that is up to you. It's too easy to say, "well if Congress gets it, I SHOULD TOO." That's not necessarily the correct attitude. We are adequately compensated. They are over compensated. THEIR salary needs to be adjusted down. But that's completely independent on ours. Would I love to see Soldiers salary increase? Absolutely! We are some of the hardest working people in the Country. But is it crap like you mentioned?? Definitely not. And if it was... I'm guessing you've had a few reenlistments along the way. VOLUNTARY reenlistments.</div>

Another quick caveat...

I will not forget, nor will I allow my comrades to forget...I think I read that somewhere...communicate consistently with my Soldiers...kinda rings a bell...look, what we have here is simple miscommunication. Your interpretation of what I said is not what I intended you to comprehend. We'll just have to part ways on this one as I can see this becoming waaay too emotional. I was not advocating the leveraging of anything for my own personal gain or benefit. At the end of the day, you have your opinion on the subject and I have mine. I'm sure had we been under the oak tree, this discussion would have gone in an entirely different direction. That's the problem with the written conversations, people don't get that immediate feedback and ability to clarify their position in order to avoid miscommunication. I'm not going to go back and forth with you on RP. I stand behind what I said and invite anyone who wants me to clarify to direct message me, send me an email (I'm the only SFC Joseph Benavidez in the Army), call me or come by and see me. But thank you, SPC Dunn, for having a thorough and intelligent response. I'm sure we could have many more conversations in the future, should our paths cross.

SFC Benavidez,

Let's hope our core values and leadership will help minimize the intrusion of dependency and entitlement.

MAJ, LTC, the entitlement thought process is a tough hill to overcome especially when you look at new recruits and the under 2 soldiers. Many have been inundated for most of their memory with some form or fashion of government dependency & sadly do not understand the concept as being a bad one. Self responsibility is a learned trait that hopefully core values and leadership can help change how the entitlement thought process is viewed and practiced.

CPT Riley - It's kind of the old idea that kids go into uniform and responsible adults come out. Basic training and subsequent schools / assignments tend to knock off some of the civilian glitter. The realities of potentially serving in hostile wartime environments and under unpleasant conditions bring out the importance of our core values and the impacts of leadership.

Sir, you hit the nail on the head....you must stop clouding the issue with common sense!