Is not paying rent, food, utilities, etc., a benefit received while on active duty (in addition to your pay)?

During my 22 Years. If I lived off Post because Government Housing was not available. We did get an additional allowance in West Germany. I did not cover utilities. We had to budget. The Exchange rate at my first assignment in Mannheim West Germany, in 1972, was great 4 Marks to the dollar. I, at the suggestion of my Uncle CSM Walter Carr, Invested in 1,000.00 dollars worth and opened an account with a German Bank.I also started saving in the Bank on post. 2 years later when I got married and brought my wife over, we lived off post. The interest and the extra saved cash helped a SP4 and his wife to make ends meet. Our first child was born in 5th General Hospital, Heidelberg. The Officers wives club and Enlisted wives club assisted us with Baby Furniture and Baby food. We Pooled our resources. The Senior NCOs and their wives were great. They were the blessing we needed to survive. I was fellow brothers and sisters not the Government that helped make a difference.

The military offers "allowances" on top of Base pay to "compensate" for things that we do, sacrifices that we make at points in our careers or enlistments. Yes, these allowances are benefits to us above and beyond what the average civilian sector covers but at higher levels, there are corporations out there that offer some of the same "allowances".
Obviously, no company or corporation that is paying an employee minimum wage fits into this category.
Did this question arise because someone feels the SM's should not receive these pays and/or we should receive a minimum wage? I really don't see the point in arguing the military/ civilian pay scale. We don't do equivalent things on a regular basis. If you want my pay/benefits... SIGN UP!

This always gets me trying to compare our jobs to civilian jobs. And extra benefits we are supposed to be getting. Who has a job that can compare to a Forward Observer/Pathfinde. Getting called on 24/7 working for days not hours in some of the worst conditions you can think of then one really bad day you wake up after 14 days in a comma and never the same if you know of a job like that as a civilian DON'T APPLIE

They are definately a benefit. When I was stationed at Ft. Huachuca, our assignment was to the medical unit, but our office (the vet clinic) was on the other side of post from the hospital and it's chow hall. We wouldn't have been able to cross post, eat at the chow hall and get back to work in time, so all of us who worked at the vet clinic were automatically put on the meals portion of BAS. It didn't cover any off base housing, but we did get extra because we couldn't eat at the assigned chow hall.

However on the subject of minimum wage, I don't think that paying someone flipping burgers should be at the same scale as someone fighting fire. When I got out of the Army, I worked for the BLM as a wildland firefighter and base pay started in the $15.00 range and bumped up to the $16.00 range when I finally left. We got overtime and hazard pay as part of a permanent position, but those who are hired on a per fire basis (ie the vast majority of the hand crews) They don't get those extras. So more than half the firefighters on the line are getting a straight time pay of between 15- 16 per hour. So if you jump up minimum wage so that the local burger flipper makes more money then they average wildland firefighter, any guesses as to whats going to happen when they can no longer afford to pay firefighters to put out catastrophic fires?

You forgot the deductions for getting shot at or being blow up; getting killed; regular reduction in retirement benefits after you already signed your contract and are actively fulfilling your contractural obligations; not having any privacy; not being able to refuse getting called in on the weekends; or working till as late as necessary; losing vacation days during weekends; obligatory immunizations; regular exposure to extreme cold, heat, and precipitation; you also get to stand outside at 5:00 AM in the morning in the rain for no reason whatsoever.

This is an argument that I had frequently with other soldiers while I was active. Typically, the ones complaining about pay were the soldiers that came straight into the Army from high school, never having held a full-time job before. I was 28 when I came in and from day one, as a PFC, it was the best pay I had ever made. Of course, there are risks inherent in military service that don't exist in the civilian world, such as going to war. However, when you consider the monetary value of all of the benefits, soldiers are paid very well. I did the math once for what a married E5, at 4 years time-in-service, actually makes and the figure came out to around $54,000/year. I think for an E1 it was ~$30,000. Not bad for an entry level job. Hell, the only things I miss about active duty are the camaraderie and the pay.

Yes it eliminates the amount of money yo have to pay up front, but married soldiers pay is supplemented so that they can afford those things. So although I'm not directly paying for room and board or food directly, I am essentially paying for it because I'm not getting the extra pay that someone who is allowed to live off post would get. I also wouldn't consider it a benefit because the living conditions and food we receive are sub-par. Some barracks are nice, but I've never had barracks that offer any kind of privacy or enough room to comfortably keep all my belongings, and with the dfac I don't get any choice in what I want to eat further than the 3 entrees that are usually offered. That's why so many soldiers dip into their already low salary to pay to live off post and purchase their own food. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying being in the military doesn't have great benefits, but I do not consider the barracks or chow hall to be benefits.

Neither. You ARE paying for those. That BAH and BAS you ARE'NT getting? Yeah, the government is pocketing that.

Yes but working over eight hours with no overtime balances things out. A matter fact the mess hall should have been open all night for all OT we did.

Those benefits have economic value to include not paying tax on the whole benefits package.