Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire An old Air force buddy sent me this link......

and we had a good laugh or two..You older guys remember how much you made serving your country? I certainly do and seeing this new pay scale we were way under paid!

http://www.militaryfactory.com/military_pay_scale.asp

Yep, I was making a bit over 300.00 as an E-5 back in the day married with jump & combat pay!

Officers are still overpaid...

Just went back to 1970..
These were my numbers E-5 over three.
Monthly:

Base pay...........$355
Combat pay...........65
Air crew pro pay.....70
Quarters allowance.70
Separate rations.....30

Some guys thought they were rich!

233.10 base 50.00 jump, 50.00 combat and 40.00 quarters in '65. This is if memory serves me, and it may not, I don't have any of my pay stubs!

We were loaded with cash!

I was making $723 a month when I got to my first duty station.

Fortunately I worked on the flight line so we were all eligible for separate rats even if we lived on base. Then COLA kicked in when Ronnie devalued the dollar in 1986.

When I got to Germany the Mark rate was 3.35m to $1. When I left it was around 1.80m to $1.

Not many people have experienced inflation like that.

4641.60 is my nephews base now, + quarters + 4 dependents + seperate rations + special for living on the economy away from a Post, he is teaching ROTC at an IN college, he is doing OK IMHO.

Monthly pay has doubled since I retired in 1990 and is really more than when I entered in 1968!

I remember when Base Pay for an E-1 was $67.25 a month.

The money and other bennies have gone up and they deserve it in a voluntary Mil. Especially since we've been at war since 2001, with many Mil. personnel serving multiple tours in both Iraq/Afghan. My retirement goes up also, as does active duty pay.

I wonder how they compare when inflation and Obama's dump on this country are taken into account.

Ya, but look at all the cool chit you old guys could buy with such little money back then!

I think my dad paid like 3k for 1970 'cuda 440 sixpac back in 1972

I can buy a sweet honda accord for like 21K now in 2012.....

Matt, I remember a gal at work offered me her 72 'cuda for $1800. Gas was near .60 a gallon and she couldn't afford to feed it anymore.

My take home every two weeks as a one striper in 1969 was $89.00.

I could not qualify for a loan on a new VW Bettle and they were only $1200 new at that time!

These days airmen live in condos and gripe if they get a room-mate, have the latest electronic gizmos and drive brand new cars. I lived in dorms with 40 guys to a room, owned an radio and drove 10 year old cars.

That's progress I guess. When dad was in the Air Corps he lived in tents, had no electronics and wasn't even allowed to have a car until making some rank.

Yeah money went much farther in those days that's for sure.My last year hear at Offutt AFB I managed an apartment complex part time to subsidize my AF income,my wife had just started teaching elementary school and wasn't making that much but we had plenty of extra money before the kids came along,our 3 bedroom apartment rent was only $165/mo in those days!

September 1967 - E-5 under two years was $200.40 plus $4.60 clothing allowance.

16 ounce schooner of Pearl - ten cents during Dime Time at the Mustang Bar outside Fort Bliss.

New moderately-optioned GTO - $3614

Comparatively speaking, it wasn't that much different than today. The ratio of what we earned to what things cost was about equal. In spite of the recent increases, something like half of the lower enlisted ranks today qualify for - and get - food stamps.

When I was working my way through college in the late 60s, I earned $1.65 an hour. But that would buy me five gallons of gas or milk. After I got my commission, I thought I was rich pulling in $600 a month, even though I'd switched from milk to Johnny Walker Black - at $3.50 a quart.

I think I made $441 a month as an E-1 right out of MCRD in 1980. Gas was about $1.50 a gallon in 81.

Started out in '58 at $72.00 a month, was in over 10 years before I made $300.00. Money didn't go any further then than it does now. Smokes were a dollar a carton at the PX, but to keep it in perspective you were only making three or four bucks a day or so.

I was an E 4 and made $407 a month..