

Can’t speak for their source, but here’s what I found:
Over 60 percent of 2016 enlistments came from neighborhoods with a median household income between $38,345 and $80,912. The quintiles below and above that band were underrepresented, with the poorest quintile providing 19 percent of the force and the richest Americans enlisting at a rate of 17 percent…Over the last 20 years as civilian wages plateaued, military compensation for the post-9/11 force steadily increased.
A mid-grade enlisted sailor, soldier, or airman (at an E5 paygrade) made 10 percent less than the median American in 2000 and at the time was eligible for food stamps. By 2011, service members of the same rank were making 10 percent more than the median American, even without including benefits.
The article is a bit short on analysis, but it seems like the standards for Army recruits were raised and the pay was also raised. So, these days, an army grunt makes a bit more than the average middle class civilian would make.







Talk to Shane Black about it. https://youtu.be/ChrLyuAOu-c?t=74
My apologies to you. And to all of Lemmy. And most especially to BBT.