Tag: veteran

What is an E6 Pay worth really?

Here at CONUS Battle Drills I keep telling you about the Big Four Questions every veteran absolutely must answer before getting out.  Despite Chad’s very eloquent and convincing reasoning for asking “Why” first, I maintain that if you are not financially ready, or don’t understand the financial ramifications of your decision, it doesn’t matter if you have the best reason in the world; you can’t get out yet.

So what is your pay actually worth?

I asked an E6 friend of mine to send me an LES so I could show what the equivalent pay would be in the civilian world.  I did some analysis to make the take home bi-weekly pay as close as I could get them while still being a near apples to apples comparison.  In the civilian world, you have to pay for healthcare and retirement, so I included those in the civilian column, but only the dental in the military column.

Here is how it shakes out:

pay comparison

So this E6 is making the equivalent of almost $7,500 a month even though his base pay is only $3,719!

Here is the mistake that I made when I got out: I thought a “comparable” salary meant making the same as my base pay and I was WAY wrong about that.  For some reason, I didn’t take into account the additional expenses in health care and retirement and the loss of BAH, that’s why I’m telling you about it now.

BAH and BAS are also not taxed, which means that even the tax burden for the civilian is higher because he’s in a much higher bracket. Some of these numbers can change depending on the number of tax deductions, the state that you live in, your election of 401k, how much your health care costs, etc. but the point remains:  Your base pay is not representative of your take home pay.

There are, however, some major considerations you need to take into account…

Just because you would need to make nearly double in the civilian world to have a similar take-home pay, does not mean that’s how much you’re worth.

Sorry to tell you this, but you’re probably going to start off making similar to your base pay because that’s what your skills will translate to in the civilian world, and for those of you in senior leader positions, expect less than your base pay (hopefully you can supplement with retirement).

I’ve told you before you need to make a budget, and in the book I discuss this in even more detail, and if you look above, you should notice why that’s even more critical when you get out.

Financial struggles are usually where troubles in marriages begin.  It’s the first snowball that can lead to so many other bad decisions.  For veterans, there are even more issues because you don’t even know what to expect from a paycheck, you’ve never paid for healthcare, and you’ve never HAD to save for retirement.

It’s not all bad news, ok, but I want you to be ready for what is coming.  I want you to fully understand the ramifications of your decision.  I want you to see all the cards on the table, that’s what CONUS Battle Drills is about.  The point is to prepare you so this transition isn’t a kick in the nuts.

-LJF

Share this post, it’s possible someone you know is about to get out and make a terrible financial decision.  Let’s look out for each other.





“The Drive”

My name is Chad.

Louis Fernandez asked if I would be willing to write some on his blog.

After deciding that I would, we both agreed an introductory segment would be the most appropriate place for me to start.

I will not spend much time talking about myself, as I assume most readers will have little concern about such things.

However, some information about myself, as well as my connections with the author of CONUS Battle Drills, maybe good for context.

I am a civilian now. Before that, I served in the United States Military for nine years.  First, as an Infantry Officer and then as a Special Forces Detachment Commander in the Army.

I am now a self-employed farmer and a stay-at-home dad.

I first met Louis in the summer of 2000.  We were both newly enrolled ROTC cadets at the University of Florida.

I had no intention of going into the military but took the course as a suggestion and recommendation from a fellow high school graduate and friend of mine.  That’s not very much important.  What is important, little did I know at the time, is that through this decision to take ROTC classes, I would be exposed to some of the most brilliant and patriotic Americans I have ever encountered.   Some of which have become my best friends.  The climax of both would be Louis Fernandez.

I have countless stories of how my life-long friendship with Louis began, developed, and endured.  I am not sure that this is the forum to tell all of those stories. Should you find me on a porch swing or around a camp fire with a beer then maybe you will be afforded the opportunity to hear such great tales.  I will simply say, for now, that Louis and I have certainly spent some formative years together and he has had a huge impact on my own life.

I do, however, want to take a brief moment to share one particular personal story (there are SO many) with all of you that I think will help paint the picture of Louis’s character (for you readers who are interested).

Louis and I graduated from the University of Florida and were commissioned as 2LTs in May of 2004.  Shortly after that we were required to report to Fort Benning, GA for the Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC).

To make a long story short, we loaded up our minimal personal belongings into his KIA Sephia, the day before we were suppose to report, and made the 278 mile drive from Gainesville, FL to Fort Benning, GA.

Immediately upon checking into our barracks I realized that I had forgotten not some but ALL of my military uniforms back in a closet at my previous home in Gainesville.  Our course was to commence with a formation early the next morning.

There was not enough time for me to buy or pull together replacement uniforms.  For me, there was no other option but to retrieve my forgotten uniforms.  I was both stressed and anxious to say the least.  Rather than just lend me his car (which would have been most generous in-of-itself), Louis decided to travel all the way back to Gainesville with me.
We got back into his car and we drove all way back to Florida (and then back again to Fort Benning).  All through the night we drove.

What would have been a 4.5 hour trip turned into a 14 hour trip.

 

I was exhausted and frustrated at my own stupidity.  Yet, he did not let me endure the hardship of my mistake alone.

He could have easy stayed at Fort Benning that afternoon and evening; and got the good nights rest, he deserved, before starting his first day of his new career.

His willingness to endure what I have since coined “The Drive” is a memory that I will never lose or an act of kindness that I will ever forget.

So, with the windows down at 70 mph, smoking cheap cigars, and talking about everything from money, religion, politics, and women, to stay awake, the two of us made “The Drive” together.

I chose this story, from so many, to share because it speaks volumes about who Louis is as a person.  He is fiercely loyal to his friends, family, comrades, and countrymen.  He goes above and beyond to make sure that no one is left “going it alone.”  These same attributes were so blatantly obvious to me in his book CONUS Battle Drills.  Sure, he might be abrasive when he tells you that you are an idiot (though he is probably right) but never to the extent where he is actually passing any judgment.  He has made his own mistakes.  He is not perfect.  But you can bet that he is looking out for you.  He wants to provide EVERYONE with the opportunity to learn from his own experiences and to make sure you are successful.

I can tell you, without any doubt, that Louis wants you to be ready on the day you sign in, to the extent that he will get in the car and drive you the extra mile to get you there.

-CWS




What do You want to be when you get out?

I don’t know why, but so few of you actually ask yourselves about what career you want to get into before you ETS.  It baffles me how many of you get out without a plan.  It’s like someone pissed you off so you said: Now what?

If you get out without a plan you’re going to end up going to school on your GI bill to get some criminal justice degree, or you’ll end up on some .gov jobs site trying to get employment doing your MOS as a civilian. If you don’t like our MOS, if it’s not your dream to be an S6 for the rest of your short time on this planet, then you don’t have to do that ok?  Seriously, you can do something else.

When I got out, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn’t want to work with the government.  I talk about this in detail in the book, but I got to interview with a ton of different companies that make products I use every day like Unilever, and Fidelity, and Diageo.  I finally decided to start my career with John Deere and it has been an awesome ride!

I had a chance to learn all about factory operations, work alongside the United Auto Workers union and learn how to weld. I got to run agriculture equipment all over the US and Canada.  I got to visit factories in Mexico and farmers in California, Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and more.  I also got to lead the team to bring out the new 459E baler and create the intro videos for it.  Now i’m the lead guy for Tweels and i’ve gotten to work closely with Michelin. That’s a far cry from being a platoon leader and an intel analyst!

I’m not the only one, there are many other veterans with successful careers in companies and organizations all around the world.  Other guys have started their own companies like RangerUp, Warrior Soul, Crossfit Sua Sponte, and Southern Pines Brewery.  Some guys have started charitable organizations like Warrior 360 and 22kill.

Look, the point is that if you get out without a plan like the dude above, you’re going to end up having to go back to what you were doing before.  If you make a plan and think about shit for five fucking seconds, you can do a lot of really awesome stuff.

This is not to disparage the guys who actually WANT to do their MOS as a civilian, i’m talking about the guys who run out of options because they weren’t prepared.

If you are getting ready to ETS and don’t know what you’re doing and don’t know what to expect, get a copy of the book.  There are a ton of details on how to get interviews and other challenges you’ll face when you ETS.  If you’re too cheap, I want to help you anyway, so check out the 4 big questions and read through that at least.

If you’ve already gotten out and realized this was you, please share this post so your buddies maybe won’t make the same career mistake.  Seriously, it takes two seconds and will make a big difference to the guy who needs it.

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It’s Time for a Buddy System

I read a story this morning about a veteran who killed himself after his call to the VA for help went to voicemail. Besides the obvious reason for getting pissed off, I’ve been asking myself a lot lately, “what are you going to do about it?”  I’m done bitching and whining, it’s time for action.

The DOD has no idea why soldiers are killing themselves more now than ever before.  I know most of us think it’s because of the wars, but nope, there is no correlation between combat and suicide.  They are also not spending any money figuring out the cause by the way.

The point is this:  We need to band together as a veteran community and start taking care of ourselves; it’s obvious no one else is going to.  There are a lot of great organizations out there like Warrior360 and 22kill that are veteran run and really doing a lot of good, but I want to take it a step further:

I want YOU to get involved.

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Identify a buddy, tag them in this post, or if you don’t have facebook, comment below.  This is a public declaration that they are your buddy.
  2. If you don’t have a buddy in mind, then please comment that you need a buddy and state your location and date of service.  We will find you one.
  3. You will talk to your buddy at a minimum once a week.  You will ask difficult questions about their finances, relationships, and mental state
  4. You and your buddy will answer honestly
  5. If your buddy goes into a dark place, you are the first line of defense to get him help
  6. You will take this role seriously

None of this is new to any of you, we’ve all done it before.  We are making a formal buddy assignment.

It’s time for us to band together, set up our security perimeter and watch out for each other…no one else is going to do it for us.

 

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