Military Pay - A New Hope?
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by Maxmillian VonWillebrand
OK, so over the last week, I have been kicking the idea about the military payroll and how to fix the system – and YES, it needs to be fixed! When I wrote my first ARTICLE- http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/the-broken-military-pay-machine-710780/1 - I was really trying to get the idea out there that we had a serious problem that needed to be addressed ASAP. After reading over some of the comments, I began to realize I was not the only person in the military who was tired of the SNAFU. Therefore, I have written my own PERSONAL PROPOSAL that I am publically submitting for the brass and current administration to review, seriously review, and hopefully consider my solution as the new permanent payroll system for active military members. Here’s the breakdown, followed by a brief explanation for each of my suggestions:
NG – 0 pay during peacetime;$40/mo during war if deployed+active;0 weapons supplied
ARMY - $40/mo - peacetime;$80/mo - war if deployed+active;Q1/Q2 weapons supplied
MARINES - $80/mo – peacetime;$160/mo – war if deployed+active;Q3/Q4/Q5 weapons supplied
OK, before everyone FLIPS out here, let me break this down to you. Pay would be issued TWICE A MONTH instead of every week. Soldiers would get paid on the 1st+15th every month. So, during peacetime, the pay would be NG-$0;Army-$20;Marines-$40/pay period and it would be $20;$40;$80/pay period respectively during war if the soldier is deployed and actively fighting. (Officer pay would be above the standard rates in similar fashion as they are now) Obviously, we don’t ever foresee being deployed and AT WAR for a month at a time, so the monthly figures would most likely never be paid out, just the figures/pay period. What this does is cut HALF of the work down from where it was before. Having to track payment status for EVERY soldier EVERY week got to be overwhelming. This simplifies that part.
The second thing I want to discuss is why I came up with the pay scale I did. You are probably wondering why the NG is listed as receiving no pay during peacetime, amongst other things. I have a few reasons, and here they are:
1) NG pay is set to $0 during times of peace as this is the assignment we give to those eCitizens who wish to serve their country on the military forefront, but do not yet meet the requirements for the Army or Marines. This branch of our service must be a VOLUNTEER basis to help build the citizen’s character, and help them to truly appreciate all that their service to their country is doing. During this assignment, troops will receive basic training on combat skills and communication within their squads. It will prepare them for moving up and doing more for their country in the Army. Their pay appears ($40/mo or $20/2 wks) only when deployed and being called on to act and show what they have learned for battle from their training. This also explains why the weapons will not be supplied at all. This is the weakest division of the armed forces, and they need to learn how to properly fight first before we can spend money on weapons for them to fight with.
2) ARMY pay being set to $40/month which is the equivalent of $10/wk. It is half of what the troops were getting before, but still gives them a small stipend to either improve the quality of their food or get gifts and exchange gifts with someone to maintain their wellness. Pay doubles during times of war. Weapons supplied will be Q1 and Q2 weapons, depending on the status of the coffers at the time. With all of the extra money being saved from NG payroll and cutting the other 2 as well, funding carte blanche for weapons should not be a problem.
3) MARINES pay being set at $80/month is the equivalent of $20/wk and is a 50% reduction in pay from what they receive now, but pay would double to $160/mo during times of war, in which, the Marines are always the first to go, and sometimes the only ones to go. Weapons, again are carte blanche for the Marines and should always be Q3/Q4 or Q5.
I hope this article has educated a few more people who don’t understand why it is we need to develop a stronger volunteer base within the NG and pay our enlisted troops. Overall, I feel like we have lost some of the moxie that used to flow through the veins of every serviceman and woman. Morale is dipping as soldiers are beginning to feel like they aren’t really being appreciated for their hard work and dedication to their country. We need to act, and we need to act SOON. I strongly feel that this structure will help the military in cutting processing time for distributing pay, raise morale within the units andhelp the overall funds grow by making small cuts here and there.
VOTE THIS UP, and please, leave a comment!!
~MV, E.I.C.
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Comments
I don't agree at all with this, I think we should focus on weapons, not pay. Our military does not have a morale problem, we have a supply problem, and US government money would be better spent on weapons than simply handing it out to our soldiers. You are asking for the best of both worlds, and once again placing too much USD in the financial system. We already have too much USD, we shouldn't be passing it out to troops, we'll just continue to destroy our currency value.
dubi
Captain, India Company
Ya weapons is a way better way to go because weapons are really exspensive so most of use fight with bare nuckels!
@ Max:
"Having to track payment status for EVERY soldier EVERY week got to be overwhelming."
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Oh come on, it isn't THAT difficult. These days all you need to do is mark "Y" or "N" for their activity once a week. Everything else (such as calculating pay amounts based on strength) the spreadsheet does for you.
@ dubi:
"Our military does not have a morale problem, we have a supply problem, and US government money would be better spent on weapons than simply handing it out to our soldiers."
I'd argue that our military has both of the above. Just look at the amount of officers resigning and a growing list of archived players whose accounts are slowly dieing due to inactivity. Supply problems are currently being addressed by the QMG office. We've got good things in the works that will allow for much better use of the government weapons funding, as well as drastically cut down on the wait time between submitting a resupply request and actually getting the weapons.
"We already have too much USD, we shouldn't be passing it out to troops, we'll just continue to destroy our currency value."
Can't argue with this point. But without SOME incentive (e.g. "inactive = no pay") or reward ("more responsibilities = higher pay"), the chain of command breaks down quickly. I believe that cutting the pay in half is an acceptable compromise.
There are other ideas floating around on IRC and in the Forums on how to deal with the inflation aspect of funding the military pay.
Max, you could've just brought this up to me, I'm listening to any solutions at this moment.
This is very well argued, Lt. As far as priorities go, I think weapons to officers are most important, and such weapons, when limited, could be distributed to active soldiers based on officer discretion.
Recent arguments seem to be coalescing around the US only buying Q1 arms and leaving better weapons up to the discretion of the individual. I wonder what your thoughts are re: that.
Excellent idea. If half pay would raise the morale of the troops and help us keep some of the experienced players that we're bleeding away, I'm all for it. We'll have to talk about it over IRC later. Nice work bro.
Vil
Excellent!! This is exactly what I was hoping for...An open forum discussion where everyone has input and everyone who NEEDS to see what the troops are feeling, will see it.
@Joeph - This is exactly why I didn't just send it in a PM. I knew you would listen, but I truly wanted to get some feedback to go along with it from the ground floor on up. Already I see comments from enlisted men on up to Generals, so I got what I wanted. I hope you have subscribed to these comments so you can use everything to better evaluate how to fix the issue.
@dubi - Morale is an issue, and I think Chahk summed it up heartily.
@history - not sure about the US ONLY buying Q1 arms...I know in this last battle with France, I received a number of Q2 weapons to distribute to my platoon. Most were Q1, yes, but quite a few Q2's were received and used. Again, my support for which weapons go to which division is detailed in the article above.
@Vilarus - thanks! 🙂 I truly think that some pay, even if it is half, is better than none, and would help boost not only morale but drive for our troops.
Here is where I think you are wrong:
0 NG pay - the NG is full of NEW eRepub users. These need money worse than anyone else in the whole game. I'm the 1st Division Colonel in the NG and have been working on a proposal. My idea was to pay anyone in the NG under 3 or 4 strength enough for Q1 food for a week. That is it.
Also, I don't think anyone should be withheld weapons, as that limits our ability to win the war.
I think pay should be limited to guns during war, except for the newest citizens. Guns should be enough incentive. Currently soldiers recieve guns and money, but that was never the plan.
@KurtisWH:
And that's why the article was written as it was meant to be - a Proposal...We need a starting point, and fine tune it from there. I am simply offering that - a starting point, as it seems we do not have anything to work with except what is in place now - and that's obviously not working anymore...
I don't disagree that new citizens need money, but they can get a job and earn their pay to buy their food just like the rest of us did. I went through the same thing, as I'm sure you did, before getting into the military. Even when I did at first, it was not the money I valued or needed the most, it was the guidance from those around me that got me pointed in the right direction...
Withholding weapons is not the point. Having troops fight without weapons no longer carries the drawback it once did in a penalty to your damage done. It would be better to have NG's, if they even get deployed - which they usually do not unless it's a BIG battle - to do SOME damage and save that money for weapons for those who will actually do more damage with expensive weapons.