A Man In The Army Explains How He Made Six Figures From His Job In Just One Year
He was able to earn money through many different opportunities provided by the military.
South_agency / Canva Pro It's no secret that many positions within the American military can be quite lucrative. Still, one man who serves in the army shared in a TikTok video how much the United States Army paid him for just one year of service.
He informed viewers that as an E7 (Sergeant First Class) in the army, all of the numbers are "gross pay" with no taxes taken out before breaking down each payment.
He explained how he made six figures from his army job in under one year.
"From smallest to largest is my DIDDY pay. The DIDDY, or PPM, is when you move yourself instead of having the army move you," Sergeant Vargas explained. "I got $1,177.50 just for travel. Next is my DLA, or dislocation allowance."
From his DLA, Vargas was paid $3,169.26, bringing his running total so far to $4,286.76. The next payment was his TLE, or temporary lodging expenses. Since he was involved in a permanent change of station (PCS), he was given a plethora of TLE for his children, him, and his wife. The total for that was $3,361.82, bringing his total to $7,648.58.
Continuing to list off his payments, he moved on to his basic allowance for sustenance, which came out to $452.56. Since Vargas received this payment every month, for the year, he got $5,430.72. Next up was his temporary duty pay, which happened after the military would send service members to other places to train and pay for food, travel, gas, and other necessities.
"This year I earned $6,732.68 in temporary duty pay. The next line item is all of the weight that I moved when I PCS from Fort Riley to Fort Cabasos. Army ended up paying me 12,017.56 bringing our new running total to $31,829.54," he added. "The next line item is the bonus that the army paid me which totaled $16,000."
The second to last line item was his BAH or basic allowance for housing, which fluctuates based on your rank in the army, whether or not you have dependents, your location, and how long you've been in the army. Vargas had two different BAHs this year since he was promoted from E6 to E7, and had eight months of earning $1,485 per month and four months of earning $1,650 per month.
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"That totaled to $18,480. The very last line item is my base pay, and again, I got promoted earlier this year so I have two different base pays. For eight months I got paid $4,170.90 per month and for the last four months, I got $4,644.90 a month."
The total amount that the army made him in just one year came to $118,256.34. He also had two other bonus line items that could be considered. One of them was FAFSA since he is currently enrolled as a full-time college student, and earned $7,395 from that. Since the money goes straight to his account and not the school, he uses the funds for laptops and other school resources.
"The last bonus item would be my thrift savings plan. Through the army, I put about $6,000 in that bad boy and it grew at a rate of 15% this year," he said.
Despite his impressive salary, military recruitment rates have continued to decrease.
According to a 2022 survey conducted by Joint Advertising Marketing Research & Studies, a program run by the US Department of Defense, people ages 16-24 were asked about their likelihood to join the military and why or why not.
When asked, "In the next few years, how likely is it that you will be serving in the Military?" 2% replied, "Definitely," and 7% replied, "Probably." Additionally, 32% replied "Probably not." and 58% replied "Definitely Not," amounting to 90% of young people unlikely to consider the military as a career path.
Not only are fewer young people in this country willing to enlist, but many of them are barely eligible. Per NBC News, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville testified before Congress that only 23% of Americans ages 17-24 are qualified to serve without a waiver to join, down from 29% in recent years.
An internal Defense Department survey obtained by the news outlet also found that only 9% of those young Americans eligible to serve in the military had any inclination to do so, the lowest number since 2007.
It seems more and more young people are choosing to go down a different path, even if being in military service proves to be a lucrative career.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.