Pay disparity

Do commissioned officers get paid too much compared with non-commissioned officers? The Army Times ran an article about the debate.

As far as I'm concerned, I get paid very generously compared to my level of responsibility, but that has to do with the nature of leadership in my company. Company leadership is a balance between the company commander and the first sergeant; around here, things tilt heavily to the enlisted side of the house. Most decisions bypass me.

For example, the first sergeant has a daily meeting with the platoon sergeants, but lieutenants only meet once a week, depending on who's not already out on a mission. I suppose it's a leadership decision to do things that way, but sometimes I feel a bit useless, as if I'm an additional burden on my platoon sergeant. I definitely don't think *he* gets paid enough.

At the battalion level and higher, though, I don't think sergeants major have a whole lot to complain about. In my experience, most of what they do is make things difficult for other people by increasing requirements. If somebody is caught driving around without insurance, the sergeant major's job is to have all the companies stop what they're doing and check everybody's insurance.

Yes, they do other things like advise majors who get paid more than them, but aside from the advising role, I don't see that they have a lot of responsibility. I think a bigger problem is that there's only one pay level for sergeants major, whether they're advising a battalion, a division, or the entire Army. Maybe they should get a differential for whatever level they're at.

As for the lower NCO ranks, the E-5s and E-6s, they still have OCS open to them if they want to get paid more. According to the article, only 15% of NCOs have at least an associate's degree.

I say, get your bachelor's degree, and I'll support your OCS packet. With 4+ years of service, you'll start out as an O-2E, which is a significant jump on your non-prior service peers. I don't think there should be any limits on the number of prior service applications, given they meet the same standards for education and security clearance (including financial stability and lack of criminal background).

Those former NCOs make extremely qualified officers; they certainly deserve the higher pay.