KILLEEN, Texas (KXXV) — Military workers can sometimes live a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle, volunteering their time to protect and serve our country, and during a government shutdown, life doesn't get easier for service members.
- The country is moving into the fourth week of the government shutdown.
- Some military workers ranking E1 can early around $2,300 a month.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“When I came in, in 1994, the pay was a lot different than what it is now, the median household income is a lot different," said Willie Keller, a post commander of VFW Post 12209.
Willie Keller has spent 25 years serving our country and knows the struggles of a military worker.
Having money to pay bills is essential even for military workers during the government shutdown. He said working in the military can be a paycheck-to-paycheck service.
"You had to learn how to balance what you were doing. Coming in through the ranks as a private E3, you don't really make much, but you learn how to sustain what you're getting in the first and 15th of the month," Keller said.
The monthly income of a military personnel in an E1 is around. $2,300 a month. Our 25News reporter, Chantale Belefanti, sat down with a veteran who gave me insight into a service member's lifestyle and said getting paid on time is important.
“Some of the younger soldiers that have families, especially those with medical needs that the current medical coverage doesn’t cover, will be a huge incumbrance on families because they have to pay for those medicines out of pocket," said William Davis, a veteran.
Davis said he knows because he, too, worked his way from the bottom up. For new soldiers, he sums it up in one word.
“Hardship, it looks like how we are going to pay bills, how we are going to buy groceries, and how we are going to pay for daycare. How am I going to provide for my infantile children? It becomes a hardship as well," Davis said.
Keller said there are leaders there to support soldiers during hard times.
