Pay differences
I see several points out of the recent posts.
Firstly, I'm surprised at how much Crab is getting in Continuity of Education Allowance. I hadn't realised that anything like that sum was available (I don't have children).
Secondly, while acknowledging that you would need a very big pension pot to guarantee the pension package I expect in a few years, it isn't non-contributory. Service pay is abated by, I think, 11% against the civil comparators used by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body, to allow for the costs of pension provision. Now I doubt that 11% of my pay over the years, properly invested, would buy my pension, but it would go a substantial way towards it.
Most importantly, if we are having this sort of difficult conversation regarding pay in an online forum, what's it going to be like if those discussing are sat in the same aircraft doing essentially the same job? Are the divisions going to be a permanent source of friction, or will people see that the whole remuneration vs obligation package is actually significantly different for the different employment conditions of civil and military personnel?
And after we land away on Ops, will the civilian members of the crew do the post-op paperwork while the military chaps try to claim the cost of lunch on JPA? Or are civil company allowances equally as tedious to actually get your hands on?
Sven