I think the pay is fair for the military. It is an entry-level job. I used it as an example since it is how I spent the first 10 years or so of my adulthood. Becuase I got paid crap and had horrible working conditions it gave me the motivation I needed to learn how to program computers. Now I am a highly paid SWE. If I was making 100k a year enlisted I would have never had the motivation to do what I am doing now.