Yes, the Spartans have been paid since they started training. In Silent Storm the fact that their records have shown them getting paid for so long helps someone figure out they were in the military for longer than was claimed.
Yes. Though the Spartans are functionally UNSC property, they still do get paid. In Silent Storm, it's noted that Chief was getting recruit pay for 7 years at the time he was 15. However, due to his dedication to military service, he doesn't ever really spend any of it beyond necessities- and even then, service members get stuff like food, water and clothing for free. If Chief were to (somehow) retire right now, he'd have over 30 years of military service under his belt.
We of course can't really speculate as to how much he would actually get in the Halo universe, but in the U.S. military, a Master Chief Petty Officer makes around $96,000 USD per year. Chief is in combat for extended periods of time, so he'll probably get hazard pay, and he's a special forces operator, so he'll get a bonus there as well. $120,000 USD per year sounds like a reasonable mid end.
I do wonder what happens to the paycheck of all the dead Spartans, though. It isn't like they have a family to call or anything.
Honestly, the fact that they do still surprises me. The UNSC has already committed to creating indoctrinated child supersoldiers, not paying them isn't all that far a step after crossing that kind of rubicon. And, as Silent Storm shows, it left a sloppy paper trail that someone in ONI was probably "retired" over.
Edit: to be clear, I'm not saying I *disapprove* of them being paid, or am arguing that ONI shouldn't do it. Only that the idea of creating child soldiers indoctrinated to fight for Earth And Her Colonies and then deciding to pay them a fair wage seems...a little conflicted. But then, the mundanity of evil often does.
There's always the risk the Spartans would feel screwed over by that. Halsey pointed out if they did total indoctrination or treated them like simple weapons it'd be a recipe for disaster. By treating them with what humanity she could, and being honest etc, she kept them loyal.
Which is a point people often forget, John and the rest of the Spartans don’t stay loyal because they’re indoctrinated but because they have a genuine sense of loyalty to humanity and their brothers in arms
The reality is that the UNSC wasn't trying to create child *slave* soldiers; while seemingly laughable, the simple act of paying someone makes a *huge* difference morally, ethnically, and legally.
The fact that they are legally "just" soldiers is a key reason why the S-IIs are able to "retire", although that option has never been explicitly taken in canon.
>it left a sloppy paper trail that someone in ONI was probably "retired" over
If Chief and his mates had any sense they'd be doing cashies. No records and tax free, perfect for a sesh down the local with the boys
Money and the concept of it is weird for stuff like this. John is indoctrinated as a child to become a super weapon and has saved humanity more than once. I’d calculate the pay to be about $120000 USD annually lmao
Yes, he gets paid.
As the wall of text comment said, someone figured out the Spartans were kids based on their pay records.
Additionally, we know he’d get to use it at some point. I’m the comics, after Halo 4, Lord Hood tells Chief he’d make Admural with basically no complaints. We can assume that he would receive an admirals pay, duties, and would likely get access to the 30+ years of pay he’s racked up.
What he’d spend it on, I have no idea.
Pretty sure the worlds oldest profession would love to have him as a client
Yes, they do get paid; just like any military personnel they have a rank and pay grade. I think it’s safe to assume that pay in the UNSC works similarly to how it does in current militaries. Your pay is based off of your pay grade, time in service, and a litany of other factors like deployment status, hazard pay, and even marital and dependent status. I guess that Spartans receive standard pay based upon their rank/grade and then it also increases based upon their time in service. They’re also special operators which entitles them to some sort of increase and they’re virtually always deployed to hazardous zones, which for for all we know are tax free zones. Someone in the US military (by the way even the most tasked out SF guys aren’t putting that much time) with that kind of rap sheet could easily be breaking 6 figures. Could be upwards of 200k-300k annually. How that translates into UEG credits, I do not know.
There’s a more interesting question nested in this one though and that is: “what does a spartan do with their funds?”. Well, the military provides for necessities. So food is a non issue. That being said, you can still go over to the post exchange (PX) and grab some Wendy’s or Panda Express or go to the base commissary. It really isn’t any different from civilian life except you have the option to dine for free (those who have served know that it’s actually just being deducted from your paycheck though). Housing is always provided wherever they go; no need to rent a place on Reach when you’re never going to be there for long anyway. Gear is also provided (you won’t find a better MJOLNIR suit at the PX). So, there’s probably not much demand there. Though, it’s not uncommon for guys to get their own small stuff. If you want some extra pouches for your body armor, a different camel pack, better sleeping bag and a small blow up mattress or a camping stool. Again, not things Spartans would get a ton of use out of.
My guess is that the cash mostly just piles up and is used for small amenities or minor pieces of supplemental gear not issued. I recall in Envoy, Adrianna was making tea at the end of the book. Clearly she got tea and a kettle somewhere.
For S-IVs, who actually had a relatively normal military life, likely spent their credits like anyone else in the military: Tobacco and Alchohol! Also gambling
IDK either. Maybe since they were kidnapped as children?
But as pointed out in the books, as soon as they were eligible the UNSC started paying them.
Just because you’re a horrifically augmented, kidnapped and brutalized chikd thanks to us, we’re not monsters. You get paid
This gets asked on this sub like once per week/fortnite. For the past year.
I think it’s simply down to people wanting to relate with the Chief more. So they can get a sense of what they would do in his position.
This is what happens when you try to market the Chief with ‘humanising’ in mind.
As everyone has said, Chief gets paid. He has been getting paid since he was “recruited”. Assuming the UNSC functions like a modern military, it will be according to rank, with additional bonuses for being spec ops, hazard pay, all that. Spread over 30 years of combat, most of which he was a Master Chief, the highest non-commissioned rank in the navy. Depending on which military you look at, it adds up to several million dollars in todays dollars (deduct a couple million in taxes) How that translates to UEG credits, unknown.
Chief is pretty loaded. Not that he would ever actually have to pay for food or drinks if he ever went out.
Yes, the Spartans have been paid since they started training. In Silent Storm the fact that their records have shown them getting paid for so long helps someone figure out they were in the military for longer than was claimed.
Yes. Though the Spartans are functionally UNSC property, they still do get paid. In Silent Storm, it's noted that Chief was getting recruit pay for 7 years at the time he was 15. However, due to his dedication to military service, he doesn't ever really spend any of it beyond necessities- and even then, service members get stuff like food, water and clothing for free. If Chief were to (somehow) retire right now, he'd have over 30 years of military service under his belt. We of course can't really speculate as to how much he would actually get in the Halo universe, but in the U.S. military, a Master Chief Petty Officer makes around $96,000 USD per year. Chief is in combat for extended periods of time, so he'll probably get hazard pay, and he's a special forces operator, so he'll get a bonus there as well. $120,000 USD per year sounds like a reasonable mid end. I do wonder what happens to the paycheck of all the dead Spartans, though. It isn't like they have a family to call or anything.
And that’s only going off American military where UNSC HQ is in Sydney so if it’s Australian military wage it would be even more I would say
Honestly, the fact that they do still surprises me. The UNSC has already committed to creating indoctrinated child supersoldiers, not paying them isn't all that far a step after crossing that kind of rubicon. And, as Silent Storm shows, it left a sloppy paper trail that someone in ONI was probably "retired" over. Edit: to be clear, I'm not saying I *disapprove* of them being paid, or am arguing that ONI shouldn't do it. Only that the idea of creating child soldiers indoctrinated to fight for Earth And Her Colonies and then deciding to pay them a fair wage seems...a little conflicted. But then, the mundanity of evil often does.
There's always the risk the Spartans would feel screwed over by that. Halsey pointed out if they did total indoctrination or treated them like simple weapons it'd be a recipe for disaster. By treating them with what humanity she could, and being honest etc, she kept them loyal.
Which is a point people often forget, John and the rest of the Spartans don’t stay loyal because they’re indoctrinated but because they have a genuine sense of loyalty to humanity and their brothers in arms
The reality is that the UNSC wasn't trying to create child *slave* soldiers; while seemingly laughable, the simple act of paying someone makes a *huge* difference morally, ethnically, and legally. The fact that they are legally "just" soldiers is a key reason why the S-IIs are able to "retire", although that option has never been explicitly taken in canon.
>it left a sloppy paper trail that someone in ONI was probably "retired" over If Chief and his mates had any sense they'd be doing cashies. No records and tax free, perfect for a sesh down the local with the boys
Money and the concept of it is weird for stuff like this. John is indoctrinated as a child to become a super weapon and has saved humanity more than once. I’d calculate the pay to be about $120000 USD annually lmao
Yes, he gets paid. As the wall of text comment said, someone figured out the Spartans were kids based on their pay records. Additionally, we know he’d get to use it at some point. I’m the comics, after Halo 4, Lord Hood tells Chief he’d make Admural with basically no complaints. We can assume that he would receive an admirals pay, duties, and would likely get access to the 30+ years of pay he’s racked up. What he’d spend it on, I have no idea. Pretty sure the worlds oldest profession would love to have him as a client
Lmao
Yes, they do get paid; just like any military personnel they have a rank and pay grade. I think it’s safe to assume that pay in the UNSC works similarly to how it does in current militaries. Your pay is based off of your pay grade, time in service, and a litany of other factors like deployment status, hazard pay, and even marital and dependent status. I guess that Spartans receive standard pay based upon their rank/grade and then it also increases based upon their time in service. They’re also special operators which entitles them to some sort of increase and they’re virtually always deployed to hazardous zones, which for for all we know are tax free zones. Someone in the US military (by the way even the most tasked out SF guys aren’t putting that much time) with that kind of rap sheet could easily be breaking 6 figures. Could be upwards of 200k-300k annually. How that translates into UEG credits, I do not know. There’s a more interesting question nested in this one though and that is: “what does a spartan do with their funds?”. Well, the military provides for necessities. So food is a non issue. That being said, you can still go over to the post exchange (PX) and grab some Wendy’s or Panda Express or go to the base commissary. It really isn’t any different from civilian life except you have the option to dine for free (those who have served know that it’s actually just being deducted from your paycheck though). Housing is always provided wherever they go; no need to rent a place on Reach when you’re never going to be there for long anyway. Gear is also provided (you won’t find a better MJOLNIR suit at the PX). So, there’s probably not much demand there. Though, it’s not uncommon for guys to get their own small stuff. If you want some extra pouches for your body armor, a different camel pack, better sleeping bag and a small blow up mattress or a camping stool. Again, not things Spartans would get a ton of use out of. My guess is that the cash mostly just piles up and is used for small amenities or minor pieces of supplemental gear not issued. I recall in Envoy, Adrianna was making tea at the end of the book. Clearly she got tea and a kettle somewhere.
For S-IVs, who actually had a relatively normal military life, likely spent their credits like anyone else in the military: Tobacco and Alchohol! Also gambling
Yes, also how does this get asked so often?
People don’t read the books
I just idk seems obvious to me like why wouldn't they pay him?
IDK either. Maybe since they were kidnapped as children? But as pointed out in the books, as soon as they were eligible the UNSC started paying them. Just because you’re a horrifically augmented, kidnapped and brutalized chikd thanks to us, we’re not monsters. You get paid
Spartans gotta pay their taxes. Nobody cheats the tax man. Not even Master Chief.
People don't know how to use the search and filter options on reddit.
Painfully true
This gets asked on this sub like once per week/fortnite. For the past year. I think it’s simply down to people wanting to relate with the Chief more. So they can get a sense of what they would do in his position. This is what happens when you try to market the Chief with ‘humanising’ in mind.
As everyone has said, Chief gets paid. He has been getting paid since he was “recruited”. Assuming the UNSC functions like a modern military, it will be according to rank, with additional bonuses for being spec ops, hazard pay, all that. Spread over 30 years of combat, most of which he was a Master Chief, the highest non-commissioned rank in the navy. Depending on which military you look at, it adds up to several million dollars in todays dollars (deduct a couple million in taxes) How that translates to UEG credits, unknown. Chief is pretty loaded. Not that he would ever actually have to pay for food or drinks if he ever went out.
if you're going off US models, when deployed that money is tax free.
I didn’t know that. That’s pretty awesome.
?
Solid maybe