Prospective U.S. military recruits have long been told "Uncle Sam wants you!"
Well, Stars and Stripes reports Tuesday that Australia wants you even more and is willing to pay for it.
"The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) welcomes enquiries from both officers and sailors who are interested in a new career and new life in Australia," the Australian Navy's website says.
The U.S. ally down under is seeking everything from submariners to doctors at ranks from enlisted to officers in all branches of its services and salaries can be substantially higher, according to the Stars and Stripes report.
A staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force with six years of service makes $31,946 while a corporal in the Royal Australian Air Force makes $57,277 in U.S. dollars, Stripes reports. The difference is pay for an officer is less, but Australia still comes out on top, with a U.S. Air Force captain earning $63,263 and the Australian equivalent, a flight lieutentant, making $66,417 in U.S. dollars.
Stripes points out that Australia's economy, boosted by Chinese demand for its mineral exports, is in better shape than many other areas of the world.
Australia is seeking experienced applicants only and has a program in place to grant permanent residency to foreign passport holders.
Australia has signed on about 500 foreigners from the U.S., Canada, Britain and New Zealand in the past five years, according to the report.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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The Canadian Army also pays a higher wage than the US. So if you want to serve, Join Up – We'd be pleased to have you!
Defector!
leaving a sinking ship?...
No thanks I am done with stupid wars. Aussies better start learning Mandarin.
They can do without Mandarin and they can do without you.
Sounds win-win for the Aussies.
Australia is smart about immigration; they recruit and grant visas to those whom they WANT.
Australia, like Canada, has a far more liberal immigration policy than the US.
The pay might be higher, but so is everything else. Average dinner is $25, average cars at $60,000, homes are upwards of $500k.
Australia is a great place, but the pay difference is misleading.
Completely incorrect. The cost of living in Aussie is about the same as Canada which is about 20% higher than the US.
Yeah, you need to pay $5 for a Big Mac. Huge land mass almost the size of continental US, but few population, two-third of the land is arid and inhabitable. Manufacturing is almost non-existent and they import almost everything. Due to high import taxes and transportation costs, consumer prices are very high. What about income taxes? Average Aussies pay almost 50% income tax. Romney will cry foul in Australia.
The Aussie troops in the photo don't look very intimidating, do they?
In fact, they look funny.
Some well trained Yanks will provide the Aussies what they need.
Remember, despite its size, Australia's population is only slightly larger than metropolitan New York City.
It's hard to put together a credible defence force from a population that small.
Oh I don't know about that given that the ADF has the largest deployment outside of a NATO country in Afghanistan.
too hot down there, hotter than iraq in my opinion..
If only I was 20 years younger.
Me too, almost took a helicopter job down under 30 years ago, shoulda-coulda-woulda.
Sorry, but if you are not a Canadian citizen you cannot join the military. Yes our salaries are much higher with a Capt starting pay in the 70 thousands and it caps off at 100,000. If your enlisted the pay is good too but the US military gets a lot of tax free benefits that even things out like the COLA (cost of living allowance). All of our Canadian military allowances are taxed and not as generous.
Not all of us can be bought. Some of us are in the military for our country. I don't make hardly anything after bills and everything, but I wouldn't just turn to another country for more money. Might as well be a mercenary at that point.
Look, you and I both serve our countries because we think its the right thing to do. I served along side my US, Britsh, Aussie and whole host of other military brothers and sisters as we worked together in Afghanistan, but don't think for a minute that your country gives a damn about you. When we get injured US, Canadian, British vets, we are all fighting to get basic services and care. I realize that serving is about the people, my brothers and sisters in arms no matter what country. I made great friends over there in Afghanistan with Americans and other nations and we are all still friends today. None of us serve because of the money.
You hit the nail on the head.
Or work for Blackwater.... Whatever their new name is now.
After doing 22 in the US Army, I'm pretty sure I've "done my part."
If I wasn't worn-out and broke-down from that 22, trying something "similar but different" in the Army of one of our closest allies would have a lot of appeal. It's not as if helping our friends is hurting the US. Especially friends who have stood beside us in Viet Nam, in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
I wonder if they will take old ex us army tankers?
If you were in M1s, very probably. Australia just bought M1A2s to replace their Leopards, so they are probably interested in M1 experts.
Get paid more and you don't have to go to the middle east, sounds like a winner.
Australian soldiers have been serving in Afghanistan and Iraq for as long as the US.
This article is a little misleading. $31,946 is only the Base Pay for a six-year SSgt. That does not include BAH (housing allowance), BAS, COLA, and any other bonus pay. I'm a five-year SSgt in Hawaii and I'm making about $60,000 after taxes. So unless Australia pays out for the same stuff...
Having just visited Australia, I can say it is a nice place, but the cost of living there is high, so that extra pay doesn't translate into more dispoabale income!
too many of our youth are covered in tats,piercing,have criminal records and no HS education.Good luck finding anything but older seasoned blokes.