A Soldier's Pay(Mercenary)

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A Soldier's Pay(Mercenary)

Post by KashimArbalestAS »

I know this is barely a question that should be made into a topic, but I have a question. How much do SRT members receive per year? In the novel End Of Day By Day, it says $500,000. But I also recall somewhere that they receive $200,000, that was also probably from the novel. I'm again reading over the Boku-Tachi scanlations, so I'll probably find out where I got the $200,000 from.
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Post by Circle »

How much do the average real life mercenary get paid, currently?

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Post by KashimArbalestAS »

Here are the definition terms of mercenary.

noun-hired soldier
adjective-serving only for money

A mercenary is a soldier who somebody pays to give their services to their employer. Mercenaries are only in the service of someone for the money, so it depends on the mercenary and the employer. Kind of like everything else, if you want more, but the employer won't give it to you, you can leave and look for another person or organization who might need your abilities. This is only on my knowledge, but I'm guessing that the life of a real mercenary is a hard one, especially when your employer can kill you, and also because your occupation would be to kill or guard, putting yourself in danger of being killed in both jobs. I don't know a lot about real mercenaries, I think there isn't a lot now, but I might be wrong.

Also, in order to have business, there has to be conflicts in the world, or you could just be in the employment of someone who causes/fights against those conflicts.
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Post by Jae »

I don't know how much mercs get paid now, however, if they are working for a US security contractor and are american, they get paid many times what a similar individual in the US military would get paid.

The 'merc' industry is large and growing in the US. AFAIK, since the post-cold war cutbacks, the Pentagon has been supplementing forces with private 'security' companies for many years now, and these private companies mercs are usually former military (and not usually referred to as 'mercs' but they are).
It's a risky job, but the employers are reliable- they won't kill or not pay their people. At least in the US they do operate under the law. The risks are not much more than these people would be exposed to if they continued their enlistment- they aren't technically covered by Geneva, but they also aren't subject to the military code or laws, and they can also quit at will, or at least are not subject to the same restrictions the military has. Its also one of the most lucrative jobs a newly former soldier could obtain quickly.

Of course, I have no clue as to what the merc industry is like outside of the US. I don't think Mithril can be compared to anything in the real world.
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Post by KashimArbalestAS »

Ah, nice. I never knew anything about that. Pretty cool to be a mercenary then. That seems to be a pretty attractive job...Being the same like in the military, though less regulations and more pay. That's one reason I love Mithril. Military, fighting, pay, and less regulations and procedures than real militaries, as my profile would indicate. Not to mention awesome technology, and awesome ASes. I wish it was true, I'd enlist immediately, as long as I either pilot an AS or something and not something boring. Man... But, I don't think Mithril can be compared to anything either. Too bad though. Not to mention there are no such things as ASes, or Whispers, or frequent conflicts, or the girls in Full Metal Panic!...
Anyway, you'd probably have to have some experience as a soldier to even be considered to join Mithril, like Sousuke, Kurz, Melissa, Admiral Borda, Mardukas, Kalinin, Clouzot, dead former SRT Urzu-1 guy, etc. But some don't, like one of those SRT members who accompanied them to Hong Kong in End Of Day By Day, but this post is really haphazard to the subject...
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Post by AEmer »

Well, there is an organisation that's atleast somewhat comparable; the French Foreign Legion.

It's a branch of the french military that recruits foreign personel to act as soldiers. The recruits nationality doesn't matter, all that matters is their mental and physical fitness, and their ability to go through a number of tests and examinations successfully.

The recruits are paid in cash once a month, and are on a mercenary contract.; but since they're used as a branch of the french military, they're used like regular soldiers, although, they're on a somewhat tougher schedule and are exposed to far tougher rules and regulations.

It is, however, _not_ a very free life. The plus side is that all it takes is good health and fitness alround, and you can earn your pay in a place that's completely seperated from your old life - you'll even be able to get a legal new name.

The main difference between mithril and The Foreign Legion is that Mithril takes orders from a vast number of different employers - they're for hire - while the legion is solely benefactored by the French government...

That is to say, it is said that Mithril is a very large organisation that is not only of military capacity, but rather, it has many different branches, all of which earn their pay by themselves _while_ taking orders from higher up...that it would be the same for the western pacific branch, that they have to get dough in too, would only be natural to the way mithril works.

So to say that Mithril is a mercenary organisation would be wrong - it's just hiring out it's military assets when it's not using them.
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Post by KashimArbalestAS »

Actually, Mithril is a mercenary organisation not only because it sells its soldier's services, but also because every single person who actually makes a difference in Mithril as in being soldiers or their commanders, SRT, PRT, captains, commanders, pilots, all those who fight or command them are mercenaries. Most are in for the money, Kurz, this PRT private mentioned in the novels, and others. Mithril pay their soldiers huge sums, which is the reason why I made this topic, to find out how much SRT members are paid. Either $500,000 or $200,000 a year. They can leave, none are bound to the organisation, but those who know a lot don't have the expanded liberty to just leave. That's why Mithril is risky, many are just in for the money, and don't give a care for Mithril itself. Which is why Bluno defected, and was even a spy, because someone got the better of him by offering even more money. It is well known they are paid a lot, so that is one of their ways to keep their loyalty and service. Organisations who hire mercenaries all follow the same routine, find a soldier, pay the soldier huge sums to make him/her happy, and use their services. It's the way employers of mercenaries work, like the fundamental way it works.

Also, Mithril works still even if they have no hope of repayment for their services, and yet pay their soldiers the way they do because Mithril is so complex. You can read more about it in the novels. Does all the nations in the world pay Mithril to guard Kaname so that her potential knowledge of Black Technology won't fall in the wrong hands, which would surely affect them? I know barely any nation knows about Kaname, but that would be an example.

All we know right now is that the higher up don't get higher up than the commanders of each of the Intelligence Department, the Research Department, and the Operations Department. The 3 branches of Mithril are quite independant, it's just that they use each other, for operations, intelligence, or for research of various things and reasons. Remember, Mithril's source of money is not soley dependant on nations hiring their services. It's complex, and has networks.

The French Foreign Legion sounds good, except for the said restrictions and limitations.

That is right, their are different parts, like the Western Pacific Fleet, the Tuatha de Danaan, but it's direct superior would be the Operations Headquarters. Just like Wraith is a mercenary of the Intelligence Department. Since we know that the 3 Departments do not work well with each other, we can assume that there is no higher or stronger power controlling all 3 of the Departments in Mithril. Probably to stop it from becoming controlled by one person so that it won't go wrong, like the U.S. governments Checks and Balances.
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Post by Jae »

AEmer wrote:Well, there is an organisation that's atleast somewhat comparable; the French Foreign Legion.
It's not comparable to Mithril in terms of being a global private mercenary force.

As far as hiring regardless of nationality, sure. Mithril being an international entity with a powerful military force means nations must treat it as such, which makes it a very different beast.

I'm not sure about from the viewpoint of an ordinary merc, but it seems like the two may attract different 'flavors' of mercenary.

BTW, sorry KA-AS, I dunno what Mithril pays at what points in the story...
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Post by AEmer »

Jae wrote:

It's not comparable to Mithril in terms of being a global private mercenary force.


Mithril being an international entity with a powerful military force means nations must treat it as such, which makes it a very different beast.


AEmer wrote:

The main difference between mithril and The Foreign Legion is that Mithril takes orders from a vast number of different employers - they're for hire - while the legion is solely benefactored by the French government..

It’s true – the Legion are employed solely by France – Mithril can have a number of different employers – but I believe I already mentioned that :-P

Anyway, I’m not sure what you mean by different flavours of mercenary…except if you mean that Mithril hire far more experienced and capable ones, and don’t try to indoctrinate them as per normal army standards :-P

KashimArbalestAS wrote:

They can leave, none are bound to the organisation, but those who know a lot don't have the expanded liberty to just leave

True, they can quit – but not just like that. They’re on a contract. Sousuke doesn’t care because he’s gathered up an absolutely huge amount of money by now – Mithril can just deduct money from his account in order to cover their expenses. However it will cost him to just leave the organisation without any notice.


Organisations who hire mercenaries all follow the same routine, find a soldier, pay the soldier huge sums to make him/her happy, and use their services. It's the way employers of mercenaries work, like the fundamental way it works.

The French Foreign Legion who employ mercenaries paid their basic GI soldiers 5500francs a month – that’s before any kind of taxes. To recalculate that to Dollars would be fairly hard, considering the Franc stopped being back when the euro started. A rough recalculation would be about 1100$ a month – in case you can’t do math, that’s 13200$ a year. Generally though, legionaires don’t pay taxes since they’re paid in cash and can just leave France whenever they wish to.
So it’s not the way it works for employers of mercenaries – now an organisation like Mithril isn’t a normal group of mercenaries, but I just thought I’d mention that their way of doing things is not normal in this aspect either....

What I mean when I say that Mithril is not a mercenary organisation is that they’re not in it for the money. They employ highly skilled mercenaries, but that’s just because they employ the best soldiers they can get their hands on, and because it’s an independent organisation those soldiers are mercenaries. In order to get some cash back in they do actual mercenary work for clients, but that’s just a fundraiser (or that’s how it appears to me) – what Mithril really is all about is maintaining a certain amount of military power, regulating technology, and fighting the good and just fights – it’s about stopping the behemoth, or a cloaking AS in the middle of Hong Kong, etc.
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Post by KiLlEr »

Just as a note, Mithril is a self-funded organization. It "owns" serveral international hi-tech corporations from which it is draws its funding, as well as form the base of thier R&D. That is also what makes them non-national and completely different from any military force that currently exists.

Its kinda like Fuji Heavy Industries (which owns companies like Suburu, Fuji Aerospace, Eco Technologies, and FIP) hireing mercinaries, supplying them with equipment designed by thier engineers and built in thier own factories, and sending them to fight terrorists and to maintain a balance of power.
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Post by KashimArbalestAS »

AEmer wrote:KashimArbalestAS wrote:

They can leave, none are bound to the organisation, but those who know a lot don't have the expanded liberty to just leave
I think you interpreted that wrong. It's basically what you just said about leaving. I meant those who didn't know too much could leave easier than those who leave who know more or too much. Everybody can leave, though those who know something can't leave or defect without notice, which is then Mithril will go after you with their soldiers, such as SRT, or the Palhoron in the Mediterranean, and other SRT teams located around the world.
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Post by AEmer »

Well, no, I just wanted to clarify the first bit about them being bound - contrary to what you wrote they are bound: by a contract - I suppose I could've left the rest of the sentence out, and in retrospect, I should have, since I was only reffering to the beginning of it...sorry for the confusion...
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Post by KashimArbalestAS »

Me: but those who know a lot don't have the expanded liberty to just leave


I would suppose those being exposed to Mithril more than others would have tougher contracts, which I implied above. Sousuke does get half his usual pay, and pays for fuel, which I think is idiotic of Mithril though it makes sense.
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Post by AEmer »

Well, he's a valuable asset - they can't afford to give him up, so yes, it does make sense.

And yep, it's highly probable that those higher up have tougher contracts - if you sign a contract as a military aviator, it runs for 10 years after you've gotten your wings. I would presume that most mithril personel is on the same kind of contract.
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