You can go here for the current military Pay rates. At the low end, a new recruit's (E-1) base pay is $1,064.70 a month before taxes and other deductions. A Lt. Col. (O-5) with 20 years of service earns a base pay of $6,329.10 a month before deductions. The most senior officers (O-7 to O-10) are limited to $11,874.90 a month base pay.

However, there's more to military pay than base pay. Service members can live for free in base housing (utilities included) if it is available. If a service member lives off base, he/she draws a housing allowance (see page 2 of the linked PDF file). In addition, there's a variable housing allowance for areas with a high cost of living. Housing allowances are tax free. Here's a link to a Basic Housing Allowance calculator.

They can also draw a food allowance, $167.20 a month for officers and $242.81 a month for enlisted personnel. This is also tax free.

Beyond that, there are a host of other allowances such as hazardous duty pay, sea pay, submarine incentive pay, medical officer pay, family separation allowances, flight pay, etc.

All of these different pays and allowances make it hard to directly compare military pay to civilian pay. My son considered leaving the Navy to join the San Diego police department last year. At the briefing, the pay comparison was that as a rookie cop he'd earn the same as an E-7 in the military. There were other incentives, such as reduced housing costs if he lived in the neighborhood he patrolled and low rate mortgages. He seriously considered it but his wife vetoed him becoming a cop.

Of course, that's in San Diego. In some other major cities, a cop's pay is even higher. However, in much of the country, the pay is a lot lower.