Dallas does it for the cash?

[Blaster]

It always sounded strange to me when Zero said that Dallas was in Confed for money. People don't usually join the military if they're trying to get rich, except maybe if the country is very corrupt. So I was wondering if their is any information on how much fighter pilots get paid in the Confederation.

 

[Pedro]

It always sounded strange to me when Zero said that Dallas was in Confed for money. People don't usually join the military if they're trying to get rich, except maybe if the country is very corrupt. So I was wondering if their is any information on how much fighter pilots get paid in the Confederation.

Depends on his skillset, alternative options, background, the current economic situation.
We know in WCIV jobs were hard to come by and that Vagabond stayed in the active reserve for "free credits". I imagine if you're single, not expecting to see any combat, getting room and board and into investment with no family to send money back to it might not seem like a terrible option. And that's not even taking into account how military service might have factored into his future ambitions.

 

[-danr-]

I think @Pedro explains it quite nicely. The military has the somewhat distinct perk of free accommodation, usually with decent pension and healthcare schemes - these alone won't make you super rich, but if you're financially savvy they're a good starting point.

Not quite the same, but my uncle never had any children and spent his entire career as a firefighter. He took courses in stock investment in his spare time, and after a few years of putting his money to work he then started buying up cheap property when the housing market was weak, then selling for profit when it recovered.

I think he had a few other financial irons in the fire - but my point is, by never having kids and by managing his money and investing intelligently, he retired young from the Fire Service a millionaire.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander Prophecy answers this one and it's an outlier specific to Dallas: his maternal wealthy grandmother willed a "substantial endowment" for any of her descendants who honorably complete a term of military service.

 

[capi3101]

Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander Prophecy answers this one and it's an outlier specific to Dallas: his maternal wealthy grandmother willed a "substantial endowment" for any of her descendants who honorably complete a term of military service.

It also mentions that Dallas had two elder brothers who were set to get the lion's share of their father's fortune or something to that effect, IIRC. Been a while since I read that particular guide.

 

[Mace]

I prefer Danr's explenation.

But think of this.. the guy in the bar from WC4, who get's taken hostage and tortured by seether in the "bad" path is one of those guys who had nothing, and the military offered him food, a roof over his head, and something to do, when that was gone he went boozing and became a drifter. He started out as a gunner, and worked his way up to pilot when they(confed) needed pilots.. He went to BW because they offered him thesame.

Dallas was pretty much born with a silver spoon in his mouth, IIRC, and he just wanted the glory and credits. Without a war to fight, he could just breeze through military service, come home a "hero".

With the exception of the mexican guy from Academy, Vaquero, Cobra and Vagabond all pilots(of wich you know the background) you fly with seem to be born in upper-class families or have a family line in the military.

 

[Quarto]

With the exception of the mexican guy from Academy, Vaquero, Cobra and Vagabond all pilots(of wich you know the background) you fly with seem to be born in upper-class families or have a family line in the military.

That's not really true. To be precise, it's entirely false. Read through the pilot profiles in Claw Marks. Consider the new pilots we meet in WC2 and WC3 whose background we are told - for example, Shadow, Downtown, Cobra. I'd say the upper class and military families are in the minority as far as we can tell.