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I was talking to a woman today and she was telling me that her 19yr old son who is in the army gets deductions from his paycheck for such things as meals, uniforms, and other things. This is something I don't think the general public realizes. I know that pay is considerably higher than it use to be 40 yrs ago and wondering if someone could elaborate for information's sake.
I think there must be some confusion here. In fact, enlisted military get allowances for meals and uniforms (tax free money). Some of these are dependant on where the individual is stationed, and the availability of a dining facility...but by no means are there REDUCTIONS from the paycheck.
Perhaps she misunderstood what her son was telling her.
In the late 70s, early 80s we got a ten dollar a month uniform maintenance fee. I'm sure it's up to at least fifteen a month by now.
But in my day we bought all of our uniforms.
We would get foul weather gear, flight deck boots, Lox boots coveralls and that type of clothing issued to us but it had to be turned back in to supply when there wasn't a need anymore or it needed to be replaced.
If we lived off base we got commuted rations (COMRATS) to help buy groceries. If we ate in the galley we paid for our meals while on comrats.
I can't remember how much that was. The same with Variable housing allowance (VHA) to help pay rent or mortgage.
But like I said I've been out for quite some time.
I was talking to a woman today and she was telling me that her 19yr old son who is in the army gets deductions from his paycheck for such things as meals, uniforms, and other things. This is something I don't think the general public realizes. I know that pay is considerably higher than it use to be 40 yrs ago and wondering if someone could elaborate for information's sake.
It's just confusion about pay (common among first term folks and their parents or spouses). There's an old marching cadence that says "They give you a hundred dollars and take back ninety-nine."
It's because they show you all the deductions, and it really adds up.
Here's what he's probably seeing:
1. Any casual pay he got during the first few weeks (now given on a cash card rather than in cash) is taken back.
2. Most all of them drop 100 per month for one year on the GI Bill.
3. If (big if) he was over paid for a time due to any "status change" they will take that back.
4. If he is married, but he's in some kind of geographical bachelor status for training, his pay may look different than expected.
5. Lots of young folks aren't used to getting larger sums in a paycheck, so when they see all the federal, state, FICA withholding, they complain.
Lastly, chances are high he's dropping some of his money to AER, Old Soldiers Home, extra SGLI, etc. But those are good things. Oh and some guys have allotments to pay bills on auto pilot.
The kids first line leader should be sitting down with him and his LES (pay statement) and explaining everything on there while making sure it is correct.
There's a uniform allowance. Think it was annual. There are things like COMRATS, which is money paid to eat OFF BASE. If you're single, and not living off base, there's no reason for you to eat off base or receive "commuted rations".
Sometimes (especially in training units) the Soldiers will have their uniforms cleaned and readied by the quartermaster and there is, of course, a fee for this service. It is not mandatory but many will choose this option in order to keep their 'free time' free.
Many Posts have gone to privatized housing and therefore their BAH is credited then debited from their LESs. It is simply a matter of knowing how to read your LES and frankly I would have been very uncomfortable with the 'public' having access to my pay and benefit information (unless I was privy to their info in exchange).
I've come across many civilians who honestly believe the military pays for all our uniforms and housing. Sure, if he wants to call the rack on a ship housing then I lived in a castle. That uniform allowance never covered the uniforms I went through in a year thanks to working in the engine room of a steam driven ship. Oh and military chow was just soooooo goooood. I especially enjoyed the day we were served chicken with grey meat. That was a treat. It was in the Navy that I discoverd that a dinner roll could be harder than croutons. You had to wear eye protection before trying to break open that thing. One day we had sausage on the mess line. The cooks forgot to poke holes in the casings. The casings inflated, filled with grease and the little bit of meat floated inside. And since when does mustard greens come with bones? I didn't know mustard greens had bones. Rice isn't suppose to chip teeth.
Wow SailorDave it sounds pretty bad in your dining facility! The Army (all of the places we were Stationed) served really good (sometimes brilliant) chow. Our Mess Sgts cared about what they were serving the soldiers and there was usually a wide variety available (along with the always popular burger/fries station) and there were always fresh fruits and salads in the line.
My brother and sister in law (both in the Navy) always said that their chow was terrific (on board the ship).
For lower EMs and those who cannot easily leave Post (and who choose not to eat the disgusting crap at the food court at the PX) the DFACs offer meals that they can afford (if not on a meal card).
The uniform allowances were never enough to cover the cost of uniform upkeep and when they 'up graded' the PTs the cost of the warm up suits were just ridiculous. Thankfully even when we were Garrison we rarely wore Class As & Bs so we were spared the cost of upkeep and wear and tear on these uniforms and the BDUs and ACUs could take a lot of punishment. Just the cost of jump boots would put quite a dent in the allowance but we were grateful for the amount we did receive; after all it was better than nothing!
Thanks for all the answers. I doubt I'll ever run into this woman again to discuss it further. She has been a worker herself and was keeping track of her sons paystubs for him. Guess she just wasn't use to the differences.
Now, expound on what she might have been seeing in his pay when her son was deployed to Iraq if you will.
Now, expound on what she might have been seeing in his pay when her son was deployed to Iraq if you will.
I served 22 years. One common complaint in regards to finance payments was if you got overpaid, which was common many times, finance would take that money back at a later date. Of course many Soldiers never seemed to recall a $500 or so overpayment from a few months back....
Deployed to a combat zone? There is "Combat Pay/Hazard Duty Pay", your pay is not taxable during that. You may get overseas pay. If you are married you may get Family Separation pay. The terms may have changed over the years.
Hopefully someone with actual current experience will add to it, or I can look it up later.
Rich
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