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Anyone who's been in the military should know what Basic Allowance for Subsistance (BAS) is and how it works:
Quote:
Originally Posted by militarypay.defense.gov/pay/bas/
BAS is meant to offset costs for a member's meals. This allowance is based in the historic origins of the military in which the military provided room and board (or rations) as part of a member's pay. This allowance is not intended to offset the costs of meals for family members.
Beginning on January 1 2002, all enlisted members get full BAS, but pay for their meals (including those provided by the government). This is the culmination of the BAS Reform transition period.
Because BAS is intended to provide meals for the service member, its level is linked to the price of food. Therefore, each year it is adjusted based upon the increase of the price of food as measured by the USDA food cost index. This is why the increase to BAS will not necessarily be the same percentage as that applied to the increase in the pay table, as annual pay raises are linked to the increase of private sector wages.
For 2011, officers receive $223.84/month, enlisted receive $325.04/month. As an allowance, it is part of a member's pay and is exempt from income taxes. There are situations where a member does not receive BAH, usually when they are in a training or deployment status where the government is providing their meals. They are effectively paying for these meals with their BAS.
I had no idea officers make a million in the military. I should have stayed.
O.K., I'll break it down kindergarten style for ya......
An O-10 (Over 40 years) make on a yearly basis $230,868.
An E-6 (Over 40 years) make $43080
The total is $273,948, the average is $137, 947.....
Does that even remotely sound correct? Is it mathematically correct, yes it is....
Oh and BTW, that is base pay.....no housing allowances, extra pay or anything like that....so that average just goes WAY up if you add everything else in....
And that was a nice deflection from my original point.....
I said this company...had 50 people....not the military...
Don't worry though.....we still understand you hate the military...even thou you were getting those pay stubs....
O.K., I'll break it down kindergarten style for ya......
An O-10 (Over 40 years) make on a yearly basis $230,868.
An E-6 (Over 40 years) make $43080
The total is $273,948, the average is $137, 947.....
Does that even remotely sound correct? Is it mathematically correct, yes it is....
Oh and BTW, that is base pay.....no housing allowances, extra pay or anything like that....so that average just goes WAY up if you add everything else in....
And that was a nice deflection from my original point.....
I said this company...had 50 people....not the military...
Don't worry though.....we still understand you hate the military...even thou you were getting those pay stubs....
Officers get paid more. What is your point. They are still in the military. I loved being in the Military. It was a lot of fun. Made a lot of friends. I still celebrate on November 10 and before I go to bed every night I say goodnight Chesty Puller wherever you are. Semper Fi.
I have been in the military. When were in the field we either ate MRE's or an occasional hot meal. When we were on base we got three meals a day, which were far better than anything that I received at lunch in high school, and we did not have to pay for them. The base Chow Hall was no different than any other Cafeteria.
Haven't read the whole thread yet so someone else may have mentioned this. To respond to another comment, not all barracks rooms have a full oven and refrigerator. I was lucky to be in the new barracks back in garrison which did have a microwave, full fridge, and stove. However, there was no oven so it still limited me on what I could cook in certain ways. There were people that were in older barracks though and the most they had was a microwave and mini-fridge.
I'm deployed right now so obviously it's different at the moment. However, when I'm in garrison I don't make as much as you say and on top of that, they weren't technically free meals. They take almost $300 out of my paycheck for BAS which makes it seem like it's free because they refer to that $300 or whatever as your food allowance but it would definitely be preferable by many of us if that money was actually going to us to use personally for food rather than going straight to the DFACs (dining facilities). It's basically money we never see unless you make it to the DFAC for every meal. For many of us, that's unlikely to happen. The DFACs basically have the same food over and over every 2 weeks (if not even more frequent). I don't know many people who want to eat the same thing all the time like that. So instead that $300 goes to other people even if it's supposedly "mine" because I don't get to the DFAC often enough to have it worth that much. I end up spending money on other food instead from the stores out of my much less base pay (doesn't come out to much extra after bills). Plus most DFACs have certain hours you have to get there by so that's another reason it can be difficult depending on your work hours.
Overall, I really don't see it as free food at all.
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