This section is your one-stop source for information on the dozens of pays and allowances the Defense Department maintains for service members. From the Basic Allowance for Housing to the Thrift Savings Plan, you can find out what you need to know here.
Cost may hinder plan to improve GI Bill
Tens of thousands of student veterans would benefit from a GI Bill improvement package that is pending before Congress, if only lawmakers can overcome cost issues. Posted Tuesday Oct 26, 2010 15:14:31 EDT
Guard and Reserve 2010: Pay and benefits
Depending on their status, reservists can qualify for many types of pay. While in drill status, they receive drill pay, also known as inactive-duty training pay. With few exceptions, those on drill... Posted Thursday Oct 8, 2009 15:42:12 EDT
Guard and Reserve 2010: Support services
Support services for troops and their families are particularly important for National Guard and reserve personnel, who may not live near large military installations. Spiritual, legal, financial,... Posted Thursday Oct 8, 2009 15:41:30 EDT
Guard and Reserve 2010: Education
Education benefits offered to service members got a major upgrade as of Aug. 1, 2009, under the newly approved Post-9/11 GI Bill, which is far more generous than the current Montgomery GI Bill. Posted Thursday Oct 8, 2009 15:40:48 EDT
Guard and Reserve 2010: Activation and deployment
Because of the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, reservists, including Individual Ready Reserve members, can continue to expect possible activation. Reservists may volunteer to serve or may be... Posted Thursday Oct 8, 2009 12:45:12 EDT
Guard and Reserve 2010: Rights and responsibilities
Reservists' rights are protected under state and federal law, whether the service members are in drilling or active status. These rights include employment, financial and legal protection. Posted Thursday Oct 8, 2009 12:37:30 EDT
Guard and Reserve 2010: Separation
Drilling members of the National Guard and reserves who are not on extended active duty are eligible for separation benefits only if they are involuntarily forced out of the service because of the... Posted Thursday Oct 8, 2009 12:32:56 EDT
Guard and Reserve 2010: Retirement
Reservists are eligible to retire once they complete 20 qualifying years of service. However, they cannot immediately begin collecting military retired pay. Posted Thursday Oct 8, 2009 12:32:19 EDT
Guard and Reserve 2010: Affiliation
For those leaving active duty, joining the reserve components is a way to keep some military benefits and work toward retirement. All services, including the Coast Guard, have reserve components, and... Posted Thursday Oct 8, 2009 11:24:33 EDT
Pay
1.4 percent raise would be smallest since 1962
There is no better sign of the ailing U.S. economy and the squeeze on federal spending than the 1.4 percent military pay raise for 2011 being proposed by the Obama administration.
House vs. Senate: Lawmakers debate your 2010 pay and benefits
The 2010 military pay and benefits package taking shape in Congress is fairly meager compared with previous years — and may end up being the last time service members get a pay raise that is...
Family food aid would rise under Senate plan
A Senate committee proposes to more than double the military's Family Supplemental Subsistence Allowance in a move intended to keep troops from having to use food stamps.
Panel: Pay, benefits need overhaul now
The military faces a potentially severe personnel and readiness crisis if it does not undertake radical reform of its personnel, pay and retirement systems, says a member of the Commission on the...
GI Bill pay for on-the-job training drops by $100
GI Bill payments for on-the-job and apprenticeship training have dropped by more than $100 a month because Congress failed to extend a two-year-old pilot program that provided higher rates.
Vet-turned-lawmaker pushes legal safeguards
An Iraq war veteran elected to Congress last fall wants to put some teeth into the financial and legal protections for deployed and mobilized service members.
Troops could lose leave due to administrative snag
Active and reserve troops who stand to earn extra days of administrative leave for long deployments and mobilizations and are just now coming off those tours of duty could have a nasty surprise in...
Storms may have spurred jump in food-stamp use
A 10-percent spike in food-stamp redemptions at military commissaries is likely a lingering aftereffect of Hurricane Katrina and other storms, commissary officials said.
Pay: Basic pay
Basic pay, which is taxable, makes up the largest portion of most service members' paychecks.
Pay: Basic Allowance For Housing
Basic Allowance for Housing is the modern version of a military program dating from 1878 under which service members are provided government quarters or a cash substitute when quarters are...
Pay: Overseas Housing Allowance
About 44,000 people stationed overseas and living off base in about 430 locations receive the Overseas Housing Allowance, which is based on rental cost surveys generally conducted every six months...
Pay: Subsistence Allowance
Basic Allowance for Subsistence is a nontaxable allowance to defray a portion of the cost of service members' subsistence, i.e., food. The allowance is not meant to compensate military personnel for...
Other pay: Adoption Subsidy
The military adoption subsidy, a $2,000 reimbursement per child (with a maximum of $5,000 per calendar year for multiple adoptions) for certain adoption expenses, is available if you use a nonprofit...
Other pay: Enlistment Bonus
Enlistment bonuses go to new recruits as an incentive to join. Often, part of the bonus is a lump sum, with the remainder paid in installments. Each service has its own program. Currently, the...
Other pay: Flight Pay
Flight pay is intended to keep pilots, navigators and other aviators in the military.
Other pay: Foreign Language Proficiency
In an effort to expand language capabilities, the services offer up to $12,000 per year for active-duty members and up to $6,000 a year for reservists with needed language skills. The highest rates...
Other pay: Hardship Duty Pay
There are two types of hardship duty pay: HDP-L for serving in a hardship location and HDP-M for serving on special hardship missions.
Other pay: Hazardous Duty/Parachute
People in especially dangerous jobs, such as those who handle toxic chemicals, are entitled to hazardous duty incentive pay. Officers and enlisted personnel in such positions collect an extra $150...
Other pay: Imminent Danger/Hostile Fire Pay
When military personnel serve on land, aboard ship or in aircraft within an officially declared "imminent danger area," they are entitled to be paid an extra $225 a month.
Other pay: Medical Special Pay
Special pay for medical personnel is intended to narrow the gap between military and civilian salaries for medical professionals and provide a means to attract and retain them beyond initial...
Other pay: Nuclear Duty
Navy officers with critical skills in the nuclear field are eligible for several kinds of special pay:
Other pay: Overseas Tour Extension
The services have authority to pay bonuses to service members with certain skills to extend their overseas tours in certain locations. Those who qualify can choose one of four options:
Other pay: Career Sea Pay
Sea pay is intended to offset the hardships of sea duty. Technically, all the services offer sea pay at different payment rates, but most service members who receive it are sailors, Marines and Coast...
Other pay: Sea Pay Premium
Sailors in paygrades E-4 and below are entitled to an extra $100 a month in sea pay after serving three consecutive years on sea duty. The extra benefit is built into regular sea pay for E-5s through...
Other pay: Submarine Duty
This is an incentive for submariners on top of sea pay, based on rank and years of service. Monthly rates are $75 to $425 for enlisted members; $285 to $425 for warrant officers; and $230 to $835 for...
Other benefits: Death Benefits
Most military installations have casualty assistance officers to help families of service members who die on active duty. The officers are responsible for notifying the family of the death and...
Other benefits: Life Insurance
Active-duty service members automatically are insured for $400,000 under the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) program.
BAH hikes average 6.9 percent
Service members will receive a slightly smaller average housing allowance in 2009 than in the year that is just about to run out.
Allowances: Clothing — Replacement
Following the initial issue of uniforms, enlisted members get an annual allowance to replace worn-out uniform items and insignia.
Allowances: Cost-of-Living Allowance
A cost-of-living allowance is paid to military personnel assigned to high-cost locations in the continental U.S.
Allowances: Dislocation Allowance
Government-paid moves and travel allowances often fall short of actual costs of permanent change-of-station moves. The nontaxable dislocation allowance covers some of that extra expense. For 2010,...
Allowances: Family Separation Allowance
Service members assigned or deployed to places outside the U.S. and Alaska where the government will not move families face dozens of extra expenses, from the cost of minor home repairs and yard work...
Allowances: Per Diem
Per diem is a daily allotment for the cost of food and lodging for service members on government business or temporary duty away from their home station. The military also pays per diem for lodging...
Allowances: Savings Deposit Program
Service members deployed to designated combat zones can earn a guaranteed 10 percent interest rate on their savings under this little-known program created during the Vietnam War era.
Allowances: Temporary Lodging
TLA covers the cost of temporary housing occupied outside the continental U.S. when moving to or from an overseas assignment. It varies by location and is based on the per diem rate set for the...
Allowances: Thrift Savings Plan
The federal Thrift Savings Plan allows participants to place a portion of their monthly pay into an account similar to a private-sector 401(k) investment plan. The contributions are pretax dollars...
Allowances: Travel
The government pays for official travel on airplanes, trains, cars and ships, but with some restrictions. In general, the type of transportation used must be the least expensive option that is timely...
Allowances: Dislocation Allowance
Married service members receive a dislocation allowance when they relocate because other allowances usually fall short of the full cost of moving. It may be paid in advance. The dislocation allowance...
Allowances: Landlord Foreclosure
A 2008 law allows the military services to pay for a local household goods move for military renters forced to move because they are living in homes that have been foreclosed on. Service members in...
Allowances: MALT
Service members receive a monetary allowance in lieu of transportation (MALT) when they drive to a new assignment. The amount depends on the official mileage between old and new duty stations. MALT...
Allowances: Move-in Housing Allowance
A move-in housing allowance is available to members moving into their first quarters for an overseas assignment, if they also receive an overseas housing allowance. There are three kinds of move-in...
2011 Insider's Guide To Military Benefits
This handbook for military life includes essential information on pay and benefits, housing, education, health care and more.
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2011 Insider's Guide To Military Benefits
