Benefit Guide to Military Pay

Military pay is based on several components. Every service member receives a base pay, which is much like a civilian's salary. The amount of your base pay is based on your rank and your time in the service. Other "pays," usually referred to as "special pays," are for specific qualifications or events. Aviators and parachutists receive special pay, as do service members involved in dangerous or hardship duty. Allowances are the second most important part of military pay. Allowances are monies provided for specific needs, like food and housing. The Basic Allowance for Subsistence offsets the costs for a service member's meals. This allowance is based on historic conditions in which the military provided room and board (rations) as part of a member's pay. This allowance does not account for the meals of family members. The Basic Allowance for Subsistence in 2007 is $192.74/month for officers and $279.88/month for enlisted members. The Basic Allowance for Housing is given to those who are authorized to live "off-base." The amount of your BAH is based on your location, pay grade and whether you have dependents. BAH rates are set by surveying the cost of rental properties in your geographic location. And in this time of increasing deployment overseas there is the Family Separation Allowance. This is payable only to members with dependents. Family Separation Allowance is goes into effect when a military member is forced to be away from his/her dependents for more than 30 days due to military orders. Another aspect of military pay is the fact that there are built in tax advantages. Most allowances are exempt from taxes and certain hardship circumstances will change normally taxable pay into tax exempt pay. Comments (0) Show/Hide comments Write comment Show/Hide comment form Name Email Website Title Comment Add Comment