Well, you actually don’t automatically continue to make the same salary. Your base pay is the same; however, you would have a different set of allowances owing to the different area and owing to that factor, the “military compensation” (euphemism for pay & allowances) may be the same, lesser, or greater.
ww.dfas.mil is an incredibly piss-poor site but that’s the place to go to get the info for this stuff.
And Tang. Don’t forget about Tang.
Monty,
My monthly salary (USAF SSgt, E-5) is $24,444/yr, BAS (food subsidies, including the Chow Hall, erm…excuse me…dining facility) 2913/yr, BAH 7940/yr, HDIP 1800/yr. That equals $37,097/yr gross. Of course, last year I took home a bit more because I’d spent some time in Afghanistan, receiving an additional $450 (2mos Imminent Danger pay) and a whopping $32 for Hardship post pay. Grand total, gross, last year for me was (according to my taxes) $37,802. Not bad for a guy living in SC.
BUT!
Say I was a Marine Sergeant (E-5) who’d done identical tours of duty, and was now stationed at MCRD San Diego. Same base pay, same BAS (even though food costs are higher in San Diego, compared to Sumter,) a BAH of $15636, HDIP is the same, and hardship/hazardous duty is the same. This Marine’s total? $45,275/yr gross. This Marine’s BAH is twice mine, but I’m sure he’s gonna be in a lot worse shape than I will.
Lower enlisted speaking up here.
The reason that so many qualify for food stamps is that they live in govt’ housing. Without that expenditure (and thus income), they appear more needy that they actually are.
Most lower enlisted are unmarried, living in barracks, and blowing all kinds of money. Those who are married generally are either childless, or like me, have only one young chilld (2 mos.)
For my rank, (E-3) the pay is 1359/month in base pay. That seems pitiful, until you consider that I also recieve:
250/month in a food allowance
1215/month in a housing allowance
free healthcare (for me and family)
tax free, discount shopping at the PX and Commisary
After taxes, I pull in around 2600/month. Not glamourous, but certainly not starvation levels. It’s enough to have a brand new car, live in a decent place, and still go out to dinner on the weekends.
Guybud: I’m pretty sure the cost of housing to the individual is included in the needs equation to qualify for food stamps.
The LES (Leave and Earnings Statement) indicates the member is residing in government housing at a cost of $0.00 to him. The W-2 form also indicates the value of said housing.
What country do you live in again? 