Did you know that Military members used to be paid in cash?

Sgt Kelli Mays I remember very well reporting for pay and signing a pay roster,then getting paid in cash,not much cash, but cash.

SPC Margaret Higgins PVT Hayden reporting for pay Sir!

In Korea, 1954/55 we were paid in Military Payment Currency, a version of the Korean 'Won' (sp).

To deter black marketing, absolutely unannounced, every year or so MPC was changed to a different color, version and general appearance.

If any one had prior knowledge of the changeover date, they could have bought the old currency and cashed it in before the changeover date which instantly rendered yesterday's MPC worthless.

Possesion of yesterday's currency, by GIs or indiginous personnel was like having a losing poker hand, useless!

I was paid in cash a few times, Sgt Kelli Mays, in the early seventies! In the Army, it was the only instance in which you would salute, but the pay officer was not required to return the salute. All those to be paid would form a line and remain at parade rest. The pay officer would call your name, you would walk up to the pay officer's table, and say, for instance, "Private Curlee reports for pay." You would salute and then drop your hand. You would then be paid in bills and coins.
On the other side of the coin (so to speak) being the pay officer (Class A Agent) was an awful detail. It was an additional duty and much responsibility went with it. Usually, a junior officer and a senior NCO would first go to the armorer and each would draw a handgun with ammunition. The weapons were loaded. You then went and signed for a huge amount of money (bills and coins). It was the pay officer's responsibility to apportion the money out correctly to each soldier. If the pay officer came up short at the end, he made up the difference out of his own pocket!
One pay officer that I reported to took his job quite seriously. When we went in to report for pay, he had his M1911A1, locked and loaded, and placed on the table by his right hand! SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt Terry P. LTC Bink Romanick Capt Seid Waddell CSM Charles Hayden Passed 7/29/2025 SGT Jerrold Pesz SGT Mark Anderson
LTC (Join to see), our stories tally!
PO3 Bob McCord, here’s the earlier thread I mentioned. It was started by Sgt Kelli Mays.

Stand in 1 line with ID to get check
Sign check. Report to pay Officer.
Cash check with pay Officer.
1SG in next line collecting for Soldier Home,CFC, etc
Fist full of dollars head to bank to get Deutsche Marks
Head downtown

Wash rinse repeat. Life in Germany in the 80's...lol

Sgt Kelli Mays I remember reporting for pay in cash $78 a month. I also remember being a Class A Agent. I'm old,

I was never paid in cash, but I heard stories of bases that had difficult relationships with the locals before the commander had the men paid with $2 bills. It gave the townspeople a tangible sense of the value the base added to the area when the merchants were all flooded with $2 bills.

Sgt Kelli Mays I remember standing in pay lines. Waiting an hour for my cash to be handed to me. That was as recent as 91.

Sgt Kelli Mays Roger that! My Dad could tell you stories about certain guys waiting right at the pay lines to collect from guys that owed them money on payday. Loan Sharks in the military loaning money to guys who ran out early and then charging them a lot of interest. Sometimes collecting at the payline got a little tough when some soldiers didn't want to pay up. Unbelievable and unfortunate that this kind of stuff happened then and in some cases still may be happening today - just a little tougher to get the cash when you have direct deposit. Just a little added history

When I was with the ABCT in Vicenza in the early 1980s, LTs and CPTs would serve as pay officers for the Bn. You had to go to finance and count the money, both US dollars and Lire. Then you would pay the troops, and they could get it in part dollars and part Lire. You had to make sure you did the conversion right, because if it didnt all add up at the end of the day you were on the hook for the missing amount. It used to be one of those military trivia questions on Soldier of the Month boards that being a pay officer is the time that an officer doesnt return a soldiers salute when he reports for pay.

Yep. But where I was only the lower ranks were paid that way. On pay day our company XO and I went to finance and got a big bag of cash which we had to count and sign for. We also had a printout of what each person got paid. The people got in line and as each one came up to our little table we both counted out their money and they signed for it. We were told that if we came up short we had to make it up since we had both counted and signed for it. We were never short but you had to be very careful. The money was all new bills and they liked to stick together. This was also when we extorted money from the troops when there was a United Fund drive. The CO always wanted 100% participation so we had two big yellow legal pad on the desk. Those who chose to donate got their name and the amount on one list. The other sheet said "Confined to Barracks" in big letters on the top. If you chose not to make a voluntary donation your name went on that list. The explanation was that if you can't afford to donate at least a dollar you obviously have a money problem so we were helping you to save money. It was to your benefit. After the plan was explained everyone always managed to donate a dollar. That was probably not even legal but that was how it worked. Above E3 we got a check twice a month.