Posted on Sep 5, 2015
How Much Did You Get Paid When You Joined The Military? My Take Home Pay Was $457 a Month as a (Army) Private in 1990?
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How much did you make when you joined the military? Back then I got paid on FRIDAY AND BROKE ON MONDAY!! (was not making too much-no family but me, myself and I). Times have changed since the days of your era. Who remembers the Green JUMPs Statement?(DA 3681-6) and getting once a month pay out the finance cage. Yes you had to salute the payroll officer. I remember in Basic Training getting American Travels checks and the Senior Drill Sergeant/1SG keeping it in a safe. Getting once a month pay(cold hard cash), this was before surepay, it was known as casual pay before direct deposit kicked in before the internet. I am referring to 1989-1990. Much respect to all the Army Veterans (Private Pay) who got $75 dollars a month in 1949. The Private in 2015 makes about $1430 a month(under 4 months). Use the link below if you served in the DOD since 1949.
http://www.militarypay.com/MilitaryPayCharts.php
http://www.militarypay.com/MilitaryPayCharts.php
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Edited 5 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 282
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL We did not get paid in boot camp. They gave us Monopoly money to spend at the gee dunk. But it came out of our pay. As an E-2 I got $97 a month before taxes. When I went to sea in 65 sea pay was $8.00 a month.
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LTC Wayne Brandon
We were seemingly paid little to nothing but still managed to 'live large' for at least one or two weekends a month. When I became a drill sergeant I made an extra $50 a month proficiency pay and thought I was doing great. After I left the trail it went to $75 a month and felt a little resentful of the timing of it all. In the end, it was all good.
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1961-$56.25 a month after taxes plus $33.00 Jump Pay or Overseas Pay. Later another 30.00 pro pay. The whole thing doubled 1 Oct 63.
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I had joined the AF Reserve on My 17th Birthday in 1970 and by Friday I was on my Way to Lackland AFB. Along with 100 other new Reservists. When we got to Lackland they divided us up among 8 flights. We were hoping to stay together.
Of course that was not to be.. pay day came along and we got $50 partial pay and of course after deductions it was more like $40. I think I turned into a stingy Scotsman while in basic.. I had entered as a E2 and would be A1C when I graduated basic. When that final day came I went to that pay window and received a tidy sum. That wasn't all of it. The other 1/2 was as a voucher.. I had worked for my great Aunt cooking at her restaurant. I would go back there and pick up where I left off, I hoped. So between working there 30 hrs a week and receiving drilll pay one weekend a month .
I'd be ok.. (one factor was that I was still in school.. I went through a lot of hoops to Make my game plan work.. There were certain rules had to be bent.. The Reserves is the same as a part-time job, correct? And you just give me permission to go to this part time job in the summer.
There were other hoops too.. maybe discuss those later.. one would be the State Dept of labor. It seemed that after
Have completed a drill weekend.. officially
I had been on duty 36 hrs. I explained to them it was subject to duty not on duty. Actually I had been credited three 8 hr days. It looked better than 2 12 hour days
(Being a minor, that raises eyebrows at Dept of labor, they didn't care if I was in
Reserves or not it's still too many hours)
So.. what I had to do was cut back hours the week.before drill and the week after drill so I didn't have more than allowable hours against school hours. And they checked on me too! There were other kids that worked there too and since they
Checked on me, they got looked at too.
A couple quit and went elsewhere to work.
So they could get more under the table hours. I was in good with my 1SG and Cmdr and trng NCO. And another Officer that had connections who could find drill time at other units. Since I was being watched so much where I worked.. It was hard getting the hours . So I talked to that Captain. He got me a weekend at Wright-Pat. That was 180 mi total from where My home was. From Selfridge it was further.. I kept quiet about that.. and some other weekends I got at other bases. Aunty was good at keeping my being gone extra weekends.. my grades were good and that Dept of labor woman got with the school district about that.. Prob'ly if they suffered they'd Force my Aunt to cut my hours.. I was between a rock and a hard place.. I didn't know what it was to go out and have fun as a kid after I got to be 15.. sure I got to a movie house occasionally.. a beach I think I'd been to about 8 times during the summer.
I was into working.. I had a good place to work. I got those drill days that year and that fattened up my account and fattened up my duty time.. what I had on the books. I had a good time in the Reserve, I worked hard for them, and got to go places . I couldn't afford to go to otherwise. I had and learned a lot of responsibility and to be accountable for my actions and for others when I did 1st Cook duty . When that opportunity in the springtime came up and was offered to me, I went for it. My hard work paid me back by presenting the opportunity to go active and fill a slot. There was another slot and another Sgt. took it. It worked good for me and I didn't have to report
Until after June 5. We got a sitrep control
His 1 year anniversary date isn't until June
22nd. Not a prob.. they TAD'd me to the Reserve unit at my gaining base. They loaned me to the AB GP at my gaining base until the 22d and then I'd be turned over and all the transfer paperwork finalized.. Easier said than done as the saying goes.. From autumn the year before to spring I dodged the bullet between the Dept of Education and Dept of Labor about my hours. And grades.. my grades were Bs and Cs and a A Here and there. Remember a book called the "CIA fact book"? Those didn't get released until the next year after they
Came out. They were in the base archives just as soon as they were released. Schools and civilian libraries might get them mid year.. As soon as I could I accessed them for report material.. about different countries.. I got a lot of bang for my buck while in the AFReserve and the Regular AF. I seen/been to a lot of places I would of only read about.. learned leadership skills and time management skills .
Considering all what the AF taught me,
Clothed me and sheltered me when it came time to rest And what I gave back to them I think I got a real good deal. .I only hoped I could have given them more years, but that wasn't meant to be.
Of course that was not to be.. pay day came along and we got $50 partial pay and of course after deductions it was more like $40. I think I turned into a stingy Scotsman while in basic.. I had entered as a E2 and would be A1C when I graduated basic. When that final day came I went to that pay window and received a tidy sum. That wasn't all of it. The other 1/2 was as a voucher.. I had worked for my great Aunt cooking at her restaurant. I would go back there and pick up where I left off, I hoped. So between working there 30 hrs a week and receiving drilll pay one weekend a month .
I'd be ok.. (one factor was that I was still in school.. I went through a lot of hoops to Make my game plan work.. There were certain rules had to be bent.. The Reserves is the same as a part-time job, correct? And you just give me permission to go to this part time job in the summer.
There were other hoops too.. maybe discuss those later.. one would be the State Dept of labor. It seemed that after
Have completed a drill weekend.. officially
I had been on duty 36 hrs. I explained to them it was subject to duty not on duty. Actually I had been credited three 8 hr days. It looked better than 2 12 hour days
(Being a minor, that raises eyebrows at Dept of labor, they didn't care if I was in
Reserves or not it's still too many hours)
So.. what I had to do was cut back hours the week.before drill and the week after drill so I didn't have more than allowable hours against school hours. And they checked on me too! There were other kids that worked there too and since they
Checked on me, they got looked at too.
A couple quit and went elsewhere to work.
So they could get more under the table hours. I was in good with my 1SG and Cmdr and trng NCO. And another Officer that had connections who could find drill time at other units. Since I was being watched so much where I worked.. It was hard getting the hours . So I talked to that Captain. He got me a weekend at Wright-Pat. That was 180 mi total from where My home was. From Selfridge it was further.. I kept quiet about that.. and some other weekends I got at other bases. Aunty was good at keeping my being gone extra weekends.. my grades were good and that Dept of labor woman got with the school district about that.. Prob'ly if they suffered they'd Force my Aunt to cut my hours.. I was between a rock and a hard place.. I didn't know what it was to go out and have fun as a kid after I got to be 15.. sure I got to a movie house occasionally.. a beach I think I'd been to about 8 times during the summer.
I was into working.. I had a good place to work. I got those drill days that year and that fattened up my account and fattened up my duty time.. what I had on the books. I had a good time in the Reserve, I worked hard for them, and got to go places . I couldn't afford to go to otherwise. I had and learned a lot of responsibility and to be accountable for my actions and for others when I did 1st Cook duty . When that opportunity in the springtime came up and was offered to me, I went for it. My hard work paid me back by presenting the opportunity to go active and fill a slot. There was another slot and another Sgt. took it. It worked good for me and I didn't have to report
Until after June 5. We got a sitrep control
His 1 year anniversary date isn't until June
22nd. Not a prob.. they TAD'd me to the Reserve unit at my gaining base. They loaned me to the AB GP at my gaining base until the 22d and then I'd be turned over and all the transfer paperwork finalized.. Easier said than done as the saying goes.. From autumn the year before to spring I dodged the bullet between the Dept of Education and Dept of Labor about my hours. And grades.. my grades were Bs and Cs and a A Here and there. Remember a book called the "CIA fact book"? Those didn't get released until the next year after they
Came out. They were in the base archives just as soon as they were released. Schools and civilian libraries might get them mid year.. As soon as I could I accessed them for report material.. about different countries.. I got a lot of bang for my buck while in the AFReserve and the Regular AF. I seen/been to a lot of places I would of only read about.. learned leadership skills and time management skills .
Considering all what the AF taught me,
Clothed me and sheltered me when it came time to rest And what I gave back to them I think I got a real good deal. .I only hoped I could have given them more years, but that wasn't meant to be.
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SSgt Boyd Herrst
My pay didn't spike until I went active duty in '71 : $180.90 per mo. for an A1C (E-3)under 2 years.
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@ SFC Davis: I joined in March 1985 as an E-1...I'm sure is is wasn't more than what you received.
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I do not recal, if if my feeble memory is right that is about what I was making as a Sgt.
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My first LES in September '69 was $94 less $2.50 for laundry, a dollar for the cup & flower fund, $5 for SGLI and $2 for the Red Cross. Netting a whopping $ 83.50 resulting in 4 twenties, three ones and a Kennedy half dollar. "Don't spend it all in one place, soldier"...
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When I hit the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) as a PVT E-1, January, 1965, my take home pay was $78.00 a month. Funny thing is I always had money in my pockets. Things were cheap back then. Always said it's not how much you make, it's how much you keep
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