Single vs. married pay

[Guest kpheinemann]

quick question, what is the difference in pay during flight training if you are single vs. married. I see that the 0-1 pay is around $2,300 per month but do you get paid more if you are married? Thanks

[Toro]

Your base pay won't change, but your BAH will. O-1 without dependents gets 480.90, O-1 with dependents gets 652.50. Full pay scale is here on the DFAS website.

[Guest kpheinemann]

if i get married before UPT, how does it affect it if she doesn't come with me during pilot training. I understand that i may get family separation pay, but i would only make $170 more a month for being married. Is that right?

[Toro]

You're not going to get separation pay for not bringing her to UPT - separation pay is for deployments.

Not bringing her to UPT won't change anything in your pay, it should only affect your ability to get base housing (it will put you lower in priority).

[Guest laang_spouse]

From my understanding, there IS a different pay amount for people with dependents and without dependents. It's not married/not married it's dependents/no dependents.....so you can have 10 kids and a wife, and you get paid the same as the guy with only a wife, but more than the totally solo guy. As for BAH, it depends on where you go. Here @ Vance, BAH is $650 for us married folks. On other UPT bases, it is different. BAH is dependent on the area and the median housing price. The website www.military.com has AWESOME info and explains things very well.

[Guest juliecole]

Please go to www.military.com and use the benefits section to see pay scales. Base pay is based on rank and amt of years in service. BAH is also based on location and rank. There is not a differant base pay amt. If you deploy there is fmaily seperation if you have a dependant.

Big Iron I beleive the Air Force and ANG still use the word "dependant". Fmaily Member is so much better. Thanks for the update

[Guest medik6]

BAH depends not only on being married but time in service and rank as well. We are at Vance and our BAH is $950.

[Guest kpheinemann]

so let me get this right. if we get marrie before i leave for upt, but she stays in california, i will receieve BAH for the base that i am at, and that will depend on what base i am at|?

[Guest Hoser]

Mairs,

To answer you quesion, yes.

BAH is based on 3 things:

1) Where you are currently stationed

2) What is your rank

3) Do you have dependents

A married O-3 stationed at Columbus Miss,is going to get a different BAH than a married O-3 stationed at Seymour Johnson, NC, becuase the average cost of housing is different in each location.

Hoser

[Guest GirlzFly]

ok so what happens if an active duty pilot marries a national guard pilot and they don't live at the same location? Does one person get the "w/ dependent" extra pay? I'm just curious how that works.

[Guest thefranchise]

if i remember correctly, married guys get dislocation allowance on PCS move which is substantially more than single guys get.

[pawnman]

if i remember correctly, married guys get dislocation allowance on PCS move which is substantially more than single guys get.

Here's how it breaks down:

If you get married prior to the move, you get a dislocation allowance to move from your current (civilian, I imagine) house to your first base. If you're single, you're on your own for the first move. The dislocation allowance is hefty, something like $2000. I believe it varies based on how far you're moving, rank, time in service.

As far as BAH...There are two separate rates for each location, one with dependents and one without. The Air Force doesn't care what you do with your money or what kind of living arrangements you make, you'll get paid the same. If you're married, you'll get the "with dependents" rate whether the wife lives with you or not (You will NOT get separation allowance if the separation was your idea and not the military's.). If your dependents are authorized to accompany you on your orders, no separation allowance. If your dependents aren't on your orders (for example, a TDY or deployment), then you get a separation allowance (if it's over 30 days).

Clear as mud? As for the actual dollar amount of BAH, you need to look them up for each base. They're constantly changing as the markets change. As an O-1 with dependents in Pensacola, I was entitled to roughly $1100/month. We lived on base, though, so we didn't collect it (until I went to EWO school...I moved the family to Abilene prior to going to Randolph.)

Here's the site: https://perdiem.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/

Click on "Basic Allowance for Housing", fill in your info, and it'll tell you how much you'll be getting.

[The Kayla]

ok so what happens if an active duty pilot marries a national guard pilot and they don't live at the same location? Does one person get the "w/ dependent" extra pay? I'm just curious how that works.

I don't know how that works, I've asked my husband and he has no clue either. I'm not even sure who could answer that either, maybe going to the finance office? Good luck in finding out!

[Guest Sparky]

Here is a new twist! When I was in pilot training (married) my wife was not with me...she was in nursing school a couple hours away. I lived in the ENJJPT dorms for free and still received BAH (full amount) since she was not there. It ended up being like $700-800 extra per month that i was able to send to her to pay for her dorm.

[RRRR]

ok so what happens if an active duty pilot marries a national guard pilot and they don't live at the same location? Does one person get the "w/ dependent" extra pay? I'm just curious how that works.

I'm active Air Force married to an Army reservist. We normally get just the regular 'with dependent' BAH from me. When she's on active duty orders we both get 'without dependent' BAH. But I suppose the guard could be a different ball of wax.

[Riddller]

Also, I've seen people getting paid the BAH rate for where their SPOUSE lives (they weren't together at the time) vs. the base they were at. He was an E-3 living in the dorms in NC where the BAH was like $600, but she was living w/ mom and dad at the time somewhere in California. He was pulling in like $1700 a month (BAH for her zip code), and neither one of them had any bills!

[Vertigo]

Active military married to active military (no kids): Both persons receive the single rate BAH.

Active military married to active military (with kids): One person receives the full dependent rate BAH and the other receives the single rate BAH.

Overseas personnel who receive COLA will see their COLA increase based on the number of dependents they have. The more kids you produce the more COLA you receive (although it's not much of an increase...).

[Guest AFwife62406]

All those things are true, however, you CAN choose whether or not to have those dependents to care for. That is one thing YOU have control over. Why should I get paid less because you CHOSE to get married/have children.

Equal pay for equal work? My ass.

The thing is, you ARE getting "PAID" the same. Your base pay is exactly the same as anyone else the same rank as you. BAH is an allowance. Sure, a single lawyer vs. a married lawyer in NYC would get paid the same, but my bet is if they got allowances also, the married lawyers allowance would be more, and probably rightfully so. It seems like under this reasoning, that single and married people should be paid equally, allowances and all, that I, as a spouse, shouldn't get healthcare bc all you single guys don't have anyone else to use the military healthcare system, so why should I get it? And when we move, why should they move all my stuff too? It should probably just be my husbands because that's not fair that they'd pay to move all my stuff since they only move one persons stuff when they move single people. And when we drive both our cars to our next base, they should probably only pay for one of them since most likely, a single person would only have one car. And if we move overseas, I should probably have to pay for my own ticket over there since if it was a single guy/girl going over there, they'd only be paying for one person, instead of 2.

Do you really think that a family of 4 (or 2) doesn't need more space to live in than a single person? That they don't have higher utiliy costs? That to live comfortably they would require a little more money than a single person? Sure, we as spouses knew what we were getting into with all the moving and stuff, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating, when you move (3 times in 3 years so far) and can't find a job that pays more than $12/hr to save your life, even though you have a bachelor's degree. The $162 a month he gets as an allowance for being married hardly makes up for that in itself.

But back to what I originally said: Getting less BAH doesn't mean you're getting "paid" less, it's an allowance. Your base pay is exactly the same.

[Guest AFwife62406]

Base pay is exactly the same for every O1E. It's not like one O1E gets paid more than another O1E. It's not like one O1 gets paid more than another O1. The fact that prior enlisted get paid more wasn't the point at all. I wasn't comparing an O1 with an O1E. It was a single O1 vs an O1 with dependants, or a single O1E vs an O1E with dependants. Whatever rank/ paygrade you are, it's the same base pay for everyone, and allowances aren't the same as base pay.

But thanks for pointing that out Kayla. I knew what you meant. =)

[pawnman]

Base Pay isn't always the same.

My husband is an O1E with 8yrs, his base pay is more then a newly commissioned O1.

If you go to military.com or someplace that tells you what the pay is, there is a section for Officers who are prior enlisted, and they get paid more then a regular Officer. Up until they hit Major, then it evens out.

His base pay is still the same as any prior-enlisted officer. His O-1E pay isn't based on his dependent status, it's based on his previous service.

[The Kayla]

His base pay is still the same as any prior-enlisted officer. His O-1E pay isn't based on his dependent status, it's based on his previous service.

I mis-read her post, I thought she was referring that all O1's got paid the same.

Not everyone knows that there is such a thing as O1E.

[Guest homewith4]

interesting topic to read.

Did you know that a catholic priest is eligible for base housing (not dorms) that is assigned to his pay grade?...since he "can't" get married...

[Boxhead]

Not everyone knows that there is such a thing as O1E.

Including MPF...when I tried to explain that my CAC was wrong becasue it specificly shows "Pay Grade" in addition to Rank, they said "No, it's right, you are a Capt, that is an O-3"...I told then that my Pay Grade was O-3E...and they...honestly...never heard of it... This was a SrA...wow. To thier credit, they did look in the PC, and the option was not on thier little ID card Database dropdown box...it literaly did not compute.

Oh well, as long as finance gets it right...I really don't care about the CAC. :)

damn, strayed into a different topic....my bad

The communist idea though....no kidding, the military is the closest thing to a socialist state that exists in America..that is not new news!

I have an awesome idea to fix the whole thing though....dorms/base housing for all. No BAH. Let's just spend the money up front...oh crap, Wait, I would have more sq footage than a single guy due to my dependents...that CAN'T be fair! I mean, I signed the line...I knew they would have to pack in my dorm room when I got married....there must be total equity in all things....

Single dudes can totally scam the system anyway...what is better than a DINK household? A QINK one, I have seen lots of dudes make the system work for them by going all in on a huge house and splitting the costs. Don't want to do that? But why, you CAN do it, you have the freedom to do it...is it not their choice just like it was mine to have a family?

I have to go 12 year old for a second..."I make more money than you...ha ha ha" OK, glad that's done.

This arguement is mind numbing, I feel dirty just being involved. Balad bordom makes you do crazy things I guess.

[LJ Driver]

The thing is, you ARE getting "PAID" the same. Your base pay is exactly the same as anyone else the same rank as you. BAH is an allowance. Sure, a single lawyer vs. a married lawyer in NYC would get paid the same, but my bet is if they got allowances also, the married lawyers allowance would be more, and probably rightfully so. It seems like under this reasoning, that single and married people should be paid equally, allowances and all, that I, as a spouse, shouldn't get healthcare bc all you single guys don't have anyone else to use the military healthcare system, so why should I get it? And when we move, why should they move all my stuff too? It should probably just be my husbands because that's not fair that they'd pay to move all my stuff since they only move one persons stuff when they move single people. And when we drive both our cars to our next base, they should probably only pay for one of them since most likely, a single person would only have one car. And if we move overseas, I should probably have to pay for my own ticket over there since if it was a single guy/girl going over there, they'd only be paying for one person, instead of 2.

Do you really think that a family of 4 (or 2) doesn't need more space to live in than a single person? That they don't have higher utiliy costs? That to live comfortably they would require a little more money than a single person? Sure, we as spouses knew what we were getting into with all the moving and stuff, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating, when you move (3 times in 3 years so far) and can't find a job that pays more than $12/hr to save your life, even though you have a bachelor's degree. The $162 a month he gets as an allowance for being married hardly makes up for that in itself.

But back to what I originally said: Getting less BAH doesn't mean you're getting "paid" less, it's an allowance. Your base pay is exactly the same.

You are correct, my BASE PAY is the same. My take home disposable income is not the same. It is less. Because I don't have dependants. Even though I work the same hours and do the same job as my fellow pilots.

Health care, moving expenses, car driving expenses, are not money in my pocket. BAH is money in my pocket, and I get less of it then Joe Smith who is married only because he convinced a girl to be his wife and/or have his kids. That sucks and isn't fair.

And don't pull the "I knew what I was getting into" routine and then spout off all the reasons why it sucks to be a military spouse. Either you knew or you didn't, and if you didn't, it's your own damn fault. And if you did and still went ahead anyway, you gave up the right to bitch to me about it.

[Gamecock2k7]

BAH is money in my pocket, and I get less of it then Joe Smith who is married only because he convinced a girl to be his wife and/or have his kids. That sucks and isn't fair.

I rarely post here but after reading through this thread I've come to the conclusion that it sounds like you're just bitter b/c you are not married. BAH and benefits are what they are...get over it. You'll appreciate them one day if/when you get married and have kids.