How Does The Pay Work In The Air Force?
http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/militarypaytables/2009MilitaryPayTables.doc In basic you’ll earn $1399.50/mo. If the pay system hasn’t changed since I was in, you’ll get half that amount on the 15th and the rest at the end of the month, minus taxes. In a 4 year enlistment, you’ll probably get no more than E-4, so $1827.60/mo. If they send you to Iraq or Afghanistan, where you have a chance of getting killed or maimed, you’ll get a whopping $375 – 390/mo more. $1399.50 sounds like a lot of money to someone coming out of high school, but for the number of hours you’ll have to work, it comes out to way less than minimum wage. There are enlistment bonuses, depending on the MOS (job) you sign on for; however, be aware that everything in the military, from the job you actually do, to your work hours and where you are sent are determined by “the needs of the service”. Do not listen to anyt
You get paid twice a month on the first and fifteenth via direct deposit. The signing bonus is dependent on what field in the Air Force you go into. Fields in high demand get you higher signing bonuses. Definitely talk to a recruiter about the field you are interested in. They can tell you what fields pay bonuses. As far as living on a dorm, the only thing you would pay for is food. You do get a clothing allowance once a year for uniforms and such. The amount you make depends on your rank. The military has a flat rate they pay for each rank. http://usmilitary.about.com/od/fy2009paycharts/a/bpayenlless.-erb.htm. Good luck in your military career.
No matter how good you are at your job or how hard you work, everyone with the same rank and years in service gets paid the same base amount. There are variations for different jobs that require hazardous duty or deployment, as well as for the differences between living on base and living off base in different areas of the country. Everyone gets paid once a month, so you gotta make it last the entire month. Incentives and bonuses for joining change with time and career field. You can usually select your desired career field when you sign up, but that may have changed, so read any paperwork from a recruiter carefully. You will not get rich in the Air Force, but its pay has climbed close to what comparable jobs in the private sector are paying. There are plenty of benefits like health care, unique career fields, free training, GI Bill, etc., but there are also drawbacks. You could be deployed on short notice, you could be shot at, or serve in a forward/dangerous area, etc. If you live ne
