Stipend not paid in full

I saw another member post that their stipend wasn't paid in full, only received half so I checked my son's deposit. Sure enough, only $70 was deposited not the $150.
Now I realize that the stipend is actually a day early, usually deposited on the 15. I wonder if due to the Budget issue they are doing two direct deposits rather than going back in and resetting up everyone's pay or if they are still only getting half.

I read yesterday that because of certain contingency actions taken by DOD accounting officials in preparation for the potential govt shutdown, military members would actually get paid in two separate deposits this time. They will receive the entire amount due, however.

I found the message I was referring to about DOD direct deposits this month. Here it is:


UNCLASSIFIED//
RTTUZYUW RHSSXYZ0001 1021317-UUUU—RHSSSUU
ZNR UUUUU
R 121806Z APR 11
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC
TO NAVADMIN
AL NAVADMIN
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC
BT
UNCLAS
PASS TO ALL OFFICE CODES:
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//
TO NAVADMIN
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//
NAVADMIN 126/11
MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N1/APR//

SUBJ/ACTIVE-DUTY MID-MONTH PAY UPDATE//

RMKS/1. AS A RESULT OF CONTINGENCY ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE DEFENSE FINANCE
AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE (DFAS) IN ANTICIPATION OF A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
LAST WEEK, DFAS WILL BE MAKING TWO DEPOSITS TO SERVICE MEMBERS' ACCOUNTS
ON 15 APRIL. THESE TWO DEPOSITS WILL COVER THE PERIODS 1-8 APRIL AND 9-
15 APRIL AND WILL EQUAL THE MEMBER'S FULL MID-MONTH PAY.

2. SERVICE MEMBERS CHECKING THEIR MYPAY ACCOUNT MID-MONTH STATEMENT
WILL SEE ONLY THE 1-8 APRIL PAYMENT AMOUNT. THIS MID-MONTH STATEMENT
DOES NOT INDICATE THE FULL AMOUNT TO BE PAID ON 15 APRIL. A FULL
ACCOUNTING OF THE SERVICE MEMBER'S APRIL PAY WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE
NORMAL END OF MONTH LES POSTED TO MYPAY ACCOUNTS ON 22 APRIL.

3. THE DFAS CUSTOMER SERVICE LINE IS AVAILABLE AT 1-888-DFAS-411 (1-
888-332-7411).

4. RELEASED BY VADM MARK FERGUSON, N1.//

BT
#0001
NNNN

One thing that needs to be understood is that does not mean on the 22nd they will get a check.

It means the pay period that ends on the 22nd, and will be paid the 1st will reflect the pay, but you will not get it on the 22nd. It is still a 1st and 15th issue.

DO NOT think on the 22nd it will be in your account, you will be incorrect to believe that it will be.

I don't want to see cadets hitting their ATMS on the 21st thinking tomorrow is pay day, and than find that it actually won't happen for 10 more days.

Emergency Fund

Pima said:

One thing that needs to be understood is that does not mean on the 22nd they will get a check.

It means the pay period that ends on the 22nd, and will be paid the 1st will reflect the pay, but you will not get it on the 22nd. It is still a 1st and 15th issue.

DO NOT think on the 22nd it will be in your account, you will be incorrect to believe that it will be.

I don't want to see cadets hitting their ATMS on the 21st thinking tomorrow is pay day, and than find that it actually won't happen for 10 more days.

Click to expand...

Let's encourage students to have emergency funds for just such an occassion.

Pima said:

One thing that needs to be understood is that does not mean on the 22nd they will get a check.

It means the pay period that ends on the 22nd, and will be paid the 1st will reflect the pay, but you will not get it on the 22nd. It is still a 1st and 15th issue.

DO NOT think on the 22nd it will be in your account, you will be incorrect to believe that it will be.

I don't want to see cadets hitting their ATMS on the 21st thinking tomorrow is pay day, and than find that it actually won't happen for 10 more days.

Click to expand...

NROTC gets paid twice a month so if they have their stipend on direct deposit they should be able to see now that they received the full amount in two separate deposits. Both my DH and NROTC kid's pay has already posted this morning. If it's not the correct amount, the student should let their Unit know and ask how to proceed. DFAS can and does make mistakes with pay so military members should always know how to access their LES from the mypay site. Keep in mind, though, that it only gives full info for the current month at the end of the month, not at the mid month payday.

Basil,

This is not a DFAS mistake, it is the fact that the DOD by close of business last Friday went on the assumption and directed by Gates that there would be a govt shut down. Hence, they directed DFAS to pay only through the 8th, and that is why the 15th paycheck is short.

I don't believe there is a need to contact the command. They are aware of the issue and probably have been proactive by telling contracted cadets that they are going to be short for the 15th, but for the 1st of May, they will have back pay.

Paychecks are paid in arrears, so when you are paid on the 15th, it is for the 1st - 14th. It is not paid forward, i.e. you enroll on the 31st, you will not get full pay on the 1st.

Actually you will not see a check at all until the 15th because you missed the close out date. This is also why the 1st month paychecks are screwy for ROTC cadets. They can find themselves getting a larger paycheck one time, and smaller the next, it is not for the most part a clerical error, it is back pay to get them up to speed.

I do agree from an AD POV watch that LES especially when you move, it really takes time to get it settled out properly. Also, trust me if you get over paid they will take it back in one fell swoop. True story, Bullet PCS'd as a 2nd Lt. we moved into base housing, for 1 entire month because he lived off base prior, they paid us BAH, while we lived in housing. He informed them when he got his LES. The next pay check he got paid $88.00. They took everything back, and because he had never lived on base and we were only married for a month, he ASSUMED the paycheck was correct. Do you know how hard even back in 89 to live on 88 bucks for 2 weeks is? We learned very quickly not to spend any DLA, TLA, (moving money) until 6 weeks after the move, JIC they came back and told us, oops we messed up.

I would love to say that was the only time out of 21 yrs, but it wasn't. I would say it was a 50-50 shot regarding our paycheck...alot had to do with the fact we went overseas, stateside, TDY en route, overseas, stateside. There is a different formula for overseas, stateside and TDY en route. Add in TDY pay or DITY (Do It Yourself move) and you can quickly see how your pay can be hard to follow. Just saying, like Basil stated it is smart to look at your LES and get a grasp on it because if you don't you can take a fiscal hit.

We also had a friend that the Accounting and Finance office messed up with our friend who was TDY en route to the incoming base. Instead of the A & F putting AK for Alaska where there is no state tax, they put AL and the military member who was TDY didn't get his LES (before electronic world 95) until he arrived in AK 6 months later. He had to fight with Alabama for 6 months to prove he was never a resident and get his tax with holdings back. Make sure they have the right state because one slip on the key board for state can cause issues. Especially for military children that have parents who move during their college career. DS entered as an NC resident, but Bullet retired that yr; after he contracted and moved to VA. That meant he was now a VA resident, not NC, and although stipends are not taxable, TDY's ...field training is. If you don't watch that you can have an issue too.

LES is like a credit card statement...don't trust it, review it constantly.

Than again, any good officer will tell you that previous statement is true for all aspects of your military career. Always review your personnel records. Your career may be impacted if you don't.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I read the first paragraph in the statement posted above, the full amount will be paid on the 15th. The payment will be two seperate postings, one covers April 1st to 8th, the second covers April 9th to 15th. The date referred to in the second paragraph is when the payments will show up on the Mid Month Statement.

RMKS/1. AS A RESULT OF CONTINGENCY ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE DEFENSE FINANCE
AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE (DFAS) IN ANTICIPATION OF A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
LAST WEEK, DFAS WILL BE MAKING TWO DEPOSITS TO SERVICE MEMBERS' ACCOUNTS
ON 15 APRIL. THESE TWO DEPOSITS WILL COVER THE PERIODS 1-8 APRIL AND 9-
15 APRIL AND WILL EQUAL THE MEMBER'S FULL MID-MONTH PAY.

2. SERVICE MEMBERS CHECKING THEIR MYPAY ACCOUNT MID-MONTH STATEMENT
WILL SEE ONLY THE 1-8 APRIL PAYMENT AMOUNT. THIS MID-MONTH STATEMENT
DOES NOT INDICATE THE FULL AMOUNT TO BE PAID ON 15 APRIL. A FULL
ACCOUNTING OF THE SERVICE MEMBER'S APRIL PAY WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE
NORMAL END OF MONTH LES POSTED TO MYPAY ACCOUNTS ON 22 APRIL.

Maybe I'm reading this wrong?

Hit me with a wet spaghetti noodle 5000 times!

I glommed on the #2 and posters stating they got paid only 1/2, and at that point I ASSUMED (hit me with the noodles now!) that what was being reported in the media on the 8th was still current.

If you recall the media reported that only 1/2 of the paycheck would be paid for the 15th, and back pay would appear 5/1.

My bad and everyone can now me

The only other thing I want to address is:

paradoxer said:

Let's encourage students to have emergency funds for just such an occassion.

Click to expand...

We have stated to our DS that you pay yourself 1st, and that means 1/4-1/3 of each paycheck is put aside for the rainy day...also to always have at least 50% open on your credit card.

This was a semi issue for him because he had money in his account, and as a college student who lives with college kids, he has no problem eating ramen

The one thing that needs to be addressed in this issue is that at least for the AF, if the scholarship and the stipend is how you survive as a C100 or 200, you need to think about what if the scholarship is pulled, gpa or EA reasons. How will you survive?

I do not want to see anyone go through that process, but it does occur. Getting the scholarship is one thing. Keeping it is another.

We can all play the game of see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil; yet, it will do no good. Obama stated yesterday that the DoD is on the chopping block.

If the DoD is forced to cut costs, ROTC will be on the table IMPO. It will mean that if you don't get summer field training, your scholarship may be in jeopardy. It will mean that if the gpa cut off pt is 2.8, they Don't have to give you one more semester if your gpa is 2.75, they can cut you loose immediately.

It may mean if you need a medical waiver to get commissioned, even after 4 yrs on scholarship they can say: Thank you, but no thank you.

That is the elephant in the room.

The stipend to me is not an issue, 75 bucks for 100's or 137.50 for 400's for the the 1 week isn't concerning me. It is the 2011-2012 budget that I am concerned about when it comes to my child.

No lashings with WET noodles required..HaHa

I will sure agree with you in teaching the kids to save their money. I remember the starving college kid days, helped you to value what little money you had.

The biggest problem having a kid go to college with everything paid for is that they don't always realize the benefit of saving for a rainy day. My son is a junior and while all the basics are paid for, tuition, books, fees, room and board, we have told him that he needs to live off his stipend for any other expenses. He has never dipped into the savings he had when he went to school but has a habit of finding ways to spend what he does get. We don't send any extra money so at least he has to budget each month.

The funny story was at the end of last year he had over spent on clothes of all things and wanted to know if he could transfer some money out of his savings so he could have some cash for the next week. We told him no, he had to learn how to budget better. We finally thought that there would be a lesson to be learned, the next day he found out he was being awarded the Superior Cadet Award and that they had just deposited $750.00 in his account, so much for a lesson learned.

He has gotten much better this year and is budgeting his money, still not saving as much as he should. He had plans to go on a trip with some guys for spring break, Vegas and Hermosa Beach. Of course he wanted to draw from savings again, we said save your money. He took an Arabic language class his first semester and the Army paid him $1250.00 extra, Vegas was back on again.

It's easy for kids to become used to the money they receive and forget that things can change quickly, poor grades, unable to pass PT, an injury that can't be waived. The AROTC does not have the same issues that AFROTC cadets have as far as scholarships but there can still be issues that can cause you to lose your scholarship.

My advise for all the kids heading off to school next year with that scholarship in hand is do not take it for granted. The government givith and the government can taketh away just as easily. Save for an emergency.

Jcleppe said:

My advise for all the kids heading off to school next year with that scholarship in hand is do not take it for granted. The government givith and the government can taketh away just as easily. Save for an emergency.

Click to expand...

Very true when the govt has stated that the DOD is on the chopping block. Nobody here knows what the 2011/12 budget will look like. However, I bet everyone will agree that the DOD will take a hit and it won't be from the operational side of the ledger.

Get out the umbrellas because here comes the rain.

Just thought I would update if any cadets are looking for their AROTC stipend.
The full amount was paid, just in 2 separate deposits. One actually was yesterday, the 14th which was a day early and the other today.

Thank Goodness for these threads

I was just gunna post if this happened with anyone else, but y'all beat me to it. For AROTC, it acually said $150 and then deducted $70 for debt payment. Luckily, the second half was deposited today.