Starting pay?

go to dfas.mil

Realize that this is the base pay. Where you are assigned will also be tallied into your pay, and then if you are a flyer, you add in flight pay and also BAS. The 2nd Lt. stationed at Randolph will make a different amount than the Lt. assigned to Elmendorf.

The big pay increments occur at 1st LT, because you jump rank and have 2 yrs in, the next is at Capt, because of rank and 4 yrs in.

The only thing I will say is you will spend your life saying once I make this rank, or hit the big flight pay amount, than we will have money. You will do this your entire career, even to the point that you look foward to retiring because then you will have retirement pay and another paycheck. Sadly that is the truth. You will always be counting the days until you hit the next pay raise, and January 15th. (Even though you will be paid Jan. 1, you will not see the pay raise until the 15th).

Also if you are a flyer, you will spend 1 yr waiting for that 1 in a lifetime nice October paycheck (the 125K bonus, that you get to take 50% up front...realize that the AF will take 25% in taxes, but 45K is still pretty nice). You always can tell it is October and who got that check, because typically they drive up the next day in a spanking brand new car, or the wife does! They also then announce that they are taking 2 weeks leave and going on a dream vacation :shake:
 
You get paid half of the monthly pay on the 1st of each month and the other half on the 15th.

Just thought I'd add that.
 
Thanks everybody! I was at a party and someone said the starting salary was $42K. I had a hard time believing that.
 
When you include BAQ (Housing money) and BAS (Food Money); and possibly any other incentive pay depending on where you live and what your job is; it is quite possible to get to the $42K range, or beyond.
 
When you include BAQ (Housing money) and BAS (Food Money); and possibly any other incentive pay depending on where you live and what your job is; it is quite possible to get to the $42K range, or beyond.

Yeah, the paycharts only tell the base pay. When you take all the other benefits into account (ie healthcare, dental, etc) it makes your pay be alot more than it first appears as well as all that incentive pay. You could also take into account the 30 days paid vacation a year instead of 2 weeks.
 
Newly minted O-1 going to UPT:
$2655 base + $615 BAQ (lowest transient BAQ/no dependents) + $223 BAS + $125 Aviation Pay (2yrs experience or less) = $3618/mo. or $43,416/yr.

Move forward four years after graduation to Captain (O-3):
$4722 base + $905 BAQ (still no dependents..you have time) + $223 BAS + $206 Avation Pay = $6056/mo. or $72,672/yr.


Stealth_81
 
Some of these replies raise another issue I've been wondering about. Everyone talks about promotions as if they are automatic. However, I talked to a Naval Academy grad who stayed in 8 years after graduation and was only a 1st LT when he left.
 
Your first 3 ranks are pretty much automatic if you don't screw up. O-1 out of the academy. (2nd Lt); 2 years later O-2 (1st Lt); 2 years later O-3 (Captain). After that, there's an entire process for promotions for O-4 (Major) and beyond.

As for the Navy; they don't have a 1st Lt. They have Ensign, Lt JG, and Lt. Lt in the Navy is the same as Captain in the Air Force. And that is the LAST of the automatic (Lack of better term) promotions. You could stay there for quite a while if you don't get promoted. However; there is a cutoff where you will no longer be able to stay in past that rank. But an O-3 Lt in the navy with 8 years is definitely possible.
 
That makes perfect sense now. He said "Lutenit" and I assumed "1st" was part of it.
 
Some of these replies raise another issue I've been wondering about. Everyone talks about promotions as if they are automatic. However, I talked to a Naval Academy grad who stayed in 8 years after graduation and was only a 1st LT when he left.

Yes, quite likely, someone could be at 8 years and be a lieutenant (O-3), in the Navy or Coast Guard. I think the "1st LT" reference could be something else.

The Navy is a mysterious place, whose use of ranks, jargon, enlisted rating names and billet titles can confound the uninitiated when compared to other services except Coast Guard. In most Navy units, sea or shore, there is an officer, usually a junior officer (Ensign O-1, Lieutenant Junior Grade O-2 or Lieutenant O-3, occasionally a LCDR O-4), whose billet (job) title is "First Lieutenant." On smaller ships, a senior enlisted leader can also be the First Lieutenant. On a surface ship, the First Lieutenant leads the deck force in the execution of major seamanship functions and the maintenance of topside gear. This can include cargo handling, inspecting and maintaining rigging and deck gear, as well as taking the lead on anchoring, mooring, fueling, towing, transferring of personnel and cargo, and the operation and maintenance of ship's boats. Ashore, the First Lieutenant is who you go to when your office needs painting, for example.

And yes, promotions to O-2 and O-3 are mostly automatic (typically described as, "yep, they fogged a mirror, promote him/her"), as long as their reporting senior checks the recommended for promotion block on their officer fitness evaluations, and they continue to meet all required standards. For O-4, there is a statutory promotion board, when the winnowing gets serious.

More than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure! :eek3:
 
I believe statistically 95% of 2nd LTs get promoted to 1st LT. The same % is true for 1st to Capt. The 5% that don't usually did something incredibly stupid, i.e. DUI
 
Newly minted O-1 going to UPT:
$2655 base + $615 BAQ (lowest transient BAQ/no dependents) + $223 BAS + $125 Aviation Pay (2yrs experience or less) = $3618/mo. or $43,416/yr.

Move forward four years after graduation to Captain (O-3):
$4722 base + $905 BAQ (still no dependents..you have time) + $223 BAS + $206 Avation Pay = $6056/mo. or $72,672/yr.


Stealth_81

So the increased pilot salary is the big bonus (125k) then $125/206 per month respectively?
 
i grew up in the coast guard world... when i was younger i met a captn in the airfoce... and he looked pretty young to be an "0-6"... it just takes time to get used to a new hierarchy of rankings
 
Eventually your flight pay will go all the way up into the 800's if you meet your gate months. The important thing is to make sure you meet your gate months.
 
Could you explain that a little more Pima? I'm not familiar with the term gate months.
 
Bullet can give you better details, but gate months means if you fly x amount of months out of x months you will be guaranteed flight pay whether you are flying or not. If you do not make that marker than you can lose flight pay. The first gate is 60 out of 84 (I am pretty sure), I think the second is 108. Flyers are very careful when they step out of the jet because they want to keep their flight pay.
 
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