Notes+and+Sources

http://www.goarmy.com/benefits/money_basic_pay.jsp
 * Active Duty Soldiers and activated Army Reserve Soldiers earn Basic Pay. Basic Pay is your base salary as a Soldier on Active Duty and it only counts for part of your basic income. Basic Pay is distributed on the 1st and 15th of every month, similar to many civilian jobs.
 * Your Basic Pay as a Soldier depends on how long you've been in the Army and your Army rank (most enlisted Soldiers enter the Army as a Private). Your pay will increase as you climb in rank and years of experience.
 * Years of Army Experience ||
 * <2 Years || 4 Years || 6 Years ||
 * Private (E1) || $16,794 || — || — ||
 * Private (E2) || $18,824 || — || — ||
 * Private First Class (E3) || $19,796 || $22,316 || — ||
 * Specialist or Corporal (E4) || $21,931 || $25,531 || $26,622 ||
 * Sergeant (E5) || $23,922 || $28,018 || $29,988 ||
 * Staff Sergeant (E6) || $26,107 || $31,226 || $32,511 ||

[] As a Soldier, you can take advantage of the Montgomery GI Bill and the Army College Fund to pay for your college education. Depending on how long you enlist with the Army and the job you choose, you can get up to $83,448 to help pay for college. All you have to do is give $100 a month during your first year of service. If you select the Army College Fund, the total amount is combined with the MGIB. [] [] [] [] As a Soldier in the Army Reserve, you should expect to spend one weekend a month in training and attend a two-week Field Training Exercise (FTX) once a year. In times of war, Soldiers in the Army Reserve may be called up to Active Duty (“activation”) as our country’s needs require. Service options for the Army Reserve range from three to six years, depending on your Army job and where your Army Reserve Center is located.
 * The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently estimated that the average Active Duty service member received a compensation package worth $99,000. Non-cash compensation represents almost 60 percent of this package. Non-cash compensation includes health care, retirement pay, childcare and free or subsidized food, housing and education. Coupled with regular cash compensation, this adds up to attractive compensation for Soldiers.
 * Compare and contrast the total compensation and expenses for civilians and Soldiers.
 * ACTIVE DUTY BENEFIT Up to $83,448 to help pay for college with the MGIB and Army College FundACTIVE DUTY BENEFIT Up to $65,000 for Soldiers who enlist full time in the Army for three or more yearsARMY RESERVE BENEFIT Up to $40,000 for Soldiers who enlist in the Army Reserve for six years
 * Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) is a program of low cost group life insurance for Active Duty and Army Reserve Soldiers. SGLI coverage is available in $10,000 increments up to the maximum of $400,000. SGLI premiums are currently $.065 per $1,000 of insurance, regardless of the member's age.
 * As a Soldier, you and your family are automatically covered by a comprehensive HMO-type health care plan called TRICARE that provides medical and dental care at little or no cost. TRICARE enrollees receive most health care at a Military Treatment Facility (MTF), where a primary care manager (PCM) supervises their care. The Army's health care team is one of the biggest health care networks in the world, utilizing state-of-the-art technology in world-renowned facilities.
 * The Army partners with over 1,900 community colleges and four-year universities, enabling Soldiers to attend college during or after their Army service. These colleges recognize credits earned during military training.
 * Most Army bases feature satellite branches of local, accredited universities, enabling Soldiers to attend actual college classes without leaving base. Credits earned on satellite campuses transfer automatically to the host university. Through the satellite campuses program, Soldiers can earn credit toward everything from Associate's to Master's degrees.
 * TUITION ASSISTANCE The Army provides tuition assistance to Soldiers who wish to further their education. Available for approved courses, tuition assistance covers 100% of course costs up to $250 per credit, with a maximum of $4,500 per academic year. Tuition assistance applies to undergraduate and graduate courses taken traditionally or through distance learning.
 * After their term of service, the Army helps Soldiers transition back into civilian life. Every Army post has an Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP) center to help Soldiers prepare for futures after the Army. Career counselors are on hand to help Soldiers craft résumés, network with employers and determine careers that best utilize the skills learned as a Soldier.
 * As a Soldier working in an Army job, you will have many opportunities to earn professional and trade certifications. These certifications will give you specialized skills and help you excel in a civilian career.
 * When you retire from the Army, there are many valuable benefits available to you. Retiree benefits can help you pay for college, buy a home, purchase life insurance or find a job.
 * As a Soldier, you are eligible to participate in a 401(k)-type retirement savings and investment plan. The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is sponsored by the Federal Government and offers the same type of savings and tax benefits that many corporations offer employees. An optional program, TSP enables you to contribute up to 100 percent of your pay each pay period, up to the limits established by the Internal Revenue Code. If you contribute to the TSP from your basic pay, you may also contribute from 1 to 100 percent of any incentive or special pay (including bonus pay) you receive. TSP contributions are either tax-deferred or tax-exempt, which means that the money you contribute is taken out of your pay before Federal and state income taxes are withheld, a feature that regular savings accounts cannot offer
 * Active Duty is similar to working at a full-time civilian job. There are hours when, as a Soldier, you will be training or performing your job, and then there are off-hours when you can do what you like. For an Active Duty Soldier, your length of service can range from two to six years. Typical deployments are 12 months in length, and after six months, Soldiers are usually eligible for a two-week Rest & Relaxation (R&R) leave. The exact length of deployment depends on each unit’s specific mission.
 * The Army Reserve is more like a part-time job that enables you to keep your civilian career while you continue to train near home and serve your country. Many professionals as well as college students are Soldiers in the Army Reserve.

[] Although the Army has issued a soldiers’ handbook for soldiers in the MRP program and developed a biannual training conference for Army personnel responsible for managing these soldiers, the Army lacksconsistent, Army-wide training standards for injured reserve componentsoldiers in the MRP program and Army personnel responsible formanaging the program Because of an Army-wide system integration challenge that affects all soldiers, not just those in the MRP program, information is not alwaysupdated in the order-writing, pay, personnel, and medical eligibilitysystems as it should be. As a result, 7 of the 25 randomly selectedsoldiers GAO interviewed reported that their families’ medical benefitswere temporarily disrupted when they transitioned to MRP order The lack of integrated systems also caused overpayment problems when soldiers were released from active duty but still had time left on theirMRP orders. Over a nearly 3-year period, GAO estimates that the Armyoverpaid these soldiers by at least $2.2 million. [|\http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=13&sid=1601eed5-852b-486e-a7a0-05e7ebb59070%40sessionmgr14&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ulh&AN=32129421]

(1) DOD's efforts to reduce DBA insurance rates; (2) DOD's ability to calculate its total DBA insurance costs; and (3) **//the//** progress toward addressing prior DBA implementation challenges. In preparation for this testimony, GAO reviewed related reports to identify agency efforts to address prior findings and interviewed officials from DOD, State, Labor, and USAID. GAO discussed this testimony with agency officials

[] Section 353 of Public Law No. 109-163 requiresthe Army’s training strategy for modular brigades to include five elements:(1) purpose; (2) performance goals, including specific performance goals forlive, virtual, and constructive training; (3) metrics; (4) a reporting process;and (5) a funding model. GAO’s analysis indicated that the Army articulatedthe purpose of its strategy, but the remaining elements require furtherdevelopment. While an overarching performance goal has been established,the Army has not completed development of specific goals for live, virtual,and constructive training. Moreover, neither constructive training events northe goals for them are clearly articulated. The Army also has not developedobjective metrics to measure performance against its goal, but relies on acommander’s professional experience to make a subjective assessment. Inaddition, the reporting process does not provide detailed collective trainingstatus and the funding model does not realistically estimate training costs.Until the Army fully develops the required elements in its training strategy, itwill not be in a sound position to assess if it can achieve the long-terminstitutional benefits of having a consistently trained force, measure howwell units have been trained, and accurately determine training costs