Guest Author - Stacey Abler

Just recently, the proposed budget for 2008 was released to the public. In this release, the base pay rates for our servicemembers was also released.

I know many military families who are in anticipation each January of the annual pay raise. The 2007 pay raise was less than anticipated at less than 3%. But several paygrades will also receive increased compensation in April as well in addition to the annual January raise.

The pay rate for 2008 is proposed to be a 3% increase over 2007 pay rates. If this passes, it would represent a 32% increase in base pay since 2001. Also included in the budget is a $15 billion increase for housing allowances. This would equate to an average of a 4% increase in housing allowances for all active duty servicemembers. Of course, as we all know with the housing allowance, this could mean some areas with higher inflation see higher increases while areas with lower inflation see little to no increase at all. So don't bet on a 4% increase in your area.

While we will know far ahead of time that the proposed base pay rate will be going into effect, housing allowance rates are typically not released until mid December.

To view current pay charts, including special allowances such as BAH and BAS, please visit the Defense and Acconting Service website at http://www.dod.mil/dfas/. Here you will find all active duty, civilian and retiree pay charts including all special pay rates.


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Stacey Abler is an Army Wife and owner of the website, http://www.marriedtothearmy.com.
In addition, she also operates several Cafepress stores - http://www.cafepress.com/soldierswife for Army families and http://www.cafepress.com/soldierswife2 for Navy, Marine and Air Force families.