Short takes
End of month pay is gone next week
As of the end of September, the once-a-month single payday is dead and gone. The Air Force and Space Force will continue to have this pay option, but Army member will convert to mid-month and EOM pay in October.
If you’re currently receiving once-a-month pay, you’ll receive your usual full paycheck on Sept. 30, 2022 (for Oct. 1, a Saturday).
Then, you’ll receive approximately half of your usual paycheck on Oct. 14. The remaining portion of your October pay will be paid on Nov. 1. You will continue to receive approximately half of your full month’s pay on every mid-month payday in the future.
Believe I was at the tail end of the EOM-report-for-pay period, as we had to do that in Basic. Then it went to checks, mailed checks, electronic deposits, twice-monthly options… wonder what’s next?
Choice of duty station for recruits surprising…and not
The Army has a program to allow recruits to sign up for their first duty station as a contractual option. Remember when the best you could do was list your duty station preferences, aka the “Dream Sheet”? Kids can make a firm choice going in now, and the top picks are surprising. All we have heard about Alaska being a hardship are no one wants to serve in? Guess again.
Full List of Requests: (top 5)
Alaska: 825
Fort Carson, Colorado: 679
Fort Campbell, Kentucky: 659
Fort Hood, Texas: 657
Europe: 546
And then there’s the bottom few…
Fort Huachuca, Arizona: 2
Fort Knox, Kentucky: 1
Fort Lee, Virginia: 1
Fort Sam Houston, Texas: 1
The original list of choices was only 6 long and Campbell was not on it. After being on the list since only July, though, it is solidly in third place. Bet we’ll see some changes next year. Of course, availability is dependent on the number of open slots available and it’s noted that some places like Korea had only 11 eligible slots total.
Category: Army
Are they choosing their first duty based on friendly LBGQT policies or the availability of abortions?
I recall payday as standing in line waiting to approach the CO
sitting behind a desk with an armed guard to the side and a pile
of cash on the desk.
“Specialist Beans reporting for pay Sir” while holding a salute.
What ever became of that method?
Check to Bank… finally, anyway.
Had a hard time convincing the Fort Hood housing people (now that it became contractor-run and folk in Housing got BAH to pay their rent) that they needed to stay open on Payday Activities so people could come in and pay them (by card swipe, at least) because, by design, it couldn’t be done over dah Interwebz.
Me: They get a half-day off to come pay YOU, you don’t get a half-day off.
Them: Eh [shrug], we got a grace period.
The pay voucher itself was a good document to keep.
Having been deployed could be documented by the entry
HFP in the appropriate column.
Oh the fun that was in 1963. Pay at BN then find Troopers on duty in obscure places on Fortress Bragg. It was really fun the day I ran out of money half way through the roll! Turns out I signed for the correct amount but Finance gave me an Infantry BNs cash and grunts didn’t make as much as Signal with the pro pay. Luckily I always stuffed envelopes for the entire BN with the cash and vouchers before paying the Trooper.
One of the drawbacks of standing in the pay line outside the Company Day Room, when you walked out with your cash in hand you had to walk past all your buddies you owed money to. You could end up broke before you got out of the building.
And the 1SG, CSM …. seeking donations to AER….
It takes a special person and mindset to enjoy Ft We-Got-C’ha (Huachuca).
I was stationed there 3x. Love the place. The desert, the open, the attitude (then – don’t know about now)
Spent most of my career at Huachuca (90-93, 96-99, 2000-2005, 2007-2012). I’m still there, albeit as an eebil triple-dipping gubmint employee. It’s a different attitude, but still not a bad place. It’s strictly trainees now, 11th SIG is gone. Put a dent in the local economy. Post housing is now so empty that they’re offering houses to single Soldiers that are authorized BAH.
Thx for the update SFC D. Yeah, I was with various units of 11th Sig all three times. Being (what was then) 31E Field Radio Repair, yep. Made the transition from the old AN/GRC-12 series (RT-524, RT-246, R-442, PRC-77, et al) and AN/GRC-106 (HF) – to- SINGARS and IHFR.
I remember one of the times when I wasn’t there, almost the entire post packed up (DS/DS IIRC) and Sorry Vista went into deep shock and almost died. Many businesses went bankrupt. One of the reasons that when I retired there, I didn’t stay there (I do like to eat). Gooberment contracts and projects cycle up and down like a yo-yo, feast or famine, boom or bust.
I’ll have to look and see where the 11th Sig (Thunderbirds) ended up.
I wonder if that old “Spanish land grant” property (somewhere outside of Huachuca City) that had been locked up in a family struggle to keep/sell, ever opened up for sale?
Memories………..
BDE HQ is at Hood, 86th is at Bliss, and the rest… is gone. 40th deactivated earlier this year.
FT HOOD? My first year there I spent more time in the field than I did when I was stationed in Korea.
I enjoyed my time at Carson, only thing that sucked was the altitude.
Ft Knox? First time I went down there with my reserve unit I couldn’t believe how crappy the post and off post were. Can’t believe there was even one person wanting to go there.
Sure, Knox looked cool in Goldfinger, but that was a movie.
People actually want to go to Fort [the] Hood? I see there are NO requests for Fort Polk!
If you go to the original article, there were 83 – Polk came in at #6.
Did basic and AIT at Polk. Was at Hood for awhile also. Wouldn’t recommend either lol
Here is another one, David:
🤣😆😅
“EXCLUSIVE: Barack Obama’s Secret Service SUV parked in handicapped space for TWO HOURS while he enjoyed dinner with daughters Sasha and Malia at swanky LA sushi restaurant”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11248345/Obamas-park-handicap-spot-visiting-daughters-West-LA-restaurant.html
Don’t need to – you already did! Besides, all I could add is a snarky comment about politicians and double standards… and that, the situation does for itself. Unless this is an admission that Obama is handicapped. Doesn’t look to be physically, and he needed that nice man to lead him to the car, so… Hey, Biden IS Obama II!
See, couldn’t have done anything .
David:
😂🤣😆😅😂🤣😆😅😂🤣😅😅👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍👍👍
Check out the video in this link on this story. Looks as if the wife is now paying the price for an Army Specialist who lied about being paralyzed and got caught. The Army veteran later died while being treated at a Medical facility for Federal Prisoners:
https://www.ktsa.com/dripping-springs-woman-with-disabled-husband-convicted-of-defrauding-feds/
The original 2015 story when he was caught with his lies:
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/investigations/paralyzed-veteran-given-free-home-caught-walking/67-236532354
His death:
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2022/02/15/wounded-veteran-awaiting-trial-in-health-care-fraud-case-dies-in-federal-custody/
Army Specialist Justin Perez-Gorda looks completedly different than the previous picture posted…😉😎
Once again, innocent children have to pay the price for their parent’s lies.
What a fucking turd and turdette.
He ain’t happy.
Doesn’t gorda/gordo translate to fat/fatso?
I wonder if he will be buried with full honors at All-Points Logistics?
Ole Word Salad can go to Korea, but not the Southern Borders.
Do ya think the Leftists to include Ole Brandon Boy will blame Trump for this incident?
😉😎
“North Korea Fires 2 Ballistic Missiles Ahead of US Vice President’s Visit To Seoul, DMZ”
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2022-09-28/north-korea-new-launch-7498445.html
Been under fire but never from a missile….
Take that Hillary!
Call us insensitive or crass, but we feel the Army/DoD should not have to pay.
In reality, would the Mother REALLY feel better if she were awarded $$$ reference her son’s suicide? (Rhectorical Question).
IMHO, these lawsuits are getting outta control:
“Family Of Dead Fort Hood Soldier Seeks $25M For Negligent Treatment At Army hospital
https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2022-09-27/fort-hood-army-suicide-lawsuit-7489714.html
I remember getting pay one time from the CO at Basic training. Then we had to provide a bank account for our paychecks to go to. The Senior Drill Sergeant had to take a bunch of folks to the Credit Union down the street that did not have bank accounts.
March 1977, one of the first things I was required/highly advised to do after arrival at 2/75 was to open a local checking account for direct deposit. I was told that if I didn’t my pay would be delayed anytime we were not at Ft. Lewis on payday, which was often.
Another Fort Hood Story:
“Former Army Sergeant Sentenced For Selling Fentanyl While Assigned To Fort Hood”
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2022-09-27/fort-hood-army-sergeant-fentanyl-7492809.html
“Former Army Sgt. Eri Gutberto Parra-Lopez, 25, pleaded guilty in April to distributing fentanyl while assigned to Fort Hood, Texas. He was sentenced in federal court last week to six years in prison.”
“Eri Gutberto Parra-Lopez, 25, of Phoenix, Ariz., sold 3,150 pills containing fentanyl to undercover law enforcement in the suburbs of Austin, Texas, during five different meetups at grocery store parking lots”.
“Parra-Lopez has since left the Army, but the service did not immediately respond to a request for his service record.”
Who the fuck wants to go to Campbell or Hood?
Hawaii!
People from Texas and Kentucky areas I imagine.
Join the Army, see the world.
Not.
Gee Whiz.
“Former Army Reservist Convicted of Charges Tied to Spying for China”
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/09/27/former-army-reservist-convicted-of-charges-tied-spying-china.html
” A former Army reservist was found guilty on three counts of spy-related charges on Monday, including acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the People’s Republic of China during the course of five years.”
“Ji Chaoqun, 31, entered the Army reserves in 2016 as part of the Pentagon’s Military Accessions Vital to National Interest Program, or MAVNI, at the rank of specialist. The program is meant to vet and recruit “legal aliens” whose skill sets are deemed critical to the military.”
Good. Hope he spends the rest of his life in Leavenworth rethinking his life choices.
He’ll rank right above child molester in prison.
But just barely
The ChiComs only have tens of thousands of intel agents living among us. Don’t follow orders and spy for the motherland and your mother or grandparents go to prison. Looks like ol’ Hunter had his own personal spy, just like Swallowswell. Jeez, and I had to pay for my Asian females for that “girlfriend experience” when I was on R&R.
Remember this guy, COL Owen Ray?
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=122944
Well, here is the latest on him:
“Verdict Reached in Trial of Former Obama Military Aid Who Blamed PTSD for Standoff with Police”
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/09/27/verdict-reached-trial-of-former-obama-military-aid-who-blamed-ptsd-standoff-police.html
“A former JBLM colonel has been found guilty by a Pierce County jury of assault and other charges for beating his wife and threatening to kill himself during a standoff with police in 2020.”
“Col. Owen Ray, 48, was found guilty of three of the seven charges leveled against him, including second-degree assault while armed with a firearm, felony harassment and reckless endangerment. He was found not guilty of the most serious charge, first-degree kidnapping, as well as two other counts of felony harassment. A second count of second-degree assault was dismissed.”
“Ray was formerly the chief of staff of I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. He was suspended shortly after the Dec. 27, 2020 standoff and was honorably discharged from the Army last year. According to court records, the defendant is a veteran of more than 25 years with combat experience from eight deployments to the Middle East and Asia. He also served as a military aide to President Barack Obama from 2011 to 2013.”
“He is to be sentenced Oct 28. The maximum possible sentence he could receive is 10 years in prison.”
Hate to see a long tabber go off the res like that but he knew better. But for the grace of God t wasn’t four dead by murder-suicide, so at least there is that.
Of course, it’ll turn into the big ending scene in First Blood for him after a few drinks down at the VFW:
“You asked me, I didn’t ask you– I wanted to win, but somebody wouldn’t let us win… “
MORE stories about Fort Hood Soldiers.
Gee Whiz…
Calling Claw for the Whiz Wheel!
“Soldiers Who Smuggled Immigrants from Mexico While in Uniform Sentenced”
https://www.military.com/daily-
news/2022/09/27/soldiers-who-smuggled-immigrants-mexico-while-uniform-sentenced.html
“Two soldiers were sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to illegally smuggling Mexican nationals into the U.S. while in uniform as part of a larger circle of troops involved in the scheme.”
“Emmanuel Oppongagyare, 22, and Ralph Gregory Saint-Joie, 19, were sentenced Sept. 20 to 21 months and 13 months in prison, respectively. Oppongagyare was a soldier with the Pennsylvania National Guard, and Saint-Joie was an active-duty soldier. Both were stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.”
Our side jobs back in the day were working at the local bars as doormen.
Just saying….
Point taken.
Sorry about being late to the parade. Today was back-cracker/bank atm run for my allowance/haircut errand day.
Anyway, the Whiz Wheel®™ spins up DAM (Dumb Ass Move) scores of 132 (Ongopongo) and 176 (Saint-Joey) on the convicted/sentenced perps.
I would kill to go to Fort Sam Houston. In San Antonio (Hill Country is south of Austin…not desert North of Austin)! Plus the Medical folks all go to AIT there…I probably would have gotten married much sooner.
Things We Never Knew…
“How Long Was Jeffery Dahmer in the Military? Why Was He Kicked Out? Did He Kill There?”
https://thecinemaholic.com/how-long-was-jeffery-dahmer-in-the-military-why-was-he-kicked-out-did-he-kill-there/
“In January 1979, Dahmer enlisted and trained as a medical specialist at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. He was deployed to Baumholder, West Germany in July 1979. There he served as a combat medic in the 2nd Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment, 8th Infantry Division. He served there until 1981 when he was honorably discharged from the military service.”
“Eventually, owing to his alcohol abuse, he was honorably discharged from the military in March 1981, under Chapter 9 of the Code of Military Justice, a year before his three-year enlistment was up.”
“Military records indicate Dahmer’s first year of service was “average or slightly above average”.
Read that article, the author tried to blame the Army and anti-gay attitudes for Dahmer. “If only the rapee had been willing to come foreward” etc – they conveniently IGNORE that his first murder was BEFORE he joined the Army.
Dahmer served longer than John Giduck, JD, PhD.
That’s gotta suck.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-giduck-jd-phd-5710b9b
Things We Never Knew…
“The First Recipient of the Air Force Cross Was the Only Casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis”
https://www.military.com/history/first-recipient-of-air-force-cross-was-only-casualty-of-cuban-missile-crisis.html
“In the end, the only casualty was Maj. Rudolf Anderson, a U-2 spy plane pilot whose work led to a peaceful resolution of the crisis.”
“Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. was shot down and killed while flying a U-2 Dragon Lady over Cuba.”
“His remains were retrieved by the Cuban government and released to the United Nations. He was buried near his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina.”
“In 1964, under Kennedy’s orders, Anderson was awarded the first of a new medal created in 1960. It is still the Air Force’s second-highest award for heroism in combat: the Air Force Cross.”
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7553231/rudolf-anderson
Rest In Peace, Sir.
Salute.
Never Forget.
Alaska has been a much requested and hard to get posting since at least the 90s. The only one on the list I find surprising is Sam Houston. I never was posted there but my BiL was and San Antonio isn’t that bad.
😅😆🤣😂😅😆🤣😂
gabn
“Sailor busted for using a duffel bag dummy passenger in carpool lane”
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/09/23/sailor-busted-for-using-a-duffel-bag-dummy-passenger-in-carpool-lane/
“The identity of the clever, busted sailor has not been disclosed, but the photo does appear to show a petty officer 3rd class insignia on this sailor’s chest.”
Ft Huachuca is a pretty laid back post. Of course I imagine not many recruits are going in for MI / SIG and drone ops.
Weather is not bad, pretty mild winters especially compared to Alaska and decent roads for motorcycling year round.
Signal is gone, but the intel and UAS schools are going strong.
During my Dog Robber Days “…in addition to your other duties…” one of my areas of responsibility was being the driver/escort/guard for the, usually newest butter bar, Pay Roll Officer. The Old Man liked to spread the love among his junior ossifers. (Read, he didn’t want to make that ride in a Jeep to Darmstardt in the dead of winter) The Old Man DID want to make the disbursments himself tho. Was about the only time he could see some of the more skillful avoiders of higher that were proud members of the E-4 Mafia. Good Times. A scrounged up cross draw tanker’s holster worked a lot better for me on those runs than the web belt mounted one.
We’ll see how that “picking your duty station” works out against that “exigenies of the service” thing. Popcorn?
Nobody wants to go to Darmstadt ANY time of year.
When I was payroll officer in Winter in Germany, I solved the weather problem by driving my POV, a ’68 Jag XKE, to Bad Kreuznach to pick up my payroll money. I put the paper bag of cash in the passenger foot well and my .45 on the seat.
Re: Choice of duty station for recruits
When I enlisted in the Army in June of 1972 the Army was ramping up VOLAR, Volunteer Army.
I was a high school dropout but I had a GT score of 130.
I was offered:
Training of Choice
Basic Training Location of Choice
Unit of Choice
Airborne Training Option
$1500 Combat Arms Enlistment Bonus
I got out 12 years later as an E-7. No regrets.
Hooah!
JR Majewski just contradicted himself. Unbelievable!
Check out this interview he did today or yesterday he with Dan Ball of Real America.
In the video, he told Dan Ball he had NO IDEA how the Associated Press got his DD214.
Wait till you see the next video that he did a couple of days ago that completely contradicts what he told Dan Ball!
Continued:
This is the interview he did with the Press 4 DAYS ago.
Listen what he says toward the end of the video.
He said HE PROVIDED HIS DD214 TO AP!!!
He just contradicted himself!
In his two videos, he kept explaining that he flew in and out on Sorties to Afghanistan from Qatar. He said it was impossible for him to know where he was in Afghanistan.
That does not make sense. According to this link, in July 2020, he said “he remembers going more than 40 days without a shower because they had no access to running water.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8514993/Air-Force-veteran-paints-entire-yard-19-000sq-ft-Trump-2020-banner.html
He was on the ground for 40 days and he had no idea where he was?
He also said he could only play “Grand Theft Auto” for 30 minutes a day…yet, he has no idea where he was in Afghanistan?
One can play “Grand Theft Auto” in a Classified mission?
Who Knew?
We just got finish watching/listening Majewski do a very short interview with Steve Bannon.
It sounds as if Majewski is implying that his opponent, Marcy Kaptur is responsible for UPDATING his DD214?
If so, he is so WRONG! HE is responsible for updating his own DD214!!!
https://rumble.com/v1lskpo-oh-9-candidate-j.r.-majewski-on-confronting-the-personal-attacks-on-his-cam.html
So is Majewski now blaming the VA that his records are not updated?
Last time I checked, the Service Member is responsible for doing that.
“Majewski calls on Kaptur to help update military service records”
https://www.toledoblade.com/local/politics/2022/09/24/majewski-kaptur-military-service-records/stories/20220924128
“Help veterans like me that have a 20-year-old service record that’s inaccurate because we can’t get it updated in a timely fashion because our VA [Veterans’ Administration] is full of red tape,” Mr. Majewski said in the 99-second video, which he said was recorded as he began door-to-door campaigning in his hometown of Toledo.”
This asshat is more full of shit than a Christmas goose. This whole thing has nothing to do with MAGA, it has to do with the stream of lies he’s spewing. If the press really paid attention, they’d see conservatives and MAGA types leading the charge against him. Dumbass needs a liberal application of the Cluebat.
Ditto. There is no excuse for being an embellishing valor thief, no matter what your political affiliation. But his lies do make him a perfect candidate to be a professional politician.
Blaming the VA for not updating his DD214? I haven’t had any contact with the VA since 1979, but I wasn’t aware it had any responsibility for correcting our records. This is especially true since it can’t be bothered to check the public data bases of who was a for real Vietnam POW or received MOH’s and Silver Stars. Majewski must really think voters with military service are completely clueless.
I’m surprised it took this long for EOM pay to be eliminated. No one I know takes the once a month pay, and a lot of Soldiers actually think they get paid twice a month instead of the mid-month advance and EOM. Speaking of pay, for 20 years mine was deposited the morning of the 1st and 15th (or the last duty day if those fell on a weekend or holiday). For some reason, the past 6+ months has seen my pay reflected as pending up to a week out and posted to my account 2-3 days early.
They offered me Station of Choice when I enlisted. Airborne and Ranger contracts were out of the question because I had a GED, so I figured the 101st was a perfect substitute. Glad I went there. The leaders helped make me the NCO I became and the camaraderie and esprit de corps in 3/187 probably surpassed that of most other Infantry units.