Can the military not pay you?

Question

My husband is in the Army National Guard. He just completed his 1 year tour in Egypt. While over there, in January, he signed his reenlistment and promotion papers. This entitles us to Dec, Jan, Feb and March back pay for the difference of an E4 to an E5 payscale. We were also entitled to a sign on bonus of $7000, which would be taxed at first but then the tax would be refunded. We got the $5000 or so in Feb. Also, his hostile fire pay was screwed up all year, and they still owe us at least two HF paychecks.
It is now almost June, and we haven't recieved anything except the taxed bonus. His unit is preparing for most of them to deploy to Iraq in June, so I know they must be busy, but what about us? Should we wait until the unit leaves to ask about his pay? Or should we ask now? We have called the finance department several times with no reply.
Is it true if we wait too long to ask about it they have no obligation to pay him??

BTW, he's not leaving for Iraq, just the guys in his unit that didn't get mob'd to Egypt. It's complicated.

Answer 1

DON'T go call congress right away. Yes it gets results but that is jumping the gun on his chain of command and makes him look like an idiot.

He should be going to his 1SG, Commander, CSM, BC, S-1. These are the people who get results when soldiers need to get paid. If CSM X gives CSM Y a call about taking care of his soldier prior to deployment then it will happen. Trust me on that one.

When 9/11 hit I got mobilized with the first wave and I will tell you I went a long time with no pay at all. It is much better now but there are still problems. Work it through your chain of command. Fill out a pay inquiry too if you haven't already.

Answer 2

That would amount to idiocy and an utter lack of knowledge of how corporate works. Yes, I remember having this argument with Untamed an year ago when she called me a loser for saying it shouldn't be like the military. From your response in the other question : "Every rank gets the same amount of money no matter how much or little you work. You get the same amount every month and year if you worked a 40 hour week or a 90 hour week. You rise in rank due to time and very rarely due to ability. Clothing, food, housing, electricity, etc is all provided and paid for." It works for the military and we all know it does. But corporate doesn't work that way. Corporate is a business with ROI goals and that means corporations also negotiate the pay that they are going to dole out to their employees. Growth and pay hikes in corporate are based on performance. It doesn't bode well for the companies to stick their employees pay statements in the cafeteria wall. That would fail. Edit : I do realize the BIG difference you talk about, but looks like you didn't read my answer because you're probably upset with my honesty. Civilian pay is common knowledge. Give me a profile, and we can tell what their market rate is, in general, even if it's not accurate. Given that the pay in a corporate is dependent on many factors and that it could also reflect an employees performance among other things, I don't see the logic behind your saying 'civilian pay being more open and available to the public'. Add that to your statement "The military is very open about how much people are getting paid and who's getting what pay." But of course, you and your military employed Feminist comrades wouldn't agree, even if you understand it. Edit : And of course, you say 'civilian pay being more open and available to the public' and you later change it to 'simply the pay amount being available to employees'. BIG difference there as well.

Answer 3

You should ask immediately, pay problems are epidemic in the military, and when reserves and guards get shifted into the active pay system and out again, there are always tons of problems. This is a case where the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you just let it sit, there will be someone in the bueracracy who will no deal with it and just let it go away. I don't know if there is a time limit within which you have to complain, but it would not suprise me if there was. When pay is screwed up complain early and often. Make sure you or your husband uses your chain of commad before calling your congressman but keep it in the back of your mind in case you don't make any progress.

Answer 4

Bring a copy of the LES's that he didn't recieve payment for and a copy of his enlistment contract to MILPAY for your state. Also make them sign a DA 200 (TL log) you can search for one online and fill it out the best you can. That way you have paperwork on them saying that it was turned in. Trust me it works, thats what I do for a living. Then get a point of contact for that person and call at least once every two or three days, they will fix the problem ASAP and be able to give you the pay date for everything.

Answer 5

first: promotions are based on a certain date, not necessarily when they put on the new rank. It's possible that the date of promotion was not back in December, but later on.

Second: Bonuses are not always paid in full up front. they can divvy it up: half up front and the rest spread out in equal installments over the new term of enlistment.

HFP/IDP stops the minute they leave the area designated, so if he left a combat zone on say February 27th, but was in Kuwait for March, he would NOT qualify for HFP in March, as Kuwait is NOT a designated zone

he should continue to bug Finance until he gets a thorough explanation.

Answer 6

Don't wait. The best thing you can do is to be persistant. They will pay. You should also make sure you have as much of the paperwork as possible. ie. his orders, reenlistment papers and so on. Take them down to finance and don't quit until you get answers. Good luck.

Answer 7

They do have an obligation unless he got in trouble with the m.p.s I would ask about it now or you'll never get a reply when he goes to Iraq ask about it now or forever hold your peace and don't let them give you any b.s. about they already gave it to you.

Answer 8

They can't NOT pay. The Army pay center is all messed up and just your calling won't fix things. Write to your congressman, and explain in detail what the problem is. (That's what I did). Congressmen are always willing to help our vets!

Answer 9

Don't call go down to the pay office and don't leave until it's straightened out

Answer 10

He has to talk to his payroll NCO and get on his case about that. Go through the chain of command is your best bet.