Being in the Army has Many Benefits and can be very rewarding and something you may wish to do. I am with the military and know that the army has many rewards and if very fulfilling and it can be a career choice. There are many benefits to the army life and it is great for discipline. You can go to college with the GI Bill and you have great healthcare and dental. With the army you can be stationed at many amazing places and meet many amazing people. The army life is great for teaching you how to handle life. You get many opportunities to save money, make money and be a leader of or within a structured unit. The army is here to help you and is very family oriented. They will help you to find a career outside of the army when you decide to leave. The army is the way to go!
The Army takes care of their soldiers, and takes care of the families. Every day you work (which isn’t always every day) you gain paid vacation time to take called Leave. In one month you gain about 2 and a half days of this paid leave which adds up quickly. When you sign in to the army you get a bonus which is all based on which job you choose to do.
One of the topics that most don’t like is deployment but during deployment there are MANY benefits. You don’t pay taxes during that time and they pay you more money… A good bit more money. And if you have family you get separation pay which comes out to be around 500 dollars more on your paycheck. If you have credit card accounts you may get your APR reduced. Our APR went from 15.9% down to 4%. And the insurance on your vehicles usually knock down your bills greatly depending on what you choose to do with your vehicle. Our insurance provider had our premium go from 1300 to 700.
The Army gives you choices for living. If you are a single soldier you live in the barracks from rank SGT (Sergeant) to E-1 (Private), and if you are a SSG (Staff Sergeant) and above you collect BAH (Base and Housing Allowance, or your living allowance) and may live off post. As a soldier with a family regardless of your rank you collect BAH unless you decide to live on post in housing, then housing will collect your BAH as rent. But if you chose to live off post you collect BAH for living and also get another perk called BAS which is a food allowance. Our BAS is about $300. The BAH and BAS and everything is all based off of Rank and Where you are stationed or living. In Louisiana the BAH is much Lower than that of New York because New York has a higher living expense. And depending on some places that you go you may collect COLA from places like Hawaii.
Another great benefit for being in the Army is being able to shop at the Commissary and PX on post which is tax free. You cannot shop there unless you have an ID Card issued from the military and you save A LOT of money. Our Grocery Bill at the Commissary is about 2 hundred dollars for 2 weeks, and if I did that shopping at Wal-Mart I would be paying probably about a hundred dollars more just from the taxes.
The army has many benefits to look into and I would suggest looking into the many jobs and opportunities that are presented to you by being a part of it. Thank you for reading :)
