UPT Question
02-09-2010, 10:00 AM
#1
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Thread Starter
Joined APC: Feb 2010
Posts: 2
UPT Question
Hi, I'm new to this forum, but after reading around it seemed like a good place to ask some questions. I'm applying for a UPT slot to a few bases around me this year. I applied last year as well, however I wasn't selected.
I did get an interview at one base and I feel I was pretty close to being selected. Hopefully it works out this year. I really want this position. I was pretty disappointed last year. I live to fly and have always wanted to join the military. Here is my question;
I'm recently out of college, still living at home but looking to buy a place. There are some great deals on the market, but if I was to buy now, and if I am lucky enough to get selected for a slot, will I be able to afford the mortgage while I'm away for the two or so years of training? What are the expenses during training? Is there a fee for the barracks? Food? Equipment? I've asked this question a dozen times but never received a straight answer. Thanks in advance for the help.
I did get an interview at one base and I feel I was pretty close to being selected. Hopefully it works out this year. I really want this position. I was pretty disappointed last year. I live to fly and have always wanted to join the military. Here is my question;
I'm recently out of college, still living at home but looking to buy a place. There are some great deals on the market, but if I was to buy now, and if I am lucky enough to get selected for a slot, will I be able to afford the mortgage while I'm away for the two or so years of training? What are the expenses during training? Is there a fee for the barracks? Food? Equipment? I've asked this question a dozen times but never received a straight answer. Thanks in advance for the help.
02-09-2010, 10:33 AM
#2
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Joined APC: Mar 2009
Position: Box Pusher
Posts: 151
Expect to make about $2000 a month at OTS and $2700 a month after OTS while you are at UPT. Just Google military pay scale and you can see how much you can make depending on your rank and time at that rank.
Upfront costs for OTS are about $2000 for uniforms. You have to live on base at OTS and it is paid for. I forgot if you are allowed to live off base at UPT, but I don’t remember that being the case (I am not there yet). If you do live on base, it is free, and if you decide/can live off base, they give you a tax free housing allowance (I don’t know how much). You also get a monthly food allowance that can really save you money when you shop on base because it is tax free.
Depending on whether or not you have a lot of student loans, you should be able to afford a mortgage while at UPT. Since I have not gotten there yet, I am only going off of the expected costs and pay of UPT that I got.
And FYI, don’t be surprised if you don’t attend OTS or UPT soon. My recruiter has told me that they have accepted too many pilots in the last few years and that they are trying to spread them out by delaying some. Last I heard everyone who is accepted will wait at least a year before they go to OTS. These are only rumors but I just thought you should know in case you planned on going into the service soon right after you got accepted.
Good luck and I am sure many more will post with some more exact numbers.
Upfront costs for OTS are about $2000 for uniforms. You have to live on base at OTS and it is paid for. I forgot if you are allowed to live off base at UPT, but I don’t remember that being the case (I am not there yet). If you do live on base, it is free, and if you decide/can live off base, they give you a tax free housing allowance (I don’t know how much). You also get a monthly food allowance that can really save you money when you shop on base because it is tax free.
Depending on whether or not you have a lot of student loans, you should be able to afford a mortgage while at UPT. Since I have not gotten there yet, I am only going off of the expected costs and pay of UPT that I got.
And FYI, don’t be surprised if you don’t attend OTS or UPT soon. My recruiter has told me that they have accepted too many pilots in the last few years and that they are trying to spread them out by delaying some. Last I heard everyone who is accepted will wait at least a year before they go to OTS. These are only rumors but I just thought you should know in case you planned on going into the service soon right after you got accepted.
Good luck and I am sure many more will post with some more exact numbers.
02-09-2010, 03:38 PM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2009
Position: Box Pusher
Posts: 151
They really want people to pay for it upfront. My recruiter said that if there are extreme circumstances they will dock it out of your pay at the end of the month, but it is very rare. He said the best thing to do if you don’t have the money now is to put it on a credit card because you will be very busy and the last thing you want to do is to spend extra time trying to get your uniforms. By the end of the month you could pay it off anyway.
02-09-2010, 04:02 PM
#5
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Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Engines Turn Or People Swim
Posts: 39,293
Originally Posted by floatflier86
Hi, I'm new to this forum, but after reading around it seemed like a good place to ask some questions. I'm applying for a UPT slot to a few bases around me this year. I applied last year as well, however I wasn't selected.
I did get an interview at one base and I feel I was pretty close to being selected. Hopefully it works out this year. I really want this position. I was pretty disappointed last year. I live to fly and have always wanted to join the military. Here is my question;
I'm recently out of college, still living at home but looking to buy a place. There are some great deals on the market, but if I was to buy now, and if I am lucky enough to get selected for a slot, will I be able to afford the mortgage while I'm away for the two or so years of training? What are the expenses during training? Is there a fee for the barracks? Food? Equipment? I've asked this question a dozen times but never received a straight answer. Thanks in advance for the help.
I did get an interview at one base and I feel I was pretty close to being selected. Hopefully it works out this year. I really want this position. I was pretty disappointed last year. I live to fly and have always wanted to join the military. Here is my question;
I'm recently out of college, still living at home but looking to buy a place. There are some great deals on the market, but if I was to buy now, and if I am lucky enough to get selected for a slot, will I be able to afford the mortgage while I'm away for the two or so years of training? What are the expenses during training? Is there a fee for the barracks? Food? Equipment? I've asked this question a dozen times but never received a straight answer. Thanks in advance for the help.
http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/mili...PayTable34.pdf
Basic Pay (O1, 2 or less, taxable): $2745.60
Basic Allowance for Subsistence (not taxable): $223.04
- You get this unless you are in a location where you must eat government meals (OTS, at sea, Afghanistan, etc). After OTS, it should be your choice when and if to eat at the mess hall. Those meals are cheap, if you eat every meal on base, the total for all meals should equal $223 each month.
Flight Pay: $125 (taxable).
Basic Allowance for Housing (non-taxable): Amount depends on where you live. You only get this if you live off base. Officers usually always can elect to live off base, in fact base housing is limited so you may not be able to live on base if you wanted to.
San Diego: $1785 (single)
Vance AFB: $792 (single)
Obviously this is highly variable depending on locale.
Once you get operational, more bonuses kick in, retention incentives and various hazard/hardship bonuses in combat zones.
02-09-2010, 05:05 PM
#7
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Joined APC: Feb 2009
Position: TG-10B, Back Seat
Posts: 9
With regards to the housing situation, it completely depends on where you're stationed for UPT. At Laughlin they're currently pushing pretty hard to get every unmarried Lt into the dorms. So, if you show up for UPT here, expect to be forced to live in the dorms. The only exception is if you show up with a large influx of Lt's and they run out of dorms rooms- in which case they will sometimes allow you to live off base or live in base housing (sharing a duplex with other students). If you are married then obviously you're in the clear and won't be pushed to the dorms.
The point is that if you live in the dorms, you don't get any BAH. If you live off base, OR if you live in the base housing with roommates, you get the seven hundred something bucks a month. Bottom line is be flexible.
The point is that if you live in the dorms, you don't get any BAH. If you live off base, OR if you live in the base housing with roommates, you get the seven hundred something bucks a month. Bottom line is be flexible.
02-09-2010, 05:13 PM
#8
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Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: FAA 'Flight Check'
Posts: 13,837
Originally Posted by texasflyer55
With regards to the housing situation, it completely depends on where you're stationed for UPT. At Laughlin they're currently pushing pretty hard to get every unmarried Lt into the dorms. So, if you show up for UPT here, expect to be forced to live in the dorms. The only exception is if you show up with a large influx of Lt's and they run out of dorms rooms- in which case they will sometimes allow you to live off base or live in base housing (sharing a duplex with other students). If you are married then obviously you're in the clear and won't be pushed to the dorms.
The point is that if you live in the dorms, you don't get any BAH. If you live off base, OR if you live in the base housing with roommates, you get the seven hundred something bucks a month. Bottom line is be flexible.
The point is that if you live in the dorms, you don't get any BAH. If you live off base, OR if you live in the base housing with roommates, you get the seven hundred something bucks a month. Bottom line is be flexible.
USMCFLYR
02-09-2010, 05:24 PM
#9
New Hire
Joined APC: Feb 2009
Position: TG-10B, Back Seat
Posts: 9
USMCFLYR,
Good catch, thanks. I guess I kind of misspoke there- the situation is that someone can live on base, but in housing that's run by a private company (so I guess that wouldn't really qualify as base housing?). They WOULD get BAH, but then the company typically charges the exact BAH rate as rent, so it's just turned over.
I'm doing pretty much that, but the good deal here is that I share the house with two other student pilots, and our combined BAH is quite a bit more than the rent- so we come out a bit ahead every month. I like this setup and would recommend it to anyone else checking into base who's given the option. Then again there are bonuses to the dorms too- free washers and driers for use and pretty much hassle free maintenance. Plus no roommate hassle...
Good catch, thanks. I guess I kind of misspoke there- the situation is that someone can live on base, but in housing that's run by a private company (so I guess that wouldn't really qualify as base housing?). They WOULD get BAH, but then the company typically charges the exact BAH rate as rent, so it's just turned over.
I'm doing pretty much that, but the good deal here is that I share the house with two other student pilots, and our combined BAH is quite a bit more than the rent- so we come out a bit ahead every month. I like this setup and would recommend it to anyone else checking into base who's given the option. Then again there are bonuses to the dorms too- free washers and driers for use and pretty much hassle free maintenance. Plus no roommate hassle...
02-09-2010, 05:30 PM
#10
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: FAA 'Flight Check'
Posts: 13,837
Originally Posted by texasflyer55
USMCFLYR,
Good catch, thanks. I guess I kind of misspoke there- the situation is that someone can live on base, but in housing that's run by a private company (so I guess that wouldn't really qualify as base housing?). They WOULD get BAH, but then the company typically charges the exact BAH rate as rent, so it's just turned over.
I'm doing pretty much that, but the good deal here is that I share the house with two other student pilots, and our combined BAH is quite a bit more than the rent- so we come out a bit ahead every month. I like this setup and would recommend it to anyone else checking into base who's given the option. Then again there are bonuses to the dorms too- free washers and driers for use and pretty much hassle free maintenance. Plus no roommate hassle...
Good catch, thanks. I guess I kind of misspoke there- the situation is that someone can live on base, but in housing that's run by a private company (so I guess that wouldn't really qualify as base housing?). They WOULD get BAH, but then the company typically charges the exact BAH rate as rent, so it's just turned over.
I'm doing pretty much that, but the good deal here is that I share the house with two other student pilots, and our combined BAH is quite a bit more than the rent- so we come out a bit ahead every month. I like this setup and would recommend it to anyone else checking into base who's given the option. Then again there are bonuses to the dorms too- free washers and driers for use and pretty much hassle free maintenance. Plus no roommate hassle...
Sorry for the thread jack. Back to UPT questions now.
USMCFLYR
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