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OCS Pay

triplej88

Member
Does anyone know what our BAH is while we are in OCS? I know we are on the E-5 pay scale until commission but there seems to be mixed answers about BAH. My wife will be in Northern California while I am in OCS and I am wondering if it based where she lives or in Newport?
 

croakerfish

Well-Known Member
pilot
Does anyone know what our BAH is while we are in OCS? I know we are on the E-5 pay scale until commission but there seems to be mixed answers about BAH. My wife will be in Northern California while I am in OCS and I am wondering if it based where she lives or in Newport?

It should be based on where she lives. Be advised you might not see it until after OCS if they jack up your paperwork on day 1. I ended up getting back-paid for three months worth after commissioning.
 

jakejake527

Active Member
does anyone have experience on this matter?

don't they have direct deposit set up prior to going to OCS?

People have family members counting on them....
 

Mr Spenz

"Your brief saved your flight' - every IP
pilot
Yes you get direct deposit. Doesn't mean they won't make mistakes. My first month at OCS I didn't receive BAH had to go into PSD and redo paperwork. They see about 100 new people every three weeks mistakes happen.
 

SynixMan

HKG Based Artificial Excrement Pilot
pilot
Contributor
If you're a prior, it should be rather automatic since it's a continuation.

If you're off the street, expect some growing pains while your pay gets 100% setup. The folks at Newport are processing a ton of folks every two weeks. You should get BAH for the zip where your spouse is. Being the "squeaky wheel" to make sure your pay is correct is 100% in bounds. Make sure you have all your paperwork in hand on checkin, then verify afterwards. Having a "safety net" of some cash isn't a terrible idea. If they don't get it right off the bat, you'll get back pay when it's corrected.

Clear as mud?
 

navy2014

Member
Wait, we get BAH while at OCS if we're married? Just... automatically, even if the spouse works and everything? That's awesome.
 

croakerfish

Well-Known Member
pilot
Wait, we get BAH while at OCS if we're married? Just... automatically, even if the spouse works and everything? That's awesome.

Yeah, why wouldn't you? If you or your dependents are not in gov't housing you get BAH. It has nothing to do with your spouse having a job or owning your house or anything like that. Like SynixMan said, your first few paychecks at OCS are weirdly divided up but keep track and make sure you are squared up.
 

vladivostok391

Lieutenant, U.S. Navy
Stupid question(s) from a non-prior here (bear with me, I have a unique situation)...

1) My wife and I will both be attending OCS (yes, you read that right) before the end of the year - I'm Intel, she's Supply Corps. Thus, we will be a dual-military couple (no kids yet). As I understand it, for BAH purposes, we will each get BAH at the without-dependent rate, including while we're at OCS. Is this in fact true?

2) Regarding BAS, do we each get it, and if so, do we each get it while at OCS? Or will we just each get it after OCS?

3) Are any expenses taken out of our housing / food allowances (BAH / BAS) while we're at OCS? Or is lodging and food "free" while we're there?

To be clear, I am asking at the risk of sounding a little dumb solely because our situation is extremely unique and absolutely no one seems to have any solid answers. Anyone with solid info, please clarify for us. Thank you!!
 

LET73

Well-Known Member
@vladivostok391, I don't think your situation is all that unique in terms of pay purposes--OCS is basically like any other Navy school that's short enough for you to be TAD rather than PCS there (i.e., you're temporarily assigned rather than permanently moving), so it shouldn't be that different from any pair of married E-5s who are at a school at the same time. Definitely a unique situation as far as a married couple both going to OCS, though.

Also, as a general note, I don't think it's uncommon for pay to be messed up the first couple of weeks/months. It works out fine for most people, but it was five weeks before I saw a paycheck, and then they overpaid me and had to take a lot of money out of my next couple of checks. It definitely doesn't happen to everyone, but absolutely no one I've mentioned that to has been surprised.
 

navy2014

Member
I plan on taking the above advice and just being chill about the money during OCS and giving them time to iron out any mistakes (plus, I imagine I'll be a little busy to worry too much about it), but just so I have a handle on what I should be looking for eventually--

We get our E-5 salary (which has all the usual taxes taken out, plus deductions for life insurance and health care?), and we get BAH if we're married (based on where our spouse lives), and we technically get BAS for ourselves (and then it's used to pay for our meals there). Am I missing anything?
 

BusyBee604

St. Francis/Hugh Hefner Combo!
pilot
Super Moderator
Contributor
We get our E-5 salary (which has all the usual taxes taken out, plus deductions for life insurance and health care?),
If you are on active duty at OCS, why would there be a deduction for health care?:confused:
BzB
 

navy2014

Member
If you are on active duty at OCS, why would there be a deduction for health care?:confused:
BzB

Hahha... In my defense, at least I used a question mark.

But actually, someone in my OCS class's Facebook group was saying that there are so many options for what you pick for health care, so I figured that meant that there were different costs (otherwise why would there be options?), which means that it would cost money... I don't know. I'm trying to filter out all the stuff that is just people nervously trying to figure out every detail before they get there and just pick up on things that will actually matter, so there are gaps in my understanding still.
 

vladivostok391

Lieutenant, U.S. Navy
@vladivostok391, I don't think your situation is all that unique in terms of pay purposes--OCS is basically like any other Navy school that's short enough for you to be TAD rather than PCS there (i.e., you're temporarily assigned rather than permanently moving), so it shouldn't be that different from any pair of married E-5s who are at a school at the same time. Definitely a unique situation as far as a married couple both going to OCS, though.

Also, as a general note, I don't think it's uncommon for pay to be messed up the first couple of weeks/months. It works out fine for most people, but it was five weeks before I saw a paycheck, and then they overpaid me and had to take a lot of money out of my next couple of checks. It definitely doesn't happen to everyone, but absolutely no one I've mentioned that to has been surprised.

Thank you very much for the info. I think I have a good handle on how things work regarding pay while at OCS for an individual, but my wife and I have received some very conflicting info regarding dual-Navy spouses, which is what we wanted clarified. I am now pretty confident, however (after much research), that we will each be treated as individuals for Navy pay purposes, including while at OCS. There just happened to be a lot of conflicting info in our initial search of Navy regs, AW, etc. Thanks again.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Thank you very much for the info. I think I have a good handle on how things work regarding pay while at OCS for an individual, but my wife and I have received some very conflicting info regarding dual-Navy spouses, which is what we wanted clarified. I am now pretty confident, however (after much research), that we will each be treated as individuals for Navy pay purposes, including while at OCS. There just happened to be a lot of conflicting info in our initial search of Navy regs, AW, etc. Thanks again.

You may look for threads about being dual mil or think about some questions to ask dual mil officer couples, not trying to scare you just want you to get a good picture. I have known several dual mil officer couples that were stationed near each other with no issues tour after tour, and I have seen some that were not.
 
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