Benefits & Pay

Stories about military benefits and pay.

Latest in Benefits & Pay

From left, U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Levi Grant and Senior Airman Ivan Chen, 137th Airlift Squadron flying crew chiefs, 105th Airlift Wing, Stewart Air National Guard Base, Newburgh, New York, sit and kneel on the ramp of a C-17 Globemaster III, assigned to the 105th AW, while preparing to transport 177th Medical Group (MDG) airmen, 177th Fighter Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, at the 177FW, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, Sept. 13, 2024. More than 30 airmen with the 177th MDG will attend clinical rotations at Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, California, as part of Medical Facility Annual Training, Operation Pacific Surge. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Connor Taggart)

Air Guard and Reserve troops say new Air Force rules add to confusion over benefits

Posted on Feb 27, 2026

Candidates assigned to the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School take part in a an early morning ruck march as part of Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) at Camp Mackall, North Carolina January 13, 2026. Candidates who attended the three-week assessment and selection were evaluated on their physical fitness, character and intellect as well as their ability to work individually and on a team. (U.S. Army photo by K. Kassens)

New VA rule could lower veterans’ disability rating if medication improves their symptoms

By Patty Nieberg, Jeff Schogol

Posted on Feb 18, 2026

Julie Eshelman, her husband Andrew who is in the active duty Reserve, with their 4-year-old daughter who was conceived by IVF.

Military families are ‘pissed’ after IVF coverage cut from defense bill

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Dec 19, 2025

Mikhail Robin Wicker.

Fake Marine convicted of claiming Purple Heart for $140,000 in VA benefits

By Jeff Schogol, Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Nov 25, 2025

U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (April 10, 2025) U.S. Sailors handle line aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) during a replenishment-at-sea with the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (TAO-E 8) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

Sailors can voluntarily extend Navy service as government shutdown continues

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Nov 10, 2025

Retired Sgt. Maj. of the Army Tony Grinston, currently the CEO of Army Emergency Relief, talks to troops in South Korea.

Army charity offers grants to soldiers missing SNAP payments

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Nov 3, 2025

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Hector Orenga, 305th Air Mobility Wing crew chief, conducts engine inspections on a C-17 Globemaster III at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., Jan. 24, 2024. The C-17 is capable of rapid strategic delivery of troops and all types of cargo to main operating bases or directly to forward bases in deployed areas. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Sergio Avalos)

Troops, families and military civilians: How is the shutdown affecting you?

By Drew F. Lawrence

Posted on Oct 28, 2025

Troops and their families reported missed or incorrect paychecks last week after the Defense Department shifted $8 billion to dish out pay and a Pentagon official said all troops with active pay accounts were paid on Oct. 15th.

Some troops report mid-month pay issues after Pentagon shifts billions amid shutdown

By Drew F. Lawrence

Posted on Oct 23, 2025

US Navy sailors listen to US President Donald Trump speak as he visits the USS Harry S. Truman during the US Navy's 250th anniversary celebration, "America's Navy 250: Titans of the Sea - A Salute to the Fleet", at Naval Station Norfolk Pier 14 in Norfolk, Virginia on October 5, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Pentagon moves $8 billion from research to pay troops

By Nicholas Slayton

Updated on Oct 12, 2025

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Aug. 8, 2025) Midshipmen 4th Class, or plebes, from the United States Naval Academy class of 2029 participate in noon meal formation in T-Court. Afterwards they are given the opportunity to meet with their families during Plebe Parents Weekend, a time for the families of the incoming class to see the progress made during Plebe Summer, a demanding indoctrination period intended to transition the candidates from civilian to military life. As the undergraduate college of our country’s naval service, the Naval Academy prepares young men and women to become professional officers of competence, character, and compassion in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. (U.S. Navy photo by Stacy Godfrey)

Troops stung by ‘hard’ credit checks and unexpected denials in USAA’s relief loans

Posted on Oct 11, 2025

A Combined Action Program Marine and a Navy corpsman using diesel fuel to burn the human waste from Combined Action unit Papa Three's outhouse in Cam Hieu village, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, on September 20, 1967. (Photo by Ed Palm Photo/Getty Images)

Federal watchdog calls out lack of research on burn pits in Vietnam

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Aug 7, 2025

U.S Airmen assigned to the 81st Security Forces Squadron along with members of the U.S. Navy stand in formation during the Police Week Retreat Ceremony on May 15, 2025 at Keesler Air Force Base. The retreat ceremony was one of several events held by the 81st Security Forces Squadron commemorating National Police Week. National Police Week was established in 1962 as a collaborative effort to honor America’s law enforcement community and pay special recognition to those law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jon Carter)

Bipartisan bill would nix federal taxes on military bonuses

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on May 22, 2025

U.S. Air Force Maj. Ryan Jones, 56th Medical Operations Squadron general surgeon, out of Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., teaches Dr. Raul Alfredo Castellanos, Honduran medical student, how to properly suture the skin closed after a surgery in the operating room of the Dr. Salvador Paredes Hospital in Trujillo, Honduras, July 2, 2015. Jones is a one of a number of U.S. Air Force doctors in Honduras as part of the New Horizons Honduras 2015 training exercise. New Horizons was launched in the 1980s and is an annual joint humanitarian assistance exercise that U.S. Southern Command conducts with a partner nation in Central America, South America or the Caribbean. The exercise improves joint training readiness of U.S. and partner nation civil engineers, medical professionals and support personnel through humanitarian assistance activities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. David J. Murphy/Released)

Supreme Court refuses, yet again, to review whether military members can sue for malpractice

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Feb 25, 2025

Coast Guard Cutter 2024

Coast Guard hit with data breach, impacting pay for more than 1,100 members

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Feb 15, 2025

A soldier deposits funds into a safe in a finance office, Nov. 4, 2013, at Bagram Air Field, Parwan province, Afghanistan. The 101st Financial Management Support Detachment, 101st Special Troops Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade (Lifeliners), in support of the 1st Sustainment Command (Theater), effectively manages millions of dollars throughout Afghanistan. The 101st Financial Management Support Detachment is a Massachusetts National Guard Unit. (U.S. Army Sgt. Sinthia Rosario, Task Force Lifeliner Public Affairs)

Paychecks for junior enlisted troops are better than 90% of civilian peers, report says

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jan 15, 2025

The US Department of Veterans Affairs building is seen in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2019.

VA extends education benefits by a year for more than a million veterans

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Jan 5, 2025