US Air Forece NTP Residency - Pay? / Base location?

[TheGoodRN2015]

I have applied for the US Air Force nurse transition program/ new grad residency program of this year.

My recruiter told me that the selection board will be meeting either next week, or the week after next week.

He told me that the monthly food stipend is around $264 and the housing/rent allowance varies, depending on which base I will be stationed at. He told me those two are "tax-free" allowances.

However, my recruiter was not too clear on my paycheck. This would be the base pay. I have looked at the officer base pay chart for 2nd lieutenants (since I will be a new-comer with no prior military experience, and no prior acute care nursing experience), and their base pay is around $2974.00? Per month?

My question is, is this base pay also going to be taxed? Because if so, and if the air force resident nurses get paid bi-weekly, that means we only get $1200-$1300 per pay check after federal and local state taxes?

My other question is for those of you who are already or who have finished the Air Force nurse transition program and residency.

What are the chances you will get either your first or second choice air force base hospital?

I have listed Travis AFB as my #1 choice, because I have relatives living in the Bay Area. Perfect for me....that's if I get that base. Plus I plan on starting a family and living in the Bay Area.

San Antonio is my second choice, although I prefer to be on the West Coast area.

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I forgot to add another question.

If I do get admitted to the US Air Force NTP/residency program, there are various contracts we can sign for.

I plan to sign for the three-year commitment contract.

The three-year contract only gives up to $80,000 student loan repayment, but no bonuses.

However, in my case, I have already paid off my student loan.

So my question is, can I get that $80,000 as a form of sign-on bonus, since the Air Force does not have to pay for any student loans?

My recruiter is currently on vacation and won't be back in town for quite a while.

Just curious.

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

Yes your base pay is taxed. Federal tax is a given but you might not have to pay state tax depending on what state you live in and where you are stationed. Some states like NY only have you pay state income taxes if you are stationed there and have lived in the state for less than 30 days for that calender year. So if you live in NY you would pay income tax if you went on active duty after February 1st your first year but you would not the second year as long as you are not stationed in NY. Other states do not tax military pay at all, you will need to contact your state tax department to find out the rules for your state. To have an idea about your BAH go to www.defenseless.DoD.mil/site/bahcalc You will be able to find what BAH is at at each base around the country. BAH is based on the zip code of the base not the zip code of your home and your rank. A good example of this is Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Air Field(HAAF). Fort Stewart is by Hinesville Ga and HAAF is in Savannah Ga. I lived just about in the middle of the 2 and was stationed at Ft Stewart and my BAH was around $1700 and if I had been stationed at HAAF it would been around $150-175 more per month. If you go reserves and are on active duty for more than 30 days then your BAH is based on the zip code of your home.

I am in the Army so I and an not say for sure but I would say no on receiving a bonus vs. the student loan repayment. The student loan is not a set amount but an up to amount.

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

some people take out a bunch of loans they don't need and have the government pay them off. you just need to make sure they are US DOE sponsored.

[Camo-angel]

Yes your base pay gets taxed, however once you add in that BAH and BAS your pay goes waay up. Most big bases, like San Antonio, get aroung 1700 per month. Thats an entire paycheck added in. Not to mention the other little things you get like free healthcare so no paying 300 bucks a month for that, free dental, 30 days paid vacation per year, etc etc. It may seem like the base pay is low, but that's partly because you get so much more with benefits. What nurse gets a housing allowance every month outside the military unless they're a travel nurse? On the loan topic, like Jfratian said you could take out a loan, but no they won't just give you 80k if you don't have a student loan...you get about 30k sign on bonus. This all being said, the military does its best to take care of its people financially. Please do not come in as a nurse just for benefits or money. Wrong reasons lead to miserable nurses

[CPRose]

Something that might not have been made clear by the other people who posted is that your base pay is the only thing that gets taxed. All other pay that you receive is tax free. So BAH and BAS do not get taxed. Though if you use base housing you forfeit your BAH. If you get one, bonuses do get taxed at about 35%(though you can recoup some of that when you do your taxes at the end of the year). Also depending on where you get deployed you can end up in a tax free zone and pay no taxes at all while you're there as well as receiving pay incentives. You will probably not have pay that matches the private sector until you've picked up several ranks.