The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 28, 1985 Page: 38 of 52
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-1 2 THE FT. HOOD SENTINEL Thursday March 28 1985
Beginning Oct. 1 the Army
will have a standard pay system
for men and women entering
the service after that date mak-
ing “sure-pay” the only pay-
ment method available to them.
THE NEW standard pay sys-
tem will not affect soldiers on
active duty as of Sept. 30 they
will continue to have the choice
of all pay options now avail-
able.
S re-p ay is a payment
method whereby the Army di-
rectly deposits a soldier’s pay
into an account in a financial
in titu tio of the sold ie r’s
choice.
“We ust pay soldiers in
peace-time as we intend to pay
them in wartime” said Army
hief of Staff Gen. John A.
Wickham Jr. in a message to
leaders of major com ands
throughout the Army. Empha-
sizing the need for this type of
im lifie pay ro ced re
Wickham said “Rapid deploy-
ent timeliness dictated by
global commitments have re-
duced reaction time available
for soldiers to settle their finan-
cial affairs. Conversion to sure-
pay as the Army’s standard pay
method facilitates this.”
THE DECISION to create a
no-option pay program for fu-
ture soldiers is the result of an
intense top-level Army study
conducted last fall. Based on
the Army’s global missions the
A rm y’s concern for soldiers’
financial well-being and the
FORT
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Fort Hood. The Sentinel is
written by and for the milit-
ary and for civilian person-
nel at Fort Hood and their
families.
soldiers in peacetime
as we intend to pay
them in wartime.”
advantages of the “check-to-
bank” method the Army initi-
mated a program in April 1984 to
convert all servicemembers to
mandatory “sure-pay.”
The Senate Armed Services
ittee estio ed the
necessity of the “involuntary”
ro ram and th effects it
would have on soldiers. The
committee urged the Army to
consider all the ramifications of
the “involuntary” program and
other workable alternatives be-
fore making a final decision.
The study group composed
of representatives from major
commands and staff agencies
reviewed comments from com-
anders senior noncom is-
sioned officers finance-and
personnel administrators man-
agers of financial institutions
and soldiers of all ranks around
the world said Lt. Col. George
L. Sumrall executive officer of
the study group.
“STATISTICS revealed that
more than 70 percent of our sol-
diers from private to general
'Sure pay7to be standard Army pay
now participate in voluntary
-sure-pay. Our targets of emph-
asis are new soldiers and in-
creasing the participation of
our junior enlisted ranks” he
stressed.
According to the Army study
ro ’s report to Congress
“Units involved in recent major
training exercises and the Gre-
nada operation which had a
high ‘sure-pay’ participation
rate experienced far fewer pay
problem and pay inquiries
than units with low participa-
tion.”
he sold ie ho has his
paycheck mailed to him can
have a serious problem if his
unit is deployed shortly before
payday S um rall said. We
know there are young soldiers
ith families who live from
payday to payday. We learned
during the Grenada operation
that some families had hungry
children empty cupboards and
no ash th ld ie rs
paycheck was laying on the
kitchen table.
We learned during
the Grenada operation
that some families
had hungry children
empty cupboards and
no cash* yet the
soldier's paycheck
was laying on the the
kitchen table
INSTANT
“Our targets of
emphasis are new
soldiers and
increasing die
participation of our
junior enlisted ranks*1
“OUR ARMY’S support sys-
tems such as Army Community
Services and Army Emergency
elief helped these families
out” Sumrall said “but a lot of
the anxiety for the family and
the soldier could have been
avoided if the soldier had plan-
ned ahead and deposited the
check irectly into a bank
account.”
“Many soldiers we talked to
during the study expressed
their concern with “check-to-
bank” because they didn’t want
to have to pay monthly account
se rv ic a rg ” S rall
admitted.
The A rm study revealed
that 80 percent of the soldiers in
the United States and 83 per-
cent of the soldiers assigned
overseas have acces§ to banks
or credit unions on their “home
posts” that offer free checking
accounts. The accounts at
these institutions are complete-
ly free when soldiers use the
’su re-p ay tio ” Sum rall
advised.
“FOR THOSE soldiers who
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.O TRAINED TECHNICIANS ON STAFF CAN SERVICE ANY
PURCHASE MADE AT MIUTARY TV & STEREO.
FINANCING
FOR ALLM ILITARYIM &
CHARGE IT
W ITH
FINANCING AVAILABLE FOR GOV'T EMPLOYEES A CIVILIANS UPON CREOIT APPROVAL
don’t have access to free check-
ing accounts on their posts we
are preparing a booklet listing
all the financial institutions on
Army installations which offer
free accounts” he announced.
The booklet will list the ser-
vices offered and how to open
an account through the mail.
“Another major concern to
our soldiers was the limited
check-cashing facilities and
long lines on payday” Sumrall
added. “Extensive efforts to
improve financial suport are
being made with the organiza-
tions serving our soldiers. A
number of these improvements
will help alleviate these over-
crowded conditions.”
Some of the improvements to
watch for include:
More obile pay teams
overseas to serve remote sites
increasing the number of
automatic teller machines in
the U.S. and overseas which
offer convenient 24-hour-a-day
banking services
and upgrading many of the
“Future soldiers
will be informed of
the standard pay
system during their
recruitment
interviews”
ATTENTION
ALL MILITARY
PERSONNEL
NOW YOU CAN
416 WEST RANCIER
(817) 526-3343
“The accounts at
these institutions are
completely free when
soldiers use the
fsure-pay option”
older teller machines now in
service.
“FUTURE SOLDIERS will
be informed of the standard
pay system during their recruit-
en in te rv ie s” S um rall
said. “However they will not be
affected during their initial
training. They will have 90 days
after arrival at their first perma-
nent party duty assignment to
arrange for their pay to be depo-
sited into the financial institu-
tion they select. Until then
they will be paid by check to
their address or cash during
basic and advanced training.”
New soldiers will receive
fam iliarizatio train in on
financial affairs during basic
and advanced courses. At their
first permanent assignm ent
the Army community will pro-
vide more comprehensive per-
sonal instruction either indi-
vidually or in command infor-
a as S a
pointed out that education for
soldiers’ spouses is also avail-
able and is considered a key
family element to family pre-
paredness.
Call Our Credit Hotline
228 COVE TERRACE
(COVE TERRACE SHOPP. CTR)
(817) 547-9398
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The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 28, 1985, newspaper, March 28, 1985; Temple, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth309699/m1/38/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Casey Memorial Library.