Long time coming, too.
Let's hope it doesn't get staggered with rank - if so, it'll be great for Majors, Colonels and Sergeants, but probably a nasty blow to the privates....

I have a friend who is a private in the army and has served in Iraq amonst other places. The army salary for privates is rubbish!

I last saw him a couple of years ago when his salary was £13500 approx per annum. How crap is that. The guy serves in war zones etc and he gets £13500 (probably gone up a tiny bit since then) I personally wouldn't put my life on the line for that.

The army boys deserve a lot more for the job that they do, and i'm glad that someone is finally giving them a break

About bloody time too. They backdated it to April of this year?
That needs sorting, what about the people who were in hazardous situations last year or the year before?

Or back-date for the entire time they've been in uniform.

Could be a nice little earner - where's my calculator . . . . . .

I would like to point out that this is not a payrise but a bonus worth around £2,240 roughly the same amount of tax paid for a 6 month tour.

This bonus is meerly a secret retention bonus to stop people signing off after being treat like scum on a tour.

It is aimed at all ranks from private up to brigadeer.

From one of todays news casts the salary for lowest ranks was given as £15k.

This is outragous! Even with the tax refund they will still receive less (in that one lump sum) than these illegal immigrants are getting as a bribe to leave our shores.

What a blow to the privates!

Well done Don_Kiddick...!
You were the only one, weren't you!!
Who says comedy's dead!

Riff im sure it will be - my fiance is a private and is on disgusting wages - they have not said anything about their wages going up!!!! to say they are supposed to be paid 24/7 7days a week - the wages they are on are diabolical!!!!!!! :rant:

the way I understand is that it is only for people who are on an operational tour. I think this is excellent news, I don't think soldiers should be taxed anyway.

I can't wait now to go over there> i will be on my normal work salary and won't be getting taxed!:)

When I was in the Army, many years ago, we used to get allowances for all sorts of things, and I wonder if they still exist of if they were done away with and this is them coming back? The pay used to be by the day (and still is) and then you got all sorts of extra bits and bobs on top such as an overseas living allowance (to make up for the local area being more expensive) and maybe an allowance for the conditions such as £1.50 for the Falkland Islands. In addition we didn't pay for food and accomodation when away somewhere unpleasant. Because you couldn't spend the money and didn't even have to buy clothes this ended up being a lot of money. I tried to find out if such things still exist but can't find any reference so suspect they don't.

When I was in the Army, many years ago, we used to get allowances for all sorts of things, and I wonder if they still exist of if they were done away with and this is them coming back? The pay used to be by the day (and still is) and then you got all sorts of extra bits and bobs on top such as an overseas living allowance (to make up for the local area being more expensive) and maybe an allowance for the conditions such as £1.50 for the Falkland Islands. In addition we didn't pay for food and accomodation when away somewhere unpleasant. Because you couldn't spend the money and didn't even have to buy clothes this ended up being a lot of money. I tried to find out if such things still exist but can't find any reference so suspect they don't.

I will speak to a couple of lads who have just come back at the weekend.

As Ken H said, isnt the wage made up by the fact that a lot of living expenses are paid for?

As Ken H said, isnt the wage made up by the fact that a lot of living expenses are paid for?
But the same would apply in civilian companies, and what tends to happen there is that the individual's accomdation and food will be paid for when working abroad, plus there will be some fininacial recompense for the buggeration factor of being abroad and away from your home and family.

When I was in the Army, many years ago, we used to get allowances for all sorts of things, and I wonder if they still exist of if they were done away with and this is them coming back? The pay used to be by the day (and still is) and then you got all sorts of extra bits and bobs on top such as an overseas living allowance (to make up for the local area being more expensive) and maybe an allowance for the conditions such as £1.50 for the Falkland Islands. In addition we didn't pay for food and accomodation when away somewhere unpleasant. Because you couldn't spend the money and didn't even have to buy clothes this ended up being a lot of money. I tried to find out if such things still exist but can't find any reference so suspect they don't.
There is a standard allowance, which used to be called LOA (Local Overseas Allowance) and is now called LSSA (Longer Separated Service Allowance).

Depending on how many days overseas an individual has accumulated through their carer, the amount of LSSA payed while on operations rises in 3 bands - lower, middle and higher. Off the top of my head, the rates are about £8, £10 and £12 a day. To qualify for the latter, you need to have spent a total of about 600 days overseas. The idea of the allowance is that it should pay for phone calls home, buying papers, and the odd treat while away from family and home.

I have a friend who works overseas regularly and receives a flat £50 per night allowance each night he is away from home - on top of his hotel fees and any receipts.

I wonder which we'd prefer - £50 a night for the discomfort of staying in a nice hotel, or £10 a night for living in a tent in Afghanistan???

I left in Jan 06.

I recieved the following allowances during my time.

(LSSA) Longer service seperated allowance

(LOA) Local overseas allowance

Clothing allowance

(FIA) Food and insidentials allowance

Just to name a few.

The allowance's really do depend on the theatre you are currently serving in.

Oh and i just recieved a letter telling me I could be entitled to a bonus of up to £8,000 if i sign back on.

But the same would apply in civilian companies, and what tends to happen there is that the individual's accomdation and food will be paid for when working abroad, plus there will be some fininacial recompense for the buggeration factor of being abroad and away from your home and family.

It may be different now, but the system as it used to be was very different from the civilian equivalent. When in barracks in a stable location such as the UK or Germany I had to pay for food and accomodation. When I was away I didn't have to pay for this, but the critical difference is that I also didn't pay for the accomodation I had left behind. A civilian in similar circumstances would probably still have had somewhere to pay for at home. The net result was that we got a decent wage (although they all moaned then as much as now) plus lots of little extra bits and didn't have to spend anything and usually couldn't anyway. We didn't make calls home, we wrote letters which were often postage free, and papers were usually sent free as well. At that time it would have been very unusual for anyone who was a young private to have any other committments, and probably only 10% had a car. The result was that you came back from a tour and had all your money in the bank and then got extra leave.

There is no doubt in my mind that things have changed both in society and the military so that I am not suggesting we go back to the good old days as that is impossible. I am sure there are more overseas committments in far more dangerous places and that some people are doing too many tours as a result. When I was in the Army it was likely that you would get a Northern Ireland tour every 3-5 years and the odd other tour if there was a war such as the Falklands. It now seems to be the case that anyone joining can expect to spend a fair proportion of his time in soem dangerous location.

Long time coming, too.
Let's hope it doesn't get staggered with rank - if so, it'll be great for Majors, Colonels and Sergeants, but probably a nasty blow to the privates....

I can't remember the last time my Privates got a Rise!! :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi:

couldn't resist

I can't remember the last time my Privates got a Rise!! :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi:

couldn't resist

hhahahahahahahaaaaa!!!:hihi: :hihi: .......................................:suspect: :huh:

Long time coming, too.
Let's hope it doesn't get staggered with rank - if so, it'll be great for Majors, Colonels and Sergeants, but probably a nasty blow to the privates....

A swift kick in the AHEM! for a pay rise? :loopy: no thanks :hihi:

At last some good news for our brave lads.I also think they ought to back date it further than last April.