Capt Steve
US Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2008
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We are in the process of moving after 14 years in our current home. Needless to say we are butt deep in old records and misc paperwork. My bride brought me an old folder and inside was my Army 201 personnel file...
{Yes, I know you are not suppose to take those when you muster out, oh well my bad.} Lots of interesting reading going back 50 years but he one that caught my eye was a record of my pay disbursements.
I arrived At Karamoursel Air Force Base in Turkey in January of 1970 as an E-3 PFC serving as a Communications traffic Analyst/Cryptanalyst in the Army Security Agency. We were there to spy on Russian communications. In April I earned a promotion to Specialist 4 {E-4} which wasn't too bad as I had only been in the Army for 10 months. As a newly minted Spec 4 my monthly pay was $249.90. I did receive a small rations allotment of $45 a month once my bride arrived. We got by by purchasing most of our fresh produce, bread, eggs etc. and some meats at the Bazaar every Saturday and the rest of our food came from the commissary on the base
I brought my new bride back to Turkey after our wedding in July of 1970 and as an E-4 did not qualify for on base housing. Our daughter was born in Ankara 10 months later and their travel back to the states at the end of my tour was completely on our dime.
Like most of my enlisted brothers that were accompanied by their wives we lived in the small town of Yalova 18 miles south of the base. We commuted on the old Air Force Blue school busses that ran from early morning until about midnight to accommodate the GI's commuting for our rotating shifts, days - 0730 to 1530, swings - 1530 to 2330 and mids - 2330 to 0730 for 9 days at a time before the next rotation.
Living in Yalova posed more than few challenges, you could not drink the water so every trip to base I carried a 2.5 gallon jug which I would fill at the base bus stop and then empty into a 20 gallon jug we kept on the kitchen counter. Laundry and grocery shopping on base meant humping everything {along with your water jug} back to town that was a 40 minute bus ride. We heated our apartment with a Swedish {wood burning} fireplace supplemented by kerosene heaters. We were lucky in that our water heater, all 6 gallons of it, was heated by a single propane burner fed by a small LP cylinder. Many of my friends had to burn coal for hot water.
Rent, fortunately was cheap, about $35 a month for a small apartment and the GI's would buy a "Package deal" from a fellow GI that consisted of a few pieces of furniture, pots and pans, dishes etc.. As I recall they went for around $450 depending on how much stuff you were getting. You really had to scramble to get yours sold when it was time to rotate out.
After 18 months in Turkey I was reassigned to Homestead AFB {to spy on the Russian ground troops operating in Cuba}. My pay was advanced to $335 a month which sounded pretty good initially until we were faced with the huge increase in the cost of living. We managed to get a studio apartment for $185 a month + another $65 for utilities. Could not even get a phone as we did not have the required $100 deposit. We lived like dogs {slept on the floor} for the next 15 months but I was able take advantage of a one year early out {off of the requisite 4 year enlistment to serve in the ASA}.
As we had so little going for us I took full advantage of the Air Force's educational opportunities and managed to complete a 2 year Associate of arts degree from Miami Date Junior College {in 6 months} through a combination of on bases classes and extensive testing for credit. Just about the only good thing that came out of that assignment.
We have been married for more than 50 years and never ever struggled financially more than during our time at Homestead. Happily while nowhere near enough, these days our members of the military are paid far better.
{Yes, I know you are not suppose to take those when you muster out, oh well my bad.} Lots of interesting reading going back 50 years but he one that caught my eye was a record of my pay disbursements.
I arrived At Karamoursel Air Force Base in Turkey in January of 1970 as an E-3 PFC serving as a Communications traffic Analyst/Cryptanalyst in the Army Security Agency. We were there to spy on Russian communications. In April I earned a promotion to Specialist 4 {E-4} which wasn't too bad as I had only been in the Army for 10 months. As a newly minted Spec 4 my monthly pay was $249.90. I did receive a small rations allotment of $45 a month once my bride arrived. We got by by purchasing most of our fresh produce, bread, eggs etc. and some meats at the Bazaar every Saturday and the rest of our food came from the commissary on the base
I brought my new bride back to Turkey after our wedding in July of 1970 and as an E-4 did not qualify for on base housing. Our daughter was born in Ankara 10 months later and their travel back to the states at the end of my tour was completely on our dime.
Like most of my enlisted brothers that were accompanied by their wives we lived in the small town of Yalova 18 miles south of the base. We commuted on the old Air Force Blue school busses that ran from early morning until about midnight to accommodate the GI's commuting for our rotating shifts, days - 0730 to 1530, swings - 1530 to 2330 and mids - 2330 to 0730 for 9 days at a time before the next rotation.
Living in Yalova posed more than few challenges, you could not drink the water so every trip to base I carried a 2.5 gallon jug which I would fill at the base bus stop and then empty into a 20 gallon jug we kept on the kitchen counter. Laundry and grocery shopping on base meant humping everything {along with your water jug} back to town that was a 40 minute bus ride. We heated our apartment with a Swedish {wood burning} fireplace supplemented by kerosene heaters. We were lucky in that our water heater, all 6 gallons of it, was heated by a single propane burner fed by a small LP cylinder. Many of my friends had to burn coal for hot water.
Rent, fortunately was cheap, about $35 a month for a small apartment and the GI's would buy a "Package deal" from a fellow GI that consisted of a few pieces of furniture, pots and pans, dishes etc.. As I recall they went for around $450 depending on how much stuff you were getting. You really had to scramble to get yours sold when it was time to rotate out.
After 18 months in Turkey I was reassigned to Homestead AFB {to spy on the Russian ground troops operating in Cuba}. My pay was advanced to $335 a month which sounded pretty good initially until we were faced with the huge increase in the cost of living. We managed to get a studio apartment for $185 a month + another $65 for utilities. Could not even get a phone as we did not have the required $100 deposit. We lived like dogs {slept on the floor} for the next 15 months but I was able take advantage of a one year early out {off of the requisite 4 year enlistment to serve in the ASA}.
As we had so little going for us I took full advantage of the Air Force's educational opportunities and managed to complete a 2 year Associate of arts degree from Miami Date Junior College {in 6 months} through a combination of on bases classes and extensive testing for credit. Just about the only good thing that came out of that assignment.
We have been married for more than 50 years and never ever struggled financially more than during our time at Homestead. Happily while nowhere near enough, these days our members of the military are paid far better.
Can't even remember how much that was- $400-500 per month?
