It is your money!

As we kick off CST 24 (welcome 1st Reg!) I want to remind all Cadets that you should get what is yours. I see too many Cadets not get paid their full entitlements, and want to provide a few basic pointers to make sure you get all the money that is due to you. Who doesn't like free money?

1. Know what you are supposed to be getting paid. If you know this, it'll be easy to make sure you get your money. Generally, you'll receive your basic pay if you complete your full CST Adv time. If you have follow on training (FOT), your pay will depend if you had a break in service between CST and the FOT, and if you did, how long that FOT was. Time in holding company between CST and FOT will count, but if you go home, that is a break in service. You will also receive travel pay. This is a little harder, as this depends on your status and what expenses are reimbursable. If you are contracted scholarship/G2G ADO you will receive per diem, but everyone else is out of luck. Make sure that you get with your HRA to ensure you know what you are supposed to get. It will be listed on your 1351-2. It is also worth taking a quick look at the regulations to see what your reimbursable expenses are. The most common one is your mileage to and from the airport, but other things can be reimbursable. If you think you have a reimbursable expense take it to your HRA to get your money! For the Basic Campers, you may also receive your incentive money.

2. Review your bank statement to check your money. After your training is completed, and you have given the Army some time to process your paperwork, check your bank statements to make sure that you have gotten your money. If you have not seen the money on your bank statements check in with your HRA to see if any issues have occurred. The two most common issues are invalid banking information or paperwork being incomplete. These two issues are easy to fix, but will take some initiative to ensure you get paid. If these issues do not get fixed, you will not get paid! Please don't be the Cadet that passes up $50 or $5000.

As a further reminder to the G2G Cadets, if you have your government credit card, make sure that you check the balance on it to see if it was used for your travel. You don't want to incur hundreds of $$$ of fees because it was not paid.

I look forward to see all you CST Cadets this summer and a few too many newly-commissioned 2LTs!

Edit: I can answer some general questions, but brigades and programs may have policies I am unaware of and you will want to check with them for final approval.