Salaries for Military Firefighters

Base Pay

The base salaries are consistent across the board for the enlisted and officer ranks of all services and are published each year by the Department of Defense. A brand new private, airman or seaman with a pay grade of E-1, fresh from basic or boot camp and attending fire-fighting training school or at his first duty station earns $1,467 per month in base pay, at time of publication. After six years and promotion to E-5, that base pay is $2,620 per month. Base pay increases as a function of the firefighter's rank and time in service.

In addition to base pay, military members living off post also receive a non-taxable basic allowance for housing, or BAH. Single service members receive BAH type I, while service members with dependents receive BAH type II. The BAH received is based on the service members rank and the cost of living at the service member's duty station but is generally intended to cover the vast majority of the service member's expenses for housing in the area.

All military members and their families are entitled to deeply subsidized comprehensive medical benefits through TRICARE. There are a number of different options service members can choose from within TRICARE, including benefits optimized for service abroad. While serving on major military installations, service members and their families also have access to the base hospitals.

In addition to the standard pays listed above, each service offers additional incentive pays. Examples include $225 per month in non-taxable hostile fire pay for serving in a combat zone designated by the Secretary of Defense, family separation pay, optempo pay for repeated deployment and career sea pay, which the Navy pays to compensate sailors for many years at sea over the course of their careers.