Stryker awarded $450M Defense Logistics Agency contract modification
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
How much can you make in the military? US officers can earn up to a $225,000 salary plus benefits
Base pay is the same across the military, but can increase significantly as you move up the ranks. Military personnel can get other tax-free allowances for housing and meals. Other benefits include comprehensive healthcare, discounted education, and hefty signing bonuses. Military service is a form of government employment. Like many other government jobs, it offers various benefits. But how much can you actually make in the military? Military service can offer a solid base pay, especially as you rank up. But the full compensation package of active military personnel goes beyond annual salary. Business Insider talked to various branches in the Department of Defense, including the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, National Guard, and Air Force, as well as military personnel across these branches, to decode the often-complex military compensation packages. Top officers can earn up to a $225,000 salary All active duty military personnel adhere to the same pay scale and ranking system for base pay, regardless of which branch they serve in. The basic pay scale is mainly split into two categories: enlisted members and officers. Enlisted members are ranked from E-1 to E-9, and officers are ranked from O-1 to O-10. Some military members also receive special pay on top of their base pay if they hold a military specialty or qualification or are based in a high-risk location. For example, specialty personnel, such as cyber warfare operators or weapons school instructors, may get paid in increments of $75 to $450 per month, according to a spokesperson from the Department of the Air Force. An enlisted service member with an E-1 ranking receives $2,319 per month in basic pay, according to the DoD 2025 basic pay table for enlisted members. Usually, E1-E4 members are living in the barracks so they have little to no expenses. Service members receive a routine pay increase about every two years, depending on their rank, but promotions can vary and depend on evaluations, time spent in the military, and the specific branch. In 2025, a newly enlisted military member, who in the Army and Marine Corps would be considered a Private, earned at least $53,236 a year, a defense official told Business Insider. The defense official said that by the fourth year, which is an E-5 pay grade and considered a sergeant in most branches, members earn $82,075. Depending on the location where the member serves, they may receive other pay and allowances. Officer salaries run higher. After 20 years of service, an O-9 or O-10 officer can earn $18,808.20 a month, which comes out to about $225,698 a year. That pay is reserved for top generals and admirals, and there are few of them. Paychecks also include tax-free allowances Regular military compensation includes basic pay, the allowances for housing and subsistence, and the federal tax advantage, a defense official told Business Insider. Basic Allowance for Housing, or BAH, is one of the most common tax-free allowances given to military members. Service members start getting BAH when they reach E-5 or E-6, get married, or have kids. The Department of Defense determines BAH rates, and they typically increase annually based on housing research and market analysis. Service members receive amounts depending on their rank, number of dependents, and cost of living in their location. For example, an E-5 with dependents in San Diego receives $3,987 a month in BAH, according to the Defense Travel Management Office. Service members outside the US may also receive an additional overseas housing allowance to incentivize military members to serve internationally. Military personnel may also receive a Basic Allowance for Subsistence, or BAS, to offset the cost of their meals. If they qualify, enlisted members get about $465 a month in BAS, according to the Department of Defense's Finance and Accounting Service. BAS rates increase annually based on the rate of change in a USDA index that tracks increases in food costs, a defense official told Business Insider. There are various other allowances that depend on specific circumstances, like clothing replacement allowances for listed members' uniforms or family separation allowances for service members who serve away from dependents for over 30 days. There can be bonuses The US military hands out signing bonuses as a recruiting tool to accelerate and fill certain gaps. If offered, an enlistment bonus in the Army can range between $1,000 and $45,000, but it averages around $12,000, US Army spokesperson Heather J. Hagan told Business Insider. Some Army programs pay up to $50,000 for enlistment bonuses for those entering a key specialty, like military intelligence or special forces, Hagan said. She added that some bonuses can be combined, but they can't exceed $50,000. The Army also pays retention bonuses that target critical specialties for warrant officers, and some officers can receive as high as a $245,000 bonus over a seven-year contract, Hagan said. The dispersal of military funds depends on the service designator program, a Navy spokesperson said. While some branches may give 50% upfront and disperse the rest over five years, others may disperse it evenly within the contract period or in a lump sum, the spokesperson said. The majority of the bonuses are taxable, with the exception of bonuses given to service members in a non-taxable zone, like Bahrain. Common positions that receive bonuses include pilots, nuclear sailors, and service warfare officers, according to a Navy spokesperson. Free education, free healthcare, and a pension The US Department of Veterans Affairs offers education benefits through the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which helps service members and their families pay for some of — or in some cases all of — the costs of education. The Department of Defense also offers Service members up to $250 per semester credit hour and a maximum of $4,500 per fiscal year for voluntary off-duty education, a defense official told Business Insider. For the 2025 to 2026 academic year, those who meet the 36-month requirement can receive full tuition paid at a public school or up to $29,920.95 at a private institution. This year, the Department of Veterans Affairs also expanded access for veterans who served multiple periods of military service. Eligible veterans now qualify for an additional 12 months, or up to 48 months of total GI Bill benefits. Service members who entered service on or after January 1, 2018 automatically qualify for the Blended Retirement System. To qualify for a BRS pension, a Service member has to complete 20 years of service. Retired pay under the program is calculated as the member's years of service multiplied by 2% multiplied by the average of his or her highest 36 months of basic pay, a defense official told Business Insider. The BRS is administered through the Thrift Savings Plan, a government-run retirement savings and investment plan similar to a civilian retirement plan. It allows members to invest their money with a 1% contribution after 60 days of service. The government matches the member's contributions up to 4% of basic pay each month after the member has completed two years of service, for a total possible government contribution of 5% to a member's TSP account each month after two years of service, a defense official said. TSP can be accessed even if a member has not completed 20 years of service, a defense official said. Active duty service members, their families, and retirees can also receive free medical and dental care through Tricare, the military healthcare program. With Tricare, some military members have no premium charges for coverage and no out-of-pocket costs for medical care or prescriptions, although the rate depends on individual plans. As a service member, you'll also be eligible for a number of other benefits, like discounted commissary and exchange at grocery stores and department stores. The military also covers the cost of moving if you're deployed to a different location. Do you work in the military and want to share your story? Email the author at aaltchek@ Read the original article on Business Insider Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
7 hours ago
- Forbes
Biggest Google Home Upgrade In Years Is Coming
Google has been talking up Gemini on phones for months, but now it's finally coming to your home, and it's more than just a rebrand. Gemini for Home is a full-on replacement for Google Assistant on Nest speakers and displays, with an early access rollout starting in October. Back in May, at I/O 2025, the search giant revealed that it would be baking in Gemini AI into the Home APIs that developers use to build their own apps and devices, meaning third-party developers would be able to bring Gemini-powered features such as AI security camera summaries, natural-language routines, and proactive automation suggestions into their own smart home apps. Gemini-powered experiences have also been showing up in public preview on Nest Audio and Nest Mini speakers for some users with a Nest Aware subscription, offering deeper context and more natural back-and-forth control. But Gemini for Home is the official nail in the Google Assistant's coffin for the smart home. Free and paid tiers are planned, though Google hasn't yet said what the premium plan will cost. You'll still start commands with the classic 'Hey Google,' prompt, but we're told that interactions will feel 'fundamentally new.' Instead of rigid commands, Gemini will be able to handle nuanced requests, reasoning its way through trickier tasks. For example, if you ask it to 'turn off the lights everywhere except the kitchen,' or to 'play that song from the 90s about Barbie,' and it should be able to understand. The digital voice assistant will also be stepping up as a household organizer, with shopping lists, calendar events, and kitchen timers all getting smarter. You can tell Gemini to 'add the ingredients for an authentic Italian ravioli' to your list, 'set a timer for a medium hard boiled egg' or even ask when the best time is to visit the Greek islands and it will provide much more useful assistance. Gemini Live will also be part of the offering, which takes things up another notch. You kick it off with 'Hey Google, let's chat,' and then you'll get a back-and-forth conversation without having to keep repeating the wake phrase. It's designed for deeper, more natural exchanges, whether that's cooking with whatever's in your fridge, troubleshooting why the dishwasher won't drain, or spinning up a personalized bedtime story. For Google, the timing matters. The tech giant has been under fire on the smart home front for the past few months, with services throwing up a barrage of issues and no new hardware in years. Add to the mix that Amazon already pushed Alexa into the generative AI era with Alexa Plus, which it's currently rolling out. Gemini for Home is, therefore, Google's weapon in the next-gen voice assistant battle but, while it brings better smart home control, media discovery, and creative help, there's still the question of hardware. Google hasn't refreshed its Nest speakers or displays in nearly five years and, even though we're told 'Gemini for Home will replace Google Assistant on existing speakers and displays,' a big upgrade like this is crying out for new devices to showcase it. Google looks to have already teased one such device: during the company's Made by Google event earlier this week, F1 driver Lando Norris was talking to a smart speaker which definitely wasn't one of the current Google or Nest line up. With Google looking to be finally making a serious comeback in the space, a revamped Siri also set to launch - potentially with new Apple smart home hardware - and the AI supercharged Alexa+ already rolling out, it's going to be fascinating to see how the evolution of the smart home revolution plays out in the next couple of years.
Business Insider
19 hours ago
- Business Insider
TikTok Shop is making advertisers give AI more control — whether they like it or not
TikTok is done nudging its e-commerce advertisers toward AI — it's now pulling them headfirst into a future in which algorithms, not marketers, call the shots. The platform's guidelines say that starting September 1, brands that want to pay to advertise products for sale in their TikTok Shops will have to use a tool called GMV Max, ad buyers tell Business Insider. Introduced in 2024, the TikTok tool uses an AI algorithm to decide how to get advertisers the most bang for their buck. Merchants pick products in their TikTok Shop they want to advertise, set a budget and target return on investment, and then let TikTok's algorithm take over. It decides how to spend the money — boosting existing ads or spinning up new ones — to maximize sales. The shift from TikTok's standard ads manager to GMV Max has ruffled feathers in adland, since it forces brands to relinquish some strategic control to an algorithm. It also makes it harder for brands to gauge TikTok ad performance beyond the closed ecosystem of TikTok Shop, ad buyers said. "TikTok's GMV Max is asking for us to put a lot of faith in the platform," said Dwight Bush, director of paid social at the marketing agency Doner Partners Network. TikTok's strategy echoes similar moves by Google and Meta. But TikTok's is compulsory rather than optional, and on a quick timeline. Big Tech platforms are increasingly pushing advertisers to use AI-powered tools that create ads and determine which users to target and where to place those ads. "It's the direction the whole industry is moving," said Neil Baker, head of media at the digital ad agency TUG. TikTok offers a suite of other AI tools for advertisers, including options to produce ads using AI-generated avatars. It also offers Smart+, an AI tool similar to GMV Max, which automates and generates campaigns to achieve goals like video views or website visits. Automated tools have been a boon for Big Tech platforms. Tech giants say they save time and drive performance for advertisers. Some marketers say they're black boxes that strip them of control. These algorithms don't always offer a complete picture of which ads worked and where they appeared, making it harder for marketers to use the data to guide their broader strategies. And ad agencies are also wary that automating many aspects of marketing could severely disrupt their own businesses. Five ad buyers told Business Insider that while they accept that the industry is moving in this direction, they feel the new TikTok mandate was premature since GMV Max has not yet proven itself effective for every advertiser. While the push to GMV Max has irked some big brands, it's been more warmly adopted by smaller Shop sellers, a TikTok Shop agency partner said. Direct-to-consumer brands that drive the bulk of their sales on TikTok Shop care less about off-platform tracking, and the product includes some guarantees that small sellers appreciate. For example, TikTok created a feature called "ROI Protection" within GMV Max designed to assure advertisers that their campaigns would drive results. TikTok automatically issues ad credits if the return on investment for a particular campaign falls below 90% of the target that the advertiser chose. Katy Hallam, head of client services at TikTok commerce specialist agency Onyx, said the tool has been a "game changer" for some merchants' sales and a time saver. Why the AI black box makes some big brands uneasy The ad buyers who spoke with Business Insider said that some large advertisers they work with had misgivings about TikTok Shop's forced shift. They said that TikTok had already moved the original deadline from July to September after complaints from the ad community. "Household names are more hesitant," said Jack Johnston, head of social innovation at the ad agency Tinuiti. "They have very big creative and media strategies, and they want to be able to control everything." An exec at one ad agency said TikTok granted additionalextensions to some of their clients who were unhappy about the change. Ad buyers say GMV Max lacks key insights — in areas like geography, audience, and influencer data — that marketers rely on to shape campaigns beyond TikTok. "It's very frustrating because we can't necessarily determine what is working and what isn't," Doner Partners Network's Bush said. Bush said the agency provided this feedback to TikTok, but felt it "wasn't really impactful." Another point of contention: TikTok credits all Shop purchases during a GMV Max campaign to the tool, even if the consumer never saw an ad, according to company documentation viewed by Business Insider. A TikTok spokesperson said the company offers both first- and third-party measurement solutions and partners that help advertisers measure on- and off-platform sales. They did not dispute the specific measurement complaints made by ad buyers but pointed to a page on TikTok's Business Help Center that details the metrics GMV Max provides. The page says that some metrics may not be available to all advertisers yet. TikTok Shop faces challenges in wooing big brands The GMV Max pushback is one of several obstacles TikTok Shop has faced when trying to woo larger brands, current and former TikTok employees said. While a variety of big brands have embraced the platform — including Anker, Maybelline, Philips, Garnier, and Crocs — TikTok has had an easier time pitching smaller sellers. TikTok said in June that over a third of all TikTok Shop purchases in the US each month in 2024 went to small businesses, and that 171,000 local and small businesses had opened TikTok Shops globally. One current TikTok Shop staffer said finding the right team within a big company to pitch TikTok Shop can be tough, as the platform blends social media and e-commerce functions that may fall under different divisions at a brand. Brands also sometimes complain about " dupes," or fake versions of their products, showing up in the Shop feed, one current and two former staffers said. And it can be hard to sell a big brand's team on tasks like hosting livestream sell-a-thons when the return on investment may not pan out, the staffers said.
