I was wondering the same thing, could Kuwait not be consider "combat duty"? Don't know, it's been 20 years since I had an LES (had to think a minute on what it meant).

BTW, I don't think ANY active duty time should be taxed period! Good luck and thanks as usual to all of you who serve.

 

LES............Leave and Earnings Statement!!!!!!!! The most loved paperwork I got on a regular basis!! Loved to watch those 2.5 days of vacation add up every month!!!!!

Dusty

 

Send a e mail to Bill O'Reilly. He will give them hell. Good luck and thanks to all for my FREEDOM.

 

Nope, Kuwait is a "combat zone." (IRS source)
Oh, and personally, I agree, I don't think any active duty (I'll also add reserve and guard) pay should be taxed. Just another way for them to say "Hey, thanks for what ya do."

gtxpooch, President Bush announced the end of "major combat operations" on 1May2003. (Speech)

 

Shes in Taji rite now. She stayed in Kuwait for like two weeks. its only been like 115 degrees there,,, AND raining. I feel for the Army,, in my last unit, we get told to pack and where to be 72 hours in advance, locked in a room, gave the specifics and off we went,, home in a couple of days, not even long enough to get a sunburn. What shes enduring just sucks.

another thought,,, for the millions, and billions of dollars that the govt. spends of senseless things,,, why cant they have a solid line of communication for the soldiers to contact their families back home. Instead of it being free, they have to buy freakin phone cards, which $40 only gets u like 90 minutes, and u will get cut off at least three times during each converstion,,, thats IF u can even get through. I would love to get on CNN Healine News, and tell the "REAL" story of how it is. Then watch Rumsfeild and Bush wiggle their way out of that one. [sm=rant.gif]

 

Go for it someone who is going through it are the best ones to speak up about this Bull ****. I don't see why they have to pay taxes for what little money they receive! Want to tax them then give them a big raise so that the lowest man gets paid no less then $3,000.00 a month.

JMHO

 

Kuwait IS NOT a combat zone, neither is Qatar or Saudi. All of which were getting the tax exemption up until fairly recently. Really pissed everybody off that was actually in a COMBAT ZONE, coming into Al As Salem, Kuwait, or Qatar and seeing people hanging out by the olympic size swimming pools, getting 3 beers a night, and having a laundry service, living in AC'd hooches and still getting the same bennies as the guys getting shot at.

But yeah think about it....if you work for the federal government (military or otherwise) and you pay taxes, you are really paying YOUR OWN pay check. Crock of chit ain't it.

It depends on when the paperwork was submitted by her unit to start the combat zone exclusions.

If it was after the 6th of the month, it won't kick in until the end of month pay period. If it was after he 23rd, then it wouldn't start until the next mid month pay period.

If she was taxed for a period that she was in country, she'll get it back in the next pay check along with all the other hostile fire, family seperation, etc.

My pay was screwy for about 2 months in country. Then again, it stayed screwy for 2 months after I got back.

The only thing that really stinks, is your tax return will suck. Well, mine did anyways, as I was only in the US for a total of 15 days last year.

As for the commo issue......you can call home for free, if you are near a military installation (be it reserve or active). I never spend a dime the whole time I was there. I just used a DSN phone, called a Ft Benning and got an outside line for a local call. Talked to the wife every night.

Until she gets used to the area, it'll seem jacked up. It's not all as bad as the Combat News Network (CNN) makes it out to be. For every one crappy thing they show, there are 1000 good things going on that you'll never see.

Rich

 

Yeah,, I'm sure its not ALL bad, the adjustment period is something else though. If it were me,, I wouldn't give a rats butt, I'd smile and do whatever. But, my wife just had our daughter less than 5 months ago. Now, I know thats no excuse, after all, she did sign up and she knew what she was getting into. I guess I'm passin on the bitchin,,, she bitches to me, I bitch to you guys, u know how it is. I appreciate everyone listening and giving positive comments though, .

 

I hear ya man.

My wife has just gotten used to me being gone. She used to get a little upset, but she slowly got used to the fact that this is what I do and it's what she married.

I think she vented more to me while I was gone than I did back to her.

She honestly would rather have me over there again rather than go back to being a DS again. I don't know which was worse for her.

All you can do is support her while she's gone. Knowing that things are cool back home makes it much easier to deal with. If she asks for something, don't sit on it, get it quick. It may be something stupid, like a friggin comfortable pillow, but it may mean a whole lot to her over there.

Just try to understand if she gets weird on ya. I know when I came home it took me a bit of adjustment to get myself reset with everything. I found myself driving in the middle of the road, looking for crap to blow up, hell I wouldn't even leave the house without one of the pistols in the truck. Just takes time.

Just listen when she needs it, as I'm sure she'll need it often. Especially for the first month or so. That's usually the worst. After that, it's all just a game.

 

Here ya go. Just so ya don't think it's all door kickin' and crap. Some of the best times I had over there were doing this. Made it all worth while to see these faces.

If you think that what we're doing over there doesn't make a difference, you don't know the half. Don't let the friggin' Combat News Network let you think differently.



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