Financial Arrangements Before Leaving to Basic Training
The Coast Guard strongly recommends that you make financial arrangements with your creditors to either delay payments for two months or pay in advance to cover the time you will be away at basic training. When you arrive at Cape May, you must have a checking or savings account and an ATM card. Your pay will be direct deposited into this account. The only way you will be able to access it will be to withdraw it from your personal account with your ATM card.
If you do not get a bank account and ATM card BEFORE leaving and reporting to Cape May, your pay will be seriously disrupted. You need to take care of this before arriving at Cape May so you do not have to spend time during training dealing with this.
ATM
Should you need any banking services while at the training center (TRACEN) Cape May, the Pentagon Federal Credit Union is available. This is a cooperative, not-for-profit financial institution chartered by the federal government. ATM’s are located at Dempsey Hall.
Pay Grade
Recruit trainees are paid in accordance with current pay scales for the pay grade in which they were enlisted. Most recruits are enlisted as E-1. However, there are some enlistment programs which bring people in at pay grades E-2 and E-3.
Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)
In addition to base pay, recruits with families may apply to receive Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). This is normally done during week one of training. The amount is based on the status of your dependents.
The Montgomery GI Bill
If you’re eligible, the Montgomery GI Bill/Active Duty provides up to 36 months of education benefits for:
- College or Business Courses
- Technical or Vocational Courses
- Correspondence Courses
- Apprenticeship/Job Training
- Flight Training
Under this Bill, you may receive benefits for a wide variety of training, including an undergraduate or graduate degree at a college or university, or a cooperative training program. You may also take an accredited independent study program leading to a degree.