[chimera77]

Generally, pay is the same across all the branches and is public information. Although, I've heard the AF will give additional "substandard housing" pay if they require you to stay on an Army base.

It is usually joked that AF members are more office workers than soldiers, which is kind of what this joke is implying. My recruiter for the AF embraced that, telling potential recruits the AF has more college degree holders than all the other branches combined (not sure how true it was).

[DoreenMichele]

I was an army wife. I was friends at one time with a former air force wife. She told me that where army personnel generally get a pay cut during field time, the air force gets extra pay during field time. Edit: She specifically told me that where army wives were stressing about money during field exercises, she was out shopping.

A high percentage of compensation in the military is in the form of benefits, making it incredibly challenging to quantify or compare to a normal pay package.