In a Government Shutdown, Here’s What Happens When Soldiers Miss a Paycheck

As U.S. Marines set up rifle range targets for a training exercise at Parris Island, South Carolina, a potential U.S. government shutdown and the possibility of serving without pay dominated the conversations.

Marines who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan expressed frustration — often sprinkled with profanity — over questions about how they would pay their bills and feed their families. One Marine said he would stop working the moment his pay stopped.

Those conversations occurred more than 12 years ago, as another shutdown loomed.

“I remember us sweating over how we would pay our rent,” former Marine Sgt. Dustin Haskin, a combat veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, told The Messenger. He and his wife had a young child at the time. As the deadline neared, he grew angry and wondered: What if I just stopped working? 

“We weren’t making s--t at that time,” Haskin said. “We were fortunate enough to be on WIC [the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children] and the Navy Federal Credit Union said they would pay us regardless. But I was not kidding about not working. I’d show up to work, but I wasn’t gonna do s--t.”

The Marines at Parris Island (where this reporter served at the time) endured stress and anxiety as partisan fighting over government budgets raged in the fall of 2010 and spring of 2011. But in the end, the Marines got their paychecks. Congress passed a series of continuing resolutions to keep the Defense Department funded, and ultimately congressional leaders and then-President Barack Obama reached a budget deal in April 2011 with less than two hours remaining before a shutdown was to go into effect.

Now the anxiety is back, at U.S. military installations here and around the world, and it may be more severe. A shutdown is almost a certainty, the political divisions today are deeper, and according to the White House, 1.3 million active-duty service members are at risk of not getting paid. The figure includes service members in the reserve component of the armed forces who are currently on active duty. 

A senior U.S. Navy sailor who is also a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan told The Messenger that he’s concerned for his junior sailors who receive less pay. Many lower-ranking service members earn salaries between $20,000-$30,000.

“Their bills take up a larger portion of their paycheck, and now they don’t have a guarantee of receiving a paycheck on the 15th. I’m worried they’re going to take out a loan to make ends meet,” said the sailor, who asked not to be named due to Defense Department media regulations. 

He added: “I think it’s not fair to them, you know? Even with pay they sometimes qualify for the WIC program. This is an awful reason to shut down the government — the MAGA extremists want to roll over the speaker and are literally sabotaging the House. I’m biased, sure, but none of these folks are going to suffer any consequences for their brinkmanship.” 

No impact on national security — for now 

While the stress on individual service members may be great, there is no indication that the fundamental work of the military — from overseas missions to training in the U.S. to anything else under the Defense Department’s heading of “defense and protection of the country” — will be impacted. 

Earlier this month, the department released guidance in the event of a shutdown–a series of explanations based on a September 2021 memorandum prepared by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks for senior Pentagon officials. 

“All military personnel performing active duty will continue in their normal duty status regardless of their affiliation with excepted or non-excepted activities,” the memo said. “Military personnel will not be paid until such time as Congress appropriates funds available to compensate them for this period of service.”

In other words, U.S. troops serving overseas — in Europe, South Korea, Iraq and dozens of other datelines — will continue their missions. Soldiers training at bases across the U.S. will continue to do so. They just won’t get paid while the shutdown lasts. Meanwhile, civilian employees of the Defense Department deemed non-essential will be furloughed, or temporarily suspended. 

Critical Defense Department operations would continue during the shutdown, thanks to department contingency accounts and the Defense Working Capital Fund, which is used to keep goods and services rolling into the U.S. military.  

Some programs deemed less essential will be put on hold. Intelligence gathering under the heading of “general political and economic intelligence” of foreign countries unrelated to military operations would be halted, along with the analysis and distribution of such intelligence.

Officials have listed other likely suspensions: briefings and engagement between the Pentagon and Congress would be limited to urgent issues; non-essential surgeries and other procedures in Defense Department medical facilities would be postponed; and service members and their families who had planned to move to new military installations will do so if the funds were approved prior to the shutdown. 

Other impacts will be felt at commissaries and at military-run schools,  where sporting events and extracurricular activities will be affected. 

“A government shutdown is a worst-case scenario for the department,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday. “So we continue to ask Congress to do its job and fund the government.” 

Relief for when paychecks stop

In past shutdowns, banks that serve the military, such as USAA and the Navy Federal Credit Union, have stepped in to aid service members. 

On Tuesday, Navy Federal said in a statement that the bank would offer paycheck assistance to affected service members, providing advances for eligible members. Service members who bank with USAA will have the option of applying for one-time, no-interest loans equal to the amount of their paychecks.

Many low-income military families already use the government’s WIC program or SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — to make ends meet. In 2019, SNAP covered 22,000 active-duty service members, 213,000 members of the National Guards and Reserve, and 1.1 million veterans. 

Ultimately, service members and veterans who spoke to The Messenger said military families should never be put in the position of having to take out loans to cover their cost of living. 

“Service members have the option to seek out no-interest loans and they can also go to food pantries locally if they’re under threat of food insecurity but why? Why should they?” said the senior U.S. Navy sailor. “The worst thing will be a Marine lance corporal going to a pay-day loan place because they don’t have enough to cover their bills.” 

Editor’s Note: As a U.S. Marine, James LaPorta served with former Sgt. Dustin Haskin at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina and in Afghanistan with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment.