Army Pay & Allowances, pay raises, pay allowances, pay charts - Army Times

New defense budget marks modest gains for troops, families

The 2010 military pay-and-benefits plan reflects a year of modest successes — but little gain on some bigger, long-promised improvements.

The pay-and-benefits provisions are contained in the 2010 Defense Authorization Act, or Public Law 111-84, which cleared Congress on Oct. 22 and was signed by President Barack Obama on Oct. 28.

The biggest indication that lawmakers still reserve special treatment for service members is a 3.4 percent pay raise, which marks the 11th consecutive year Congress has approved a military raise slightly higher than the average increase for private-sector workers.

The act also orders a report that may lead to an overhaul of housing standards that underpin military housing allowances, a new special pay for troops catastrophically injured, several new leave and travel provisions, and enhancements to military medical care.

But there are signs that 2010 may be the end of the line for bigger pay raises, as the act orders a report that could conclude — as defense officials have long argued — that military wages already are competitive.

The final version of the 2010 Defense Authorization Act omits proposed improvements in reserve retired pay, free package shipment to troops on contingency operations, a boost in household goods weight allowances during moves and bigger housing payments for career enlisted members. Even Obama’s support could not overcome a funding hurdle that has kept Congress from allowing disabled retirees to concurrently receive full military retired pay and veterans disability benefits.

Highlights of the act:

Pay raise

The 3.4 percent pay increase for ranks included in the act applies to basic pay and drill pay for 1.4 million active-duty troops and 838,000 drilling members of the National Guard and reserves.

This across-the-board raise is half a percentage point more than Obama requested and 1.4 percentage points more than the expected average raise for federal civilian employees. As a result, a perceived gap between military and private-sector pay that grew as large as 13.5 percent in the late 1990s would drop to 2.4 percent next year.

When: Effective Jan. 1 for mid-January paychecks.

Catastrophic injury pay

A new allowance is authorized for catastrophically injured or ill service members who need help performing everyday functions.

The injury or illness must have been incurred or aggravated in the line of duty, and must be so severe that the person would be hospitalized if he or she did not have assistance to perform tasks such as eating, bathing and dressing. A physician must certify that the assistance of another person is necessary.

Because most people with such severe injuries will be separated or retired, the provision includes an unusual feature that will continue the pay for up to 90 days after a member leaves the military, to provide time for veterans disability benefits — which also include a similar aid-and-attendance payment for the severely injured — to take effect.

The allowance, designed mainly to recognize efforts of the family member giving assistance, will be set at the same rate paid to a veteran with a similar disability, about $2,000 a month for service members with dependents.

When: Effective Oct. 28, but at the discretion of the Defense Department, which can decide whether to implement it.

Stop-loss allowance

Authority to pay the relatively new $500-a-month stop-loss allowance, due to expire at the end of 2009, is extended into 2011.

But lawmakers did not accept a proposal that would have authorized stop-loss payments during pre- and post-deployment periods for Guard and reserve members. Payments will continue to be made only for periods when retirement or separation is involuntarily delayed by military orders.

When: Extended through June 30, 2011.

Afghanistan extension bonus

A member with a critical skill, such as language proficiency, who agrees to Afghanistan service for three years or more could get additional assignment pay or special duty pay, under rules to be determined by the defense secretary.

When: The pilot program was authorized Oct. 28 and expires Dec. 31, 2012.

Bonus extensions

A number of bonuses set to expire Dec. 31 are extended. This includes enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses and accession bonuses for active and reserve forces, bonuses for converting to critical skills, incentive pay for transferring between services, and bonuses and special pays for health care professionals and nuclear-qualified officers.

When: All the above bonuses are extended until Dec. 31, 2010.

Supplemental subsistence

The Special Supplemental Subsistence Allowance, paid to service members whose families are eligible for food stamps, will rise to a monthly maximum of $1,100, up from the current $500.

About 300 service members are expected to qualify for the allowance, which is paid to people who, because of their family size and income, are eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the new name for the federal food stamp program.

Payments are designed to be just enough so a military family no longer qualifies for SNAP benefits, but Pentagon officials have learned that even with the increase, some exceptionally large junior enlisted families will still qualify for food stamps and thus for the allowance.

When: Effective Oct. 1. Retroactive payments will be made once regulations are updated.

Deduction repayment limits

The maximum percentage of military pay authorized to be deducted when the government collects an overpayment from a service member will be capped at 15 percent, down from the current 20 percent. Also, service members may request a delay in repayment because of hardship, and the government also must delay collection from anyone injured in the line of duty as long as the member was not at fault for the injury.

When: Applies only to overpayments after Oct. 28, not prior debts.

Prorated special, incentive pay

Monthly payment of hostile fire pay, imminent danger pay, hazardous duty pay, assignment pay and special duty pay will be prorated to reflect the actual number of days in a month that a member performed qualifying service. It will apply to active and reserve members, and could substantially reduce payments for some people.

When: Effective Oct. 28, but new regulations must be issued.

Leave carry-over

Temporary permission to accumulate and carry over up to 75 days of leave from one fiscal year to the next, due to expire Dec. 31, 2010, is further extended so that service members don’t lose leave as a result of ongoing contingency operations.

When: The new expiration date is Sept. 30, 2012.

Family and Medical Leave

Provisions of the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act aimed at military families are expanding in two ways.

First, families or caregivers of newly discharged disabled veterans will be able to take up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave for treatment-related issues, a benefit currently available only to families and caregivers of service members still on active duty. The time off will be available for five years after a service member separates or retires.

Second, exigency leave, which allows families time off for deployment-related issues, will be provided to active-duty family members who are not currently eligible, and the kinds of deployments meriting time off will expand to include any overseas deployment, not just the contingency operations covered in current law.

Exigency leave allows time off to attend briefings and arrival and departure ceremonies, to handle legal or financial matters on behalf of the deployed member, and to allow family members to take vacations with service members if they are able to arrange mid-deployment R&R.

When: Effective Oct. 28.

Respite leave pay

Troops who did not get Post-Deployment/Mobilization Respite Absence leave earned after Jan. 19, 2007, could receive $200 for each day of administrative leave they should have earned.

The Pentagon-created program, known as PDMRA, gives nonchargeable time off to those who have frequent deployments. The program took more than a year to get off the ground after it was announced, which meant some people who had earned administrative leave had left service before they could use the days off.

The program is especially valuable to Guard and reserve members because they receive full pay and benefits during the respite leave. There is no limit on the number of days of payment, which in some cases could be more than 40, and people who have left service will be eligible.

Service members who were or are offered respite leave and decide not to take it will not be eligible for the payment.

When: Authorized Oct. 28, but regulations on how payments will be computed must be approved. The $200 benefit expires Oct. 28, 2010.

Travel to hospitalized troops

Travel allowances will be provided for up to three people to make up to three trips in a 60-day period to visit a hospitalized service member who is severely wounded, injured or ill, including serious mental disorders.

Authorized visitors will not necessarily have to be immediate family members; they can be anyone designated by the service member. If a service member is unable to make a designation, the attending surgeon or head of the medical facility may designate someone with a personal relationship to the member whose presence might offer aid and support during inpatient treatment. For every additional 60 days of hospitalization, another three visits for three people are authorized.

When: Effective Oct. 28.

Travel for nonmedical aides

Similar in some ways to the travel benefits for visitors of hospitalized veterans, travel and transportation allowances will be provided for one person serving as nonmedical attendant for a seriously injured service member.

In this case, an attending physician or hospital commander must determine that a nonmedical attendant would be good for the hospitalized service member’s health and welfare, and that the would-be attendant is appropriate and qualified for the job. Benefits include round-trip travel and a per diem.

When: Effective Oct. 28, but requires prior authorization by medical officials.

Specialty care travel

Active-duty members requiring specialty care under exceptional circumstances would be eligible for reimbursement of travel costs for them and their dependents, an expansion of current policy that limits payment to travel of 100 miles or more when a primary care doctor approves the specialty care.

When: Authorized Oct. 28, but this is a discretionary measure that would become available only if the Defense Department decides to implement it.

Guaranteed health evaluations

Two provisions in the act address the medical exams that must be done before discharge or separation. One says Guard and reserve members who have been receiving imminent danger pay during deployment must be kept on active duty until they receive a physical or mental disability evaluation, unless they request to be demobilized. Anyone who asks to demobilize without an evaluation would have to be counseled on the consequences.

The second provision says a medical exam is required before anyone diagnosed or reasonably claiming to have post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury could receive an involuntary administrative separation.

When: The Guard and reserve provision took effect Oct. 28 and lasts for five years. The PTSD and TBI provision is a permanent change in law that will apply to administrative separations after Oct. 28.

Pre-mobilization Tricare

Reservists who previously were eligible for Tricare coverage 90 days before the start of their active duty if they have received advance orders will now have 180 days of pre-mobilization coverage.

When: The extra days took effect Oct. 28 and will apply to anyone who is under current orders or who receives new mobilization orders.

Reserve dental care

Reservists using transitional dental care after they have been on active duty for 30 days or longer in support of a contingency operation will have the same priority for appointments as active-duty members. Guard and reserve members have 180 days of post-mobilization eligibility for dental benefits.

When: Effective Oct. 28.

Survivor dental coverage

Dental coverage for surviving children is increased beyond the current limit of three years after a service member’s death. Children’s coverage will be whichever is longer: three years, until their 21st birthday or until their 23rd birthday if they remain full-time students. This change makes survivor dental coverage the same as survivor Tricare benefits.

When: Effective Oct. 28, so some surviving children whose coverage stopped could have benefits restored.

Tricare for ‘gray area’ retirees

Reservists who qualify for military retired pay but are not yet drawing it because they have not reached age 60 will become eligible for Tricare Standard health coverage for themselves and their dependents. Coverage will terminate when they reach age 60 and become eligible for regular retiree health benefits. Premiums for the coverage would be determined by the defense secretary.

When: Nominally took effect Oct. 1, but there is no deadline by which the Defense Department must set premiums and enrollment rules.