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Other Pay: Hardship Duty Pay

There are two types of hardship-duty pay: HDP-L for serving in a hardship location and HDP-M for serving on special hardship missions.

The maximum amount of hardship duty pay allowed by law increased under the 2008 Defense Authorization Act to $1,500 per month, up from the old limit of $750 per month. In addition, the 2008 law allows the services to pay the amount that a service member earns or is expected to earn for a specific hardship duty assignment in a lump sum, rather than monthly payments. No service currently pays anywhere close to the maximum hardship duty pay allowed by law.

HDP-L. This is for enlisted personnel and officers serving in more than 150 locations around the world that are deemed austere and/or arduous. Members who serve 30 or more days in a designated hardship area get $50, $100 or $150 per month, depending on the area and the level of austerity.

The danger level of a particular location also factors into hardship duty pay. As such, locations like Iraq and Afghanistan, which qualify for both hardship duty and imminent danger pay, are rated at just $100 per month for HDP-L. Thus, service members can draw up to $325 per month in a location that qualifies for both imminent danger pay and hardship duty pay.

HDP-M. This is for troops assigned to, on temporary duty to or under operational control of Joint Task Force Full Accounting or the Central Identification Lab Hawaii. The rate is $150 a month to perform investigations and excavations of crash sites to recover remains of U.S. service members in remote areas of nations such as Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and North Korea.

Troops assigned to the task force could qualify for both HDP-L and HDP-M, earning a maximum of $300 per month if they spend 30 or more days in Laos, Vietnam or North Korea.

Iraq and beyond. In a special situation, the Pentagon has authorized an additional $200 in hardship duty pay — for a total of $300 — for troops involuntarily spending more than 12 months of continuous duty in the Iraq and Afghanistan combat zones.

Hardship duty pay is taxable unless received in a designated combat zone.

For the areas that qualify for hardship duty pay, visit http://www.military times.com/money and click on “Pay Charts.”