source: an email I just got in my AKO account
To sum up: you will now only get paid for the days you're actually in combat, not "1 day a month gets you full benefits." If during the days within the month you're under fire or get attacked with an IED, you get paid for the whole month.
Personally, I think this is fair and is a long time in coming. This will eliminate "war tourists" who find a way to creep onto a flight going to Qatar or landing in Iraq on the last day of one month, and then flying out again the first day of the next month. It will also ensure people don't overstay the actual time their units need them forward in order to get that "last month" of pay. In short, it will cut down on abuse of the system. The email didn't say if the new policy affected the Combat Zone Tax Exclusion, but I think that should be prorated also, for the same reasons.
Your thoughts?
To sum up: you will now only get paid for the days you're actually in combat, not "1 day a month gets you full benefits." If during the days within the month you're under fire or get attacked with an IED, you get paid for the whole month.
Personally, I think this is fair and is a long time in coming. This will eliminate "war tourists" who find a way to creep onto a flight going to Qatar or landing in Iraq on the last day of one month, and then flying out again the first day of the next month. It will also ensure people don't overstay the actual time their units need them forward in order to get that "last month" of pay. In short, it will cut down on abuse of the system. The email didn't say if the new policy affected the Combat Zone Tax Exclusion, but I think that should be prorated also, for the same reasons.
Your thoughts?
A new law may affect the pay you receive when you are on duty in an imminent danger pay (IDP) area. About 27 locations world-wide have been designated by the Secretary of Defense as IDP areas.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA 2012), signed on December 31, 2011, requires we begin prorating IDP so that members are paid for only the actual days they perform duty in an IDP area. Before December 31, members received the full $225 a month even if they performed duty only one day in an IDP area. Now service members will receive $7.50 for each day they are on duty in an IDP area up to the maximum monthly rate of $225. Members who are exposed to a hostile fire or hostile mine explosion event are eligible to receive non-prorated Hostile Fire Pay (HFP) in the full monthly amount of $225. Members cannot receive both IDP and HFP in the same month.