Obama Pulls Combat Pay For Deployed U.S. Troops

[JB Books]

The link in the story says it is part of House Resolution 1504-7, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, Section 616
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr1540enr/pdf/BILLS-112hr1540enr.pdf

I'm not really sure why that is Obama's outrage if it was passed out of the House, passed the Senate, and went to the president's desk.

Spread the hate though if it makes you feel good.

You mean, {GASP} it passed by Republicans?

 

[Fyrtwuck]

I can see it now. A contractor will be hired to carry a time card clock and get time cards punched as they enter and leave a "combat" zone.

Whats next? Jump pay? Charged as they leave the plane and only till they hit the ground.

 

[Hobbes]

You mean, {GASP} it passed by Republicans?

Yes but it's Obama's fault.
That's our story and we're stickin to it.

 

[dyabolical]

"That child just took that toy away from his sister! Well Obama is to blame!"

^^^This is basically the republican way of thinking. Of course dems do it to the righties, too. And the indies to both the elephants and donkeys.

 

[Lurkerinthewoods]

The only thing you need to remember is "the buck stops here" only applied to W. The current administration hasn't accepted responsibility for anything during the last 3 years. You can say PBO doesn't have anything to do with legislation, but it's funny how W got blamed for everything.

 

[dyabolical]

Things went to the pooper during GWB's term. So yeah kinda hard not to blame him.

 

[SMS]

Wow, lots of drama over a necessary change...mostly from folks who probably have no clue how hostile fire/IDP duty pay works.

Section 616 simply does away with the well known flaw in the system....stay 'in theater' until the 1st of the month and draw that entire month's extra pay. It's a game people have played forever....It was always easy to catch a bird out of theater on the 30th, but all the flights on the 1st or 2nd were packed because everyone (even entire units) was gaming the system to squeeze out another month of tax free and hostile fire/IDP bennies.

No grunts in the war zone are going to unfairly lose anything over this....yeah, there are a lot of other things that can/should be cut before we mess with our GIs, but there will be no day-to-day accounting for hostile fire pay. It just means that if you leave theater on the first, you get 1/30th of that month's extra pay...not the whole month....it's also written in that if you actualy come under fire or IED attack you get the whole month's pay regardless of whether or not you spent the whole month in country.

Now we could really save some cash by taking away the hostile fire pay from those chillin' by the pool in Kuwait, Qatar, UAE etc....(if they haven't already)

http://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers/payentitlements/specialpay/hfp_idp.html

 

[Lurkerinthewoods]

Things went to the pooper when during GWB's term. So yeah kinda hard not to blame him.

 

[R. Johnson]

That article is a bit misleading. The letter basically said something along the lines of HAZARDOUS duty pay will be pro-rated to time actually spent in a hazardous zone. Before if you were in country for one day of the month you got an entire month's worth of hazardous duty pay. Now you only get paid for the days you're actually there. I'll go back and look at the email again and follow up.

 

[R. Johnson]

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.

The law required proration to begin on December 31, 2011; however, because it took time to publish implementing guidance and ready pay systems, we were not ready to begin prorating the pay on that date. DoD began to pay the prorated payments beginning February 1, 2012. If you are eligible to receive IDP, you may see the prorated amount of the pay in your February 15th pay depending on the actual number of days you spend in an IDP area.

Some members may have been overpaid between the date the NDAA was signed on December 31, 2011, and February 1, 2012, when the pay systems began proration.

The military services are working to waive or remit debts for members who may have been overpaid during this period. The intent is that you will not be liable for any overpayment during this period. Also, you do not need to request or take any action for this to take place. Your service will take care of this for you.

If you have questions about this pay, please contact your finance office.

For more information, please visithttp://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers/payentitlements/specialpay/hfp_idp.html


Please do not respond to this message. Replies to this message are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. Contact your finance office with any questions.