Special & Incentive Pays
Types of Incentive Pays
Incentive pays are designed to compensate service members for tasks or environments that involve unusual hazards or require specialized skills.
Hazardous Duty Incentive Pay (HDIP)
This is paid servicemembers who volunteer to for a designated “hazardous duty.” The most common examples of HDIP include “Jump Pay,” “Flight Pay,” and “Demolition Pay.”
Jump Pay
Servicemembers designated as a parachutist (or undergoing training to become a parachutist) and required to participate in duty involving parachute jumping from an aircraft while in flight receive $150 per month for static line jumps (the standard military parachute jump) and up to $225 per month for military freefall jumps. Doing a minimum of at least one parachute jump every three months is required to continue receiving this pay. Jumpmaster may qualify for additional compensation, although that is an assignment incentive, rather than HDIP
Flight Pay (crewmembers)
This is paid to servicemembers whose duty involves frequent aerial flight as a crew member. Payment ranges from $110 to $250 per month based on the number of years on flight status. Note: this hazardous duty pay is not paid to career aviators (they receive other financial incentives).
Flight Pay (non-crewmembers)
This is paid to servicemembers whose duties involve frequent aerial flights, but who are not a member of the flight crew. Payment is up to $150 per month.
Demolition Pay
Servicemembers whose primary duty involves the demolition of explosives or disarming or demolishing explosives (such as explosive ordnance disposal personnel assigned to an explosive ordnance disposal billet) are paid up to $150 for each qualifying month.
Less common examples of hazardous duty include diving duty (up to $240/month), flight deck operations, toxic fuels duty, maritime visit and board, polar flight operations, and weapons of mass destruction civil support. These typically pay $150 per month.
Types of Special Pays
Hostile Fire Pay (HFP)
Paid when you are deployed to a hostile fire area. This is currently $225 a month. You get the full amount for each month, or part of a month, that you serve in the designated area.
Service Bonuses
The military offers enlistment and reenlistment incentives ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 for critical specialties. Some specialties offer as much as $95,000 to retain skilled Marines.
Imminent Danger Pay (IDP)
The same rate and rules as Hostile Fire Pay, but applies where the area is classified as 'imminent danger'. You can receive one or the other, but never both at the same time.
Career Sea Pay
Available to members of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Army. Payments start at $50 and can go up to $750 monthly ($477 for Soldiers) as rank and sea service time increase.
Continuation Pay
Continuation Pay is listed first because every enlisted member of the military is eligible to receive this pay. It is paid to everyone between eight and twelve years of service, who agrees to continue to serve until retirement.
Each service has the freedom to manage this incentive, within certain limits, so our model takes the middle ground and assumes the Continuation Pay is received after 10 years of service, at the pay grade of E-6 ($4170.90 monthly base pay times 2.5 = $10,427.25 in Continuation Pay). When the Continuation Pay incentive is received, using the model career path in this book, the servicemember’s marginal tax rate is 12%, so the after-tax amount available to invest would equal $9,175.98. In 2023, all uniformed services (except the Marine Corps) pay Continuation Pay using a 2.5 multiplier; the Marine Corps uses a 5.0 multiplier, so Marines receive twice as much money for their Continuation Pay bonus.
Investing $10,000 in Continuation Pay, rather than spending it, could yield more than $100,000 being added to your TSP balance by the age of 59-1/2!