Deployment related pay delayed for deployed Soldiers

The Army decided to delay providing Operational Deployment Pay to deployed Soldiers, without providing hints on when these payments will occur. This additional pay varies depending on rank. Army officials stated that the details for this specific pay were not completely sorted out. This confusion resulted in pay errors. The Army wanted to fix these “glitches” before moving forward with disbursing this pay.

From Military.com:

“The Army is reviewing the Operational Deployment Pay policy and, as such, we will not be implementing the policy on Oct. 1,” Bryce Dubee, a service spokesperson, said in a statement. “When the review is complete, we will provide additional guidance.”

The memo was widely circulated and briefed to commanders as recently as two weeks ago, service officials told Military.com. At the time, the Army did not respond to requests for comment when asked about numerous uncertainties in the policy — such as how the service is paying for it or whether it stacks on top of other deployment bonuses, including imminent fire pay for troops in combat zones. The policy also suggested troops who are hospitalized would lose their bonus pay, which was potentially a typo or gross oversight.

“We got ahead of our skis here; it was inappropriate to brief leaders on clearly underbaked policy,” one Army official with direct knowledge of the situation told Military.com on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation. “This should’ve never made it as far as it did.”

Traditionally, such huge policy shifts are tweaked for months at the Pentagon and circulated among top brass for feedback, but word of the bonus pay made its way down to the junior soldier level in some units currently deployed — leading to some commanders having to warn subordinates not to rely on any new money in their pockets, given the uncertainty around the policy.

The deployment bonus was exclusive to the Army. Some services have unique duty pay, such as the Navy’s sea pay.

The move to give soldiers a little extra pay comes amid a frantic schedule of deployments that outpaces the cadence of missions from the peak of the Global War on Terrorism. The pace of combat missions has dramatically scaled down in the past decade, but troops are still deployed in combat zones in Africa and the Middle East — though conventional units are rarely engaged in direct combat operations.

Additional Reading:

Beynon, S. (2024, September 25). Army delays bonus pay for deployed Soldiers. Military.com. Link.

Category: Army, Army News