Hazard Pay for US troops in Ukraine

| July 30, 2023

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There is an element of US military personnel at the embassy in Kyiv. They have recently been authorized to receive hazardous duty pay in addition to the hardship duty pay that they had been receiving. The Pentagon described these individuals as assisting with embassy related security as well as with overseeing the billions of dollars of military equipment sent to Ukraine.

From the Military Times:

Service members in Ukraine can now earn an extra $7.50 per day, capped at $225 per month, in addition to their base salary and other bonuses. Troops who qualify will get back pay dating as far back as April 24, 2022, the official said.

Grier Martin, who is temporarily serving as the Pentagon’s top personnel official, approved the change in a July 13 memo, which was posted to the unofficial “Air Force amn/nco/snco” Facebook page on Thursday. Military Times confirmed the memo’s authenticity.

U.S. forces could already receive a separate $150 allowance, known as hardship duty pay, for working in Ukraine. That amount will drop to $100 each month when combined with the new bonus, the memo said, meaning troops can earn $325 in total monthly hazard pay.

The pay is retroactive to align with the State Department’s parallel decision to offer danger pay to employees in Ukraine in April 2022.

The Pentagon has said a small number of U.S. troops are stationed at the American embassy in Kyiv, working as its security detail and accounting for billions of dollars of military equipment the U.S. is sending to Ukraine.

A small U.S. special operations team working out of the embassy helps Ukrainian troops with intelligence operations and provides security for high-level visitors, but is not fighting alongside Ukrainian troops on the battlefield, ABC News reported in April.

A former U.S. official told ABC the team has helped Ukrainians plan operations that have led to “hundreds, if not thousands, of Russian military casualties.” The group arrived shortly after Russia launched a major invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Military Times has additional information.

Category: Big Pentagon, Russia, Ukraine

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Ocean12

I remember when I was in the Navy working on the flight deck. We had limited spots for flight deck pay so it was bounced around a lot. However there were some admin types that got flight deck pay every month…. my first introduction to government corruption and I was toy young to realize it.

Hack Stone

Hack Stone recalls several Master Sergeants taking up valuable slots for the Advanced Party Install Team to get their shopping done before the inevitable price hike with thousands of GI’s stimulating the economy. Never saw one of them unspool on reel of cable.

26Limabeans

In Viet of the Nam it was designated as Hostile Fire Pay (HFP)
on the pay voucher. I think it was $65 a month.
Inflation (corruption) must have upped it a bit since then.

Claw

Yep, HFP was $65.00, and FDP (Foreign Duty Pay) was $13.50 a month. Enlisted Flight Pay was $55.00.

Being under the age of 21 got the hard liquor portion of your ration card X-ed out, but cigarettes were only $1.70 a carton. / s

Last edited 9 months ago by Claw
timactual

I still have the sads because my Vietnam raton card only authorized me to buy three cameras, two projectors, one refrigerator, etc. ….. and NO extension cords! How did those idiots expect us to run all those gadgets out in the boonies without an extension cord?!

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Claw

Yes Sir. Having those little extras added on sure made you think you were being paid big money when you consider that a PFC (under 2) was only getting $180.90 a month. You got a whopping $69.00 more a month when you made Spec4.

But that’s all long gone now, as the base pay for a single PFC E-3 under 2 is now $2,259.90 per month.

rgr769

As an O-3 with 2 years of service and serving in Vietnam, I was getting about $800 per month, including $110 for jump pay and the $65 for HFP. I still have my initial pay voucher as a newbie butter bar: $305 for my first month of AD.

Anonymous

Stuff hadn’t changed much– like Germany in ’90s, just a different color. Germans didn’t care how much booze, cigarettes and coffee I bought anyway.

Last edited 9 months ago by Anonymous
MarineDad61

Anonymous,
Mid 80s West Germany….
Ration card allowed 4 cartons per month…
and cartons (yes, 10 packs of Marlboro) were only $3.58.

Anonymous

Only time I bought cigarettes over there was to give my troops when we deployed. Marlboros.

SFC D

I never understand why coffee and tea were rationed in Germany in the 90’s. They didn’t want our American swill.

Anonymous

‘Zactly… only place the ration card came up was the American commissary (pain in the butt) just to buy beer and coffee. If there was a German supermarkt between the unit and my quarters, I wouldn’t have bothered.

rgr769

Why would anyone stationed in Germany buy American beer at the commissary? You would have had to hold a gun on me to get me to drink a Buttwiper in Germany. In the O-club, I can’t recall anyone ever drinking American beer. Mainzer-Atkien was our local brewery. Their beer was superb.

Anonymous

Weren’t buying American beer at Commissary/ClassVI in Germany, that’s fer sure…

timactual

Even our company snack bar stocked German beer.

SFC D

Eichbaum was the brew of choice in Worms, Darmstadter in Darmstadt, I forget what Karlsruhe had.

26Limabeans

“cigarettes were only $1.70 a carton. / s”

Menthol on the street could get you a bit more. / s

Claw

I bought Pall Mall Menthol Kings on my way back from Wally World this morning.

They were $74.90 + Tax a carton. / s

MarineDad61

Claw,
PA is up to $111.
It’s higher points east and north,
meaning, ALL of New England.

It makes sense to stock up
when traveling through Virginny or either Caroliny.

rgr769

IIRC, in the Viet of the Nam, a carton of Marlboros was about $2.50.

timactual

Lucky me, I didn’t have to pay for my cigarettes; got them free in C-rats and “sundry packs”. Helluva way to save money.

rgr769

Ditto. I too mostly smoked C-rat cigs, plus the very reasonable OP’s mooched from my RTO’s in the bush. However, on stand-downs, I would buy my RTO smokers and my medic each a carton.

jeff LPH 3 63-66

If I remember, sea store cartons went for around
$ 2.00 a carton

Steve1371

I remember it as being $45.00 a month. But a dollar was almost a dollar back then.

Hack Stone

Are those US Military Advisers showing the benefits of Diversity Equity and Inclusion being the key to success in combat?

fm2176

A diverse, equitable, and inclusive force is the key to our nation’s survival. DEI used to stand for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., but the acronym has been appropriately appropriated apropos to the purpose.

Last edited 9 months ago by fm2176
Anonymous

No to mention:
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rgr769

Apparently, that is because their deviant sexual urges are largely uncontrollable.

Roh-Dog

‘Discipline’ as a standard is now conditional based on political exposure of punishing aberrant behavior.

Are you having a…

Last edited 9 months ago by Roh-Dog
fm2176

According to (mainstream liberal) sources, the claim that LGBT[insertlettershere] individuals are disproportionately diaper sniffers is a far-Right conspiracy. I mean, I find it odd that a lot of offenders are sexually deviant in many ways but using that term (deviant) to describe groups of people who base their entire lives and personas on sexuality and/or preferred gender is badspeak.

Back to reality, alleged sexual predators, regardless of who or what they are, should be given a fair and speedy trial with a suitable sentence should they be found guilty. Personally, I think a bit of rope is simple and cheap enough.

Anonymous

It’s an LGBT “identity” item to push the envelope for now and “racist” to criticize.
Folk knew something in the ’50s:

rgr769

Good quality hemp rope is also reusable. Thus, further cutting long term costs.

KoB

If we didn’t have our people “…in harm’s way…” for a proxy war that we have no business being in (other than protecting the grift that’s ongoing) then we wouldn’t have to be paying them extry money. Is this extry expenditure coming out of the Big Guy’s 10%?

2banana

Certainly glad the congress has sole power to declare war…

Hey troopers…yes, the Russians will track you by your cell phone, fitbit and social media.

Roh-Dog

Reading the fucking constitution is now rightwing extremism, comrade.

WWYICD? (What Would Your Inner Commie Do?)

Inner_Comrade_WWYICD.png
Anonymous

Freedom is “racist,” comrade!

Odie

Ohhhh, 7.50 a day hazardous duty pay. Where do I sign up, or can I just skim some of uncle Sam’s largess as it passes over my desk.

You know, accounting error and all that

Roh-Dog

The Glorious Politburo of Militarized Economy and State scum fucks will only be paying in JoeBux aka ‘wish stamps’. Like food stamps, but way less likelihood of causing obesity.
(see below)

JoeBux.jpeg
MCPO USN

So, these personnel in Ukraine are there to protect the kickbacks to the Biden Crime Family. Takes high security to guard pallets of cash destined and get it to offshore accounts, and keep your mouth shut…

Odie

Makes one wonder if the plane they fly back on will have a missile lock on to them after taking off.

rgr769

TCOB, someone has to handle clean-up. I am wondering if Devon Archer makes it to Congress tomorrow. He has been hiding in an unknown location for the past ten days.

rgr769

Welp, Devon squealed on the Bidens today.