Spring 2006
The 2006 National Defense Authorization Act contains many benefits for military members and families, including a new provision for survivors of non-combat active-duty deaths to receive the same $100,000 gratuity paid for combat deaths. The gratuity is retroactive to the beginning of the war on terror for those who had received a smaller amount.
In addition to an across-the-board 3.1 percent pay raise - a half-percent higher than the average private sector increase - the new law contains many significant features:
- increase in the maximum re-enlistment bonus, from $60,000 to $90,000
- higher maximum enlistment bonus, from $20,000 to $40,000
- new ceiling on hardship-duty pay, from $300 to $750 per month
- doubling the maximum incentive pay for hard-to-fill assignments, from $1,500 to $3,000 a month
- new allowance to cover the first $150,000 in Servicemembers Group Life Insurance premiums for troops serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom
- new bonus of up to $2,500 for members who agree to transfer from one service to another and serve for at least three years
- incentive pay of up to $1,000 for members who refer someone who enlists in the Army and successfully completes basic training
- average 5.9 percent increase in housing allowances, with authority to increase set levels temporarily by as much as 20 percent in certain areas
- increase of 2,000 pounds in the household goods weight allowance for senior non-commissioned officers E-7 and above
- payment of travel and lodging for families of hospitalized servicemembers wounded in combat zones
More details are posted on the DoD's military compensation website, www.defenselink.mil/militarypay.
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