In a move aimed at supporting service members during prolonged deployments, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth announced on Monday that soldiers will receive an extra $240 per month if they are deployed for longer than 60 days.
The new provision, referred to as Operational Deployment Pay, will be retroactive to Oct. 1, meaning that any soldiers who have been deployed since that date and meet the two-month requirement will be eligible for the additional compensation.
In September, Military.com reported on an early draft version of the policy that was eventually nixed. That version would have paid troops between $210 and $450 based on rank -- something senior leaders did not have an appetite for.
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"All soldiers of all ranks are sharing the rigors of deployment the same and they are all away from their families, so we felt like a flat rate made sense to us," Wormuth said at the Association of the United States Army, or AUSA, conference in Washington, D.C.
However, it's unclear when the new policy announced Monday will go into effect, because the particulars of the bonus pay are not yet ironed out and the policy has not been finalized. Wormuth told reporters that the bonus pay is for the "hardship of being away from families but also the rigors of deployment."
The move comes at a time when service members are spending more time away from home than during the height of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army is currently managing a range of high-stakes missions, including reinforcing NATO's presence in Eastern Europe amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and boosting its footprint in the Pacific to counter China's expansionist goals.
In addition to those missions, U.S. units remain engaged in combat zones across Africa and the Middle East. While direct combat has diminished, the threat to troops persists, with incidents of missile and drone strikes resulting in serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries. Notably, eight service members were treated for injuries following a drone attack attributed to Iran-backed militias in Syria in August and three Army Reserve soldiers were killed by a drone attack at Jordan outpost, called Tower 22, near the Iraq border in January.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden on Sunday ordered the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, as well as at least 100 troops to Israel to bolster its defenses following a missile attack by Iran and an ongoing Israeli offensive against Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, soldiers' prolonged absences from home can largely be attributed to an intense training schedule, including lengthy rotations at combat training centers that are often about a month, not including preparation time. That relentless tempo has raised concerns over the mental health of service members, contributing to rising rates of anxiety and suicide -- a challenge that senior military leaders have acknowledged but have yet to effectively address.
Those issues are especially prevalent in air defense and armor units, formations that are spread thin and are uniquely in demand for missions abroad.
Veterans and service members experiencing a mental health emergency can call the Veteran Crisis Line, 988 and press 1. Help also is available by text, 838255, and via chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net.
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