President Obama signed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act on the last day of 2011. The new law includes a 1.6 percent raise for active-duty and reserve -- the raise went into effect the following day. This was the last pending pay and compensation issue to impact pay and allowances for 2012 .
View the 2012 Military Pay Charts to see what you will earn this year.
This year’s defense bill also includes several other provisions that will potentially affect active-duty and retired servicemembers and their families. The following is a list of those changes:
- The law will extend authority for the DoD to continue to offer voluntary separation pay and benefits to those facing involuntary separations through 2018.
- The $100 a day high-deployment allowance for those deployed more than 400 days out of the preceding 730 days, will no longer be “mandatory.” The wording now authorizes the DoD to pay this compensation rather than mandating it; this change may give the DoD the opportunity to phase-out this allowance.
- Future annual TRICARE enrollment fee increases for retirees and their family members will be limited to the annual Retiree COLA percentage.
Read the full American Forces Press Service article to learn more about the many other provisions that may affect military life.
