U.S. Air Force pararescuemen exit the back of a C-130J Super Hercules Exercise Pacific Angel at Kuantan Air Base, Malaysia, Aug. 18, 2022. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jessi Roth.
Hundreds of Air Force special ops troops, recruiters, cryptology specialists, and others with high-tempo jobs will not see pay cuts next month.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced at the annual Air & Space Forces Association's conference this week that planned reductions to special duty assignment pay, or SDAP, would not go into effect in October. About 30,000 airmen, or slightly less than 10% of the active-duty force, receive SDAP pay each month, which can vary from $75 for junior troops to as high as $450 for senior leaders.
The pay goes to most troops in the service's special ops jobs, as well as those in high-intensity jobs around national defense assets like nuclear weapons, cryptology, and airborne command posts. SDAP also goes to several public-facing jobs, like flight attendants and crew chiefs on VIP jets, contracting troops, those assigned to presidential details, and professional military education instructors.
An E-4B National Airborne Operations Center aircraft takes off from Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, July 10, 2019. The E-4B provides travel support for the secretary of defense to ensure command and control connectivity outside of the continental United States. US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob Skovo.
A shortfall in the 2023 budget had left the Air Force short of money to pay the full SDAP for the roughly 30,000 troops who receive it. The Air Force budget defines jobs eligible for SDAP as those "which are extremely difficult and/or duties which involve an unusual degree of responsibility in a military skill."
Air Force officials had announced over the summer that several hundred troops across 11 career fields would lose half their special pay in October due to the budget shortfall, with the other half going away in 2024. The fields to be affected by the pay cuts were:
The Air Force, Kendall said, "will restore all the cuts to special duty assignment pay that were scheduled to take place on October 1." Kendall did not say where the money would come from to cover the shortfall.
Combat control trainees from the 334th Training Squadron run back on shore after doing 100 jumping jacks in the Gulf of Mexico during a physical training session April 12, 2013, on Biloxi beach. US Air Force photo by Kemberly Groue.
Hundreds of Air Force special ops troops, recruiters, cryptology specialists, and others with high-tempo jobs will not see pay cuts next month.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced at the annual Air & Space Forces Association's conference this week that planned reductions to special duty assignment pay, or SDAP, would not go into effect in October. About 30,000 airmen, or slightly less than 10% of the active-duty force, receive SDAP pay each month, which can vary from $75 for junior troops to as high as $450 for senior leaders.
The pay goes to most troops in the service's special ops jobs, as well as those in high-intensity jobs around national defense assets like nuclear weapons, cryptology, and airborne command posts. SDAP also goes to several public-facing jobs, like flight attendants and crew chiefs on VIP jets, contracting troops, those assigned to presidential details, and professional military education instructors.
E-4B National Airborne Operations Center Takeoff (1920x1097, AR: 1.75)
A shortfall in the 2023 budget had left the Air Force short of money to pay the full SDAP for the roughly 30,000 troops who receive it. The Air Force budget defines jobs eligible for SDAP as those "which are extremely difficult and/or duties which involve an unusual degree of responsibility in a military skill."
Air Force officials had announced over the summer that several hundred troops across 11 career fields would lose half their special pay in October due to the budget shortfall, with the other half going away in 2024. The fields to be affected by the pay cuts were:
The Air Force, Kendall said, "will restore all the cuts to special duty assignment pay that were scheduled to take place on October 1." Kendall did not say where the money would come from to cover the shortfall.
Combat control trainees (1200x808, AR: 1.49)
Even among special ops troops, some who hold specific jobs and assignments were scheduled to see a cut in SDAP, including those who collected the monthly bonus because they were assigned to the 724th Special Tactics Group or Joint Special Operations Command. Among specific special warfare jobs, only one — combat control — was scheduled to see an SDAP drop, while similarly trained and deployed pararescuemen, tactical air control party (TACP), and special reconnaissance troops did not face a loss in pay.
Finally, the Air Force had planned to add several jobs to begin receiving SDAP that previously did not:
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Matt White is a former senior editor for Coffee or Die Magazine. He was a pararescueman in the Air Force and the Alaska Air National Guard for eight years and has more than a decade of experience in daily and magazine journalism.
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