special duty assignment pay army regulation

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Special Duty Assignment Pay

If you are an enlisted member who is performing duties which have been designated as extremely difficult or involving an unusual degree of responsibility in a military skill, you may be entitled to Special Duty Assignment Pay (SDAP).

The following table reflects the most recent SDAP monthly rates:

What Military Specialties Qualify For Special Duty Assignment Pay?

Some of the qualifying military specialties include:

• Nuclear Trained Sailors
• Special Operations Forces
• Production Recruiter
• White House Communications Agency
• Defense Threat Reduction Agency
• Defense Courier Operations
• Senior Enlisted Advisor to the JCS

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Hazardous Duty Incentive Pay (HDIP)

Section 351 Hazardous Duty Pay

Discretionary pays; payable to enlisted members and officers.

Hostile Fire Pay  - HFP may be paid to a Service member of a uniformed service who performs duty in a hostile fire area; is exposed to a hostile fire event; is on duty during a month in an area in which a hostile event occurred that placed the Service member in grave danger of physical injury; or is killed, injured, or wounded by a hostile fire event.  HFP is a monthly rate of $225, which may not be prorated (may not receive simultaneously with IDP).

Imminent Danger Pay  - IDP may be paid to a uniformed service member who is subject to the threat of physical harm or imminent danger on the basis of civil insurrection, civil war, terrorism, or wartime conditions in a foreign area.  IDP is a monthly rate of $225 (may not receive simultaneously with HFP) and is prorated based on the actual number of days a member is in an imminent danger area.

Hazardous Duty Incentive Pay  - HDIP provides a monetary incentive to Service members who volunteer to perform a duty designated as hazardous, based upon the inherent dangers of the duty and risks of physical injury.  The monthly rate for HDIP is based on the duty and is prorated to reflect the duration of the member's actual qualifying service during the month.  The duties listed below are eligible for HDIP. 

• Flying Duty  - The Secretary concerned may pay HDIP to Service members required by competent orders to participate in frequent and regular aerial flights as an aircrew member or to non-aircrew members who otherwise meet the requirements for flying duty.
• Flying Duty, Crew Members  - For performance of hazardous duty involving frequent and regular aerial flight as a crew member, and to induce members (other than, career aviators) to volunteer for flying duty assignments as crew members and to retain the required number of skilled crewmembers to man mission requirements. Payment ranges from $110 to $250 per month.
• Flying Duty, Non Crew Members  - For performance of hazardous duty involving frequent and regular aerial flight, and to induce members (other than, career aviators) to volunteer for, and remain in, flying duty assignments as 'other than crew members'.  Payment is up to $150 per month.
• Parachute Duty  - The Secretary concerned may pay HDIP to Service members required by competent orders to participate in duty involving parachute jumping from an aircraft while in flight. Qualified Service members are those who have received a designation as a parachutist, including those undergoing training for such designation; who are required by competent orders to engage in parachute jumping from an aircraft in aerial flight; and who meet the minimum performance requirement of jumping at least once during a 3-month period.  Payment is up to $150 per month for jumps involving a static line and up to $225 per month for members performing military freefall operations. 
• Demolition Duty –  The Secretary concerned may pay HDIP to Service members who are required to perform duty involving the demolition of explosives, as prescribed by Service regulations, as a primary duty (including training for that duty).  Service members who engage in demolition using live explosives objects, obstacles, or other explosives, or recovering and rendering harmless, by disarming or demolishing, explosives that have failed to function as intended or which have become a potential hazard, under competent orders and as a primary duty assignment (such as explosive ordnance disposal personnel assigned to an explosive ordnance disposal billet) at least one time during the calendar month may receive a payment up to $150 for each qualifying month.
• Experimental Stress Duty  - The Secretary concerned may pay HDIP to a Service member on active duty that is required by competent orders to perform experimental stress duty under the conditions stated below:
• Human Acceleration or Deceleration Experimental Subject. Duty performed as human acceleration or deceleration experimental subjects utilizing experimental acceleration or deceleration devices.
• Thermal Stress Duty. Duty performed as human thermal experimental subjects in thermal stress experiments.
• Low-Pressure Chamber Duty. Duty performed within a low-pressure (altitude) chamber at physiological facilities as human test subject, inside instructor-observer or inside observer-tender.
• High-Pressure Chamber Duty. Duty performed within a high-pressure (hyperbaric or recompression) chamber or hyperbaric complex.

HDIP for experimental stress duty is up to $150 per month.

• Flight Deck Hazardous Duty  - The Secretary concerned may offer HDIP to Service members who under competent orders perform flight deck hazardous duty. Service members must be present, during flight operations, at an assigned duty station on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier or a ship other than an aircraft from which aircraft are launched and recovered during flight operations.  Qualified members are required to participate in at least 4 days of flight operations within a calendar month.  The monthly rate for flight deck HDIP may be up to $150.
• Laboratory Duty Utilizing Live Dangerous Viruses or Bacteria  - The Service Secretary concerned may pay HDIP to a Service member whose primary duty involves laboratory work that utilizes live dangerous viruses or bacteria. Service members are eligible while assigned by competent orders for a period of 30 consecutive days or more to participate in or conduct applied or basic research.  The monthly rate for this HDIP is up to $150.
• Duty Involving Exposure to Highly Toxic Pesticides  - The Secretary concerned may pay an incentive pay to a Service member whose duty involves frequent and regular exposure to highly toxic pesticides when the Service member is assigned by competent orders to the entomology, pest control, pest management, or preventive medicine functions of Uniformed service for a period of 30 consecutive days or more.  HDIP for duty involving exposure to toxic pesticides may be up to $150 per month.
• Duty Involving Toxic Fuels and Propellants  - The Secretary concerned may pay HDIP to Service members required by competent orders to participate in duty involving toxic fuels and propellants as their primary duty.  A Service member is eligible to receive HDIP for duty involving the servicing of aircraft or missiles with highly toxic fuels or propellants when this duty is performed as a primary duty according to the requirements set forth in DOD Instruction 1340.09.  HDIP for the handling of toxic fuels and propellants may be up to $150 per month.
• Duty Involving Handling Chemical Munitions . The Secretary concerned may pay HDIP to Service members required by competent orders to participate in duty involving handling chemical munitions (or components of such munitions) as their primary duty.  For additional information concerning duties involving the handling of chemical munition refer to DoD Instruction 1340.09.  HDIP for duty involving handling of chemical munitions is up to $150 per month.
• Maritime Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) Duty  - Only Navy members (among DoD Services) perform duty that qualifies for this pay.  The Secretary of the Navy may offer an incentive pay to its members who under competent orders perform duty in VBSS billets that require frequent and regular participation in VBSS operations aboard vessels in support of maritime interdiction operations.  Eligible members are required to participate in a minimum of three boarding missions (excluding training exercises) during each month of qualification.  HDIP for VBSS is a monthly rate up to $150.
• Polar Region Flight Operations Duty  - The Secretary concerned may offer an incentive pay to Service members performing duty involving the use of ski-equipped aircraft on the ground in Antarctica or on the Arctic Ice-Pack.  A Service member may be eligible in any calendar month during which that Service member participated in a take-off from or landing on the ground in Antarctica or the Arctic Ice-Pack, or the servicing or handling of cargo in connection with such aircraft on the ground in such a polar region.  HDIP for polar region flight operations duty is up to $150 per month.
• Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support (WMDCS) Team  - The Secretary concerned may pay HDIP to RC Service members assigned to WMDCS teams.  In order to be eligible for WMDCS HDIP, a Service member must be: (a) Entitled to basic pay under Sections 204 of Title 37, U.S.C.; (b) Assigned by competent orders to duty as a member of a WMDCS team; (c) Fully qualified for weapons of mass destruction civil support team operations; and (d) Serving on an approved active duty tour in excess of 139 days in a DoD designated and certified WMDCS team position.  HDIP for RC Service members assigned to a WMDCS team may be up to $150 per month.
• Diving Duty  - The Secretary concerned may pay HDIP to Service members required by competent orders to participate in diving duty as part of their primary duty.  Service members may be eligible for an HDIP for diving duty for periods during which they are assigned by competent orders to the duty of diving and required to maintain proficiency as a diver by frequent and regular dives.  Additional conditions of service may be imposed by the Secretary concerned.  HDIP for diving duty may not exceed $240 per month.