Incentive and Special Pay
HARDSHIP DUTY PAY
Types of Incentive and Special Pay:
Hardship Duty Pay is additional compensation paid to service members assigned to locations where living conditions are substantially below those conditions in the continental United States (CONUS).
There are three types of HDP:
- Hardship Duty Pay - Location
- Hardship Duty Pay - Mission
- Hardship Duty Pay - Tempo
The combined maximum HDP-L and HDP-M payable is $300.00 per month. The individual maximum for HDP-M is payable at the flat rate of $150.00 per month and HDP-L is payable on a scale not to exceed $150.00 per month.
Hardship Duty Pay - Location (HDP-L)
Members serving in areas outside of the CONUS, where the quality of life is significantly lower than what most Americans enjoy stateside, are entitled to HDP-L compensation.
HDP-L is intended to recognize the extraordinary arduous living conditions, excessive physical hardship, and/or unhealthy conditions that exist in an assigned location. Service members are paid in increments of $50, $100, or $150 per month depending on the level of hardship in a given area.
Hardship Duty Pay - Mission (HDP-M)
Officers and enlisted personnel assigned to, on temporary duty with, or otherwise under the operational control of the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO), the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA), or the Central Identification Lab-Hawaii (CIL-HI), or other “hardship missions” may qualify for HDP-M, based on performance.
Members so assigned are entitled to payment for each month in which they execute investigative or remains recovery in a remote, isolated area (including, but not limited to, areas in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and North Korea) for recovery of U.S. service member remains.
Hardship Duty Pay - Tempo (HDP-T)
The Secretaries of the Military Departments may establish HDP-T programs under the authority of 37 USC 305. A mobilization or deployment tempo that requires the member to perform duties in an operational environment for periods that exceed rotation norms may be designated as hardship duty for the purposes of hardship duty payment.
The Navy announced a reauthorization of HDP-T pay through Sept. 30, 2017, to compensate sailors for extended deployments of longer than 220 consecutive days. Members of the active and reserve component status will be paid on a prorated basis of $16.50 per day, not to exceed $495 per month.
