A member of a uniformed service may be paid special pay at the rate of $225.00 for any month in which he/she was entitled to basic pay. Hostile Fire Pay is determined by an event while Imminent Danger Pay is determined by a threat.
A service member is entitled to Imminent Danger Pay (IDP) when assigned to a designated IDP area. To see which areas are designated as IDP areas, view figure 10-1 in the DOD Financial Management Regulation.
The commander of the concerned military branch determines Hostile Fire Pay (HFP) based on whether a service member is:
Although DOD regulations distinguish between Hostile Fire Pay and Imminent Danger Pay, they are derived from the same statute. An individual can collect one or the other, but not both simultaneously.
There are three special situations that can affect HFP and IDP, when service members are (1) captured or missing, (2) hospitalized as a result of hostile action, or (3) otherwise entitled to HFP/IDP but are missing from the area for an entire calendar month.
A service member may be paid $225.00 per month for any month in which he/she was entitled to basic pay, i.e. a daily rate of $7.50 for each day they are on duty in an IDP area, up to the maximum monthly rate of $225.00. Additionally, members who are exposed to a hostile fire or hostile mine explosion event are eligible to receive non-prorated Hostile Fire Pay (HFP).
*No service member is eligible for both IDP and HFP in the same month.
