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thedrifter
07-09-07, 07:50 AM
Corps gives up to $1,000 a month for combat extensions
By John Hoellwarth - jhoellwarth@militarytimes.com
Posted : July 16, 2007

Marines deployed to a combat zone for more than a year will get $1,000 more in their paychecks each additional month they spend at war, according to a Corps-wide message released July 1.

An involuntary extension past the 365-day mark “due to unplanned operational requirements” entitles officers and enlisted Marines to $800 in assignment incentive pay plus $200 more in hardship duty pay, according to MarAdmin 397/07.

While the pay is monthly, a Marine need only spend one extra day with “boots on the ground” in the combat zone to rate the pay for that month. For example, a Marine who stays in theater 61 days past his one-year mark would rate three months’ worth of compensation, as long as the extension is involuntary, said Capt. Phillip Bonincontri, the Corps’ compensation policy chief.

Marines who volunteer to stay or exceed the year mark because they’re assigned to a unit’s advance or rear parties do not rate the extra money, he said.

The message also announced a monthly assignment incentive pay of $250 for Marines who were expected to serve a seven-month deployment but were involuntarily extended for up to another five months.

This affects Marines at the battalion level or below, who typically deploy for seven months. Leathernecks at the regimental or group level deploy for one year, and would be eligible for the $1,000 per month in combined AIP and HDP.

Bonincontri estimated that roughly 1,500 Marines would qualify for either of the payments, but that number could increase in the future depending on operational commitments. Both pays are retroactive to March 16.

“This is designed to carry us forward in the event that Marines are extended in the future,” he said.

In early January, the Corps announced that two infantry battalions — 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, and 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines — would be extended in Iraq for 90 days and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit would stay 45 days longer than initially expected.

In addition to its headquarters element, the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based MEU comprises Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines; Combat Logistics Battalion 15; and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 165.

During a Feb. 16 meeting with reporters, Conway said the intent of the $250 per month pay was to give the Marines in these units compensation similar to what the Defense Department had already authorized for soldiers involuntarily extended past their usual year-long rotation.

“What we’re advocating,” Conway said, “is that there should also be some stipend there for people who serve seven months — $250 a month would be what we put against those folks that have deployed something less than a year. That would be our service policy.”

These pay announcements follow other recent initiatives to reward those who add time to their enlistment in order to stay in the combat zone.

MarAdmin 108/07, released Feb. 14, authorized $500 per month to Marines who added time to their enlistment contracts to stay with an involuntarily extended unit.

Those Marines who extended or re-enlisted to stay in theater for a deployment that was unexpectedly lengthened past the year mark rate both the $500 and $1,000 payments, Bonincontri said.

Then on May 21, the Corps released MarAdmin 323/07, which said Marines who are slated to end their active-duty commitment before Sept. 30, but who agree to extend into the next fiscal year in order to complete a standard, seven-month deployment with their unit, are entitled to $3,000 in AIP. Those who extend to follow through with a year-long deployment rate $6,000. That pay is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2006.

Ellie