The 2026 flat rates, taken from the DFAS tables rather than repeated from other websites
Flat monthly rates. You may draw a maximum of two types at once, and your unit's mission has to involve both.
| Hazardous duty | Monthly rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Parachute duty, static line (Army) | $200 | Effective Oct 1, 2025 through May 20, 2029. First increase since 1998. |
| Parachute duty, static line (joint rate) | $150 | Standard rate outside the Army-specific authority. |
| Military free fall (HALO) | $240 | DFAS rate table. Widely reported elsewhere as $225. |
| Flight deck duty | $150 | Launch and recovery operations. |
| Demolition duty | $150 | Explosives handling and disposal. |
| Experimental stress duty | $150 | Human test subject: acceleration, thermal, altitude. |
| Toxic fuels or propellants duty | $150 | |
| Toxic pesticides duty | $150 | |
| Dangerous viruses or bacteria lab duty | $150 | |
| Chemical munitions duty | $150 | |
| Maritime VBSS duty | $150 | Visit, board, search, and seizure. |
| Polar region flight operations duty | $150 | |
| WMD civil support team | $150 |
| Pay | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hostile Fire Pay (HFP) | $225 / month | Paid in the full monthly amount for any month you qualify. Not prorated. |
| Imminent Danger Pay (IDP) | $225 / month | For duty in a designated IDP area. You cannot draw HFP and IDP for the same month. |
| Family Separation Allowance (FSA) | $300 / month | Prorated at $10.00 per day. Requires more than 30 continuous days of separation. Submit DD Form 1561; it is not automatic. |
| Hardship Duty Pay, Location (HDP-L) | $50, $100, or $150 / month | Tier depends on the location. PCS, or temporary or deployed duty over 30 consecutive days. |
| Hardship Duty Pay, Mission (HDP-M) | $150 / month | Full month paid if any part of the month is served on the mission. |
| HDP-L plus HDP-M combined ceiling | $300 / month | You cannot exceed this in combination. |
These are real and often large, but the amounts come from service-specific tables keyed to grade, years of service, or rating. We will not reproduce cells we cannot verify against a primary source, because a wrong pay figure on a mortgage application is worse than no figure. Here is the range and where to get the exact number.
| Pay | Range | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Diving duty pay | $110 to $340 enlisted $110 to $240 officer | Diver rating |
| Aviation Incentive Pay (officers) | $150 to $1,000 | Rank and years of aviation service |
| Career Enlisted Flyer Incentive Pay | $150 to $400 | Years of aviation service |
| HDIP, flying crew member | $150 to $250 officer $150 to $240 enlisted | Rank. Officers drawing Aviation Incentive Pay are not eligible. |
| Special Duty Assignment Pay (enlisted) | $75 to $450 (statutory ceiling $600) | SDAP level assigned to the billet |
| Jumpmaster SDAP (Army) | $150 | Qualified jumpmasters in authorized positions, effective Oct 1, 2025 |
| Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus | Up to $500 per language Up to $1,000 combined | DLPT score and language priority |
| Career Sea Pay | Table | Grade and cumulative sea duty. A premium is added after 36 consecutive months at sea. |
| Submarine duty pay | Table | Grade and years of service |
| Assignment Incentive Pay | Statutory ceiling $3,000 | Designated assignments, discretionary |
Duty based, not rank based. Flat-rate hazardous duty pays do not scale with your grade. An E-3 and an O-5 on the same jump status draw the same jump pay. Stop performing the duty and the pay stops with it.
Two HDIPs maximum. A paratrooper who also performs demolition duty can draw both, if the unit's mission involves both. A third simultaneous hazardous duty pay is not authorized.
Officers choose flight pay or HDIP, not both. An officer entitled to Aviation Incentive Pay cannot also draw HDIP for flying duty. They are separate authorities under Title 37 and they do not stack.
Taxable, unless you earn them downrange. Special and incentive pays are ordinary taxable income. Earn them in a designated combat zone and the Combat Zone Tax Exclusion removes the federal income tax. Social Security and Medicare still come out either way, which is the detail that surprises people when they read the LES. The Bonus Tax Calculator walks through that same distinction for reenlistment bonuses.
Jump pay sat at $150 from 1998 until October 2025. Twenty-seven years is long enough for a figure to get baked into every pay guide, every recruiting brief, and a good number of official fact sheets. The military free fall rate has the same problem in reverse: $225 was correct for a long time, DFAS now publishes $240, and the older number keeps propagating because sites cite each other rather than the paying agency.
The family separation allowance is the clearest case. DFAS states $300 per month, prorated at $10.00 per day. A large share of the pay guides currently online still print $250. If you are budgeting a deployment around $250 a month, you are underestimating by $50 every month you are gone.
We take every rate on this page from the DFAS rate tables, which are the tables the payment is actually issued from. Where DFAS and a service fact sheet disagree, we follow DFAS and say so.
$200 a month for static line, effective October 1, 2025, running through May 20, 2029 on the DFAS table. The joint static line rate is still $150. More than 22,000 Army airborne positions lost jump pay eligibility in the same restructuring.
The DFAS rate table lists military free fall at $240 a month. Several sites, including at least one official service benefits page, still show $225. DFAS issues the payment, so we use the DFAS figure.
$300 a month, prorated at $10.00 per day, after more than 30 continuous days of enforced separation. File DD Form 1561.
Yes, up to two hazardous duty pays at once, provided your unit's mission involves both. A third is not authorized.
No. Retired pay is computed from basic pay only. Special and incentive pays do not raise your High-3 or your multiplier. They do count as earned income for Social Security. See the Retirement Calculator.
All data on this page comes from official government sources. Verify independently:
📎 Hazardous Duty Incentive Pay rates (DFAS)📎 Family Separation Allowance (DFAS)📎 All DFAS pay tables📎 Army parachute duty pay increase (army.mil)📍 Your finance office is authoritative. Eligibility for these pays depends on orders, billet coding, and certification currency. Bring the DFAS table with you.
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