Armed Forces News

Through special legislation, the Department of Defense retroactively authorized Imminent Danger Pay and Combat Zone Tax Relief benefits from March 19 through Aug. 1, 2003. The original authorization for IDP and CZTR began April 11, 2003, and did not cover sailors who deployed to the eastern Mediterranean Sea at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March. This change in date affects nearly 18,000 sailors, most of whom were attached to USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) carrier strike groups, as well as Commander, Task Force 61 units. Sailors deployed to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, east of 30 degrees east longitude, in connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom between March 19 and April 11, 2003, and not already entitled to IDP and CZTR benefits for that period, should contact their local disbursing office or see NAVADMIN 036/04.