Special Pays, Bonuses, Disability Fixes Coming

The National Defense Authorization Act will hike the maximum annual rate of special pay for selected reserve health care specialists in critically short wartime specialties from $10,000 to $25,000. It also will raise the maximum nuclear career accession bonus from $20,000 to $30,000, and will increase the top level of incentive bonuses for transfer between armed forces from $2,500 to $10,000. In addition, it will require the services to provide $400,000 of Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance coverage — up from $150,000 — for members serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. It also will address concerns of military members, “particularly reserve component members,” about the consistency and timeliness of physical evaluation board (PEB) decisions, including the ability of members to gain information about PEB procedures and the rationale for board decisions.