Combat Zone


Combat Zone

A member assigned to or deployed to a combat zone receives "combat pay" (officially called "immiment danger pay") at the rate of $225.00 per month.

Congress and/or the President can designated combat zones as "Tax Exempt" areas.

In addition to Immiment Danger Pay (Combat Pay), and the tax exclusion, some areas qualify for a special monthly allowance called "Hardship Duty Pay."

If you spend a single qualifying day in the combat zone, your pay for the entire month is excluded from taxable income, and you receive $225 in combat pay for that month.

Finally, members in a combat zone are authorized to to deposit up to $10,000 (per year) of their pay and allowances into a special savings account, that pays a guaranteed 10 percent interest per year. This program was established during the Vietnam era, and then phased out at the end of the Vietnam War. However, it was revived in 1991 during the Gulf War, and the program still exists today.

Here are the current designated combat zones by 2009:

Country Area
Afghanistan land and airspace
Algeria land
Azerbaijan land
Bahrain land and airspace
Djibouti land
East Timor land
Egypt land
Eritrea land
Ethiopia land
Greece land (within 20k radius from center of Athens)
Haiti land
Indonesia land
Iran land
Iraq land and airspace
Israel land
Ivory Coast land
Jordan land
Kenya land
Kosovo land and airspace
Kuwait land and airspace
Kyrgystan land
Lebanon land
Liberia land
Malaysia land
Montenegro land and airspace
Oman land
Pakistan land
Phillipines land
Qatar land and airspace
Rwanda land
Saudi Arabia land and airspace
Serbia land and airspace
Somolia land and airspace
Sudan land and airspace
Syria land
Tajikistan land
Turkey land
Uganda land
United Arab Emirates land
Uzbekistan land
Yemen land
Arabian Sea north of 10 deg north lat, west of 68 deg east long.
Gulf of Aden sea
Fulf of Oman sea
Persian Gulf sea and airspace
Somalia Basin sea



Back to:
Military Pay Charts
Military Jobs
Military Schools
Featuring:
Interview questions and answers
Cover letters