DoD Removes Six Countries From Imminent Danger Pay List

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

March 30, 2007 – Bosnia-Herzegovina is among six countries the Defense Department is removing from the list of countries where servicemembers receive imminent danger pay, DoD officials said today. Angola, Georgia, Sierra Leone, Croatia and Macedonia also will be removed from the list. The changes go into effect Nov. 1.

Servicemembers deployed to Kosovo will continue to receive imminent danger pay. More than 1,500 American servicemembers are serving in Kosovo.

The number of U.S. servicemembers affected by the change is small, officials said.

A total of 232 servicemembers serving in Bosnia-Herzegovina will lose the pay. Forty-three servicemembers are affected in Macedonia, seven in Georgia, five in Angola, one in Sierra Leone and an unknown number in Croatia.

DoD officials conduct worldwide reviews to determine whether to continue imminent danger pay. Servicemembers receive $225 per month for imminent danger pay. The pay recognizes duty in foreign areas where there is the threat of physical harm or imminent danger on the basis of civil insurrection, civil war, terrorism or wartime conditions.

Bosnia and Macedonia first went on the imminent danger pay list on June 22, 1992. Sierra Leone went on the list on July 18, 1997, Angola on March 1, 1998, and Georgia on July 22, 2002, officials said.

The financial losses for servicemembers in Macedonia, Georgia, Angola and Sierra Leone are partially made up by an increase in hardship pay for the countries, DoD officials said. Hardship pay for Angola, Georgia and Sierra Leone will increase from $100 to $150 a month. In Macedonia, the pay will be instituted at $100 a month.

Hardship duty pay recognizes servicemembers assigned to areas where the quality of life is substantially below that most members in the United States generally experience. These factors include physical environment, living conditions and personal security, officials said.

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