{"id":125782,"date":"2024-03-21T16:15:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T16:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/03\/21\/monthly-bonuses-for-junior-troops-included-in-defense-budget-plan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:18:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:18:41","slug":"monthly-bonuses-for-junior-troops-included-in-defense-budget-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2024\/03\/21\/monthly-bonuses-for-junior-troops-included-in-defense-budget-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Monthly bonuses for junior troops included in defense budget plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pay-benefits\/2023\/06\/16\/lawmakers-eyeing-even-more-boosts-to-junior-enlisted-pay\/\" target=\"_blank\">Junior enlisted troops<\/a> could receive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2023\/06\/09\/troops-could-see-monthly-bonuses-better-housing-pay-under-house-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\">financial support bonuses<\/a> within a few months after congressional appropriators included funding for the economic support initiative as part of their final $824 billion defense budget proposal for fiscal 2024 released on March 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers also included money to cover troops\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2023\/12\/14\/troops-set-for-largest-pay-boost-in-22-years-under-defense-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\">5.2% pay raise this year<\/a> and a pledge to push for even more improvements to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2024\/03\/11\/2025-budget-45-pay-raise-shift-of-troops-from-active-to-reserve\/\" target=\"_blank\"> military pay tables<\/a> next year, calling the low pay of some enlisted troops a \u201ccrisis\u201d that must be addressed soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Department of Defense must work with Congress during fiscal year 2025 to provide legislative options \u2026 to include increases to junior enlisted basic military pay as well as other ways to incentivize new recruits and prepare them for duty,\u201d appropriators wrote in<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.house.gov\/billsthisweek\/20240318\/Division%20A%20Defense.PDF\" target=\"_blank\"> a report accompanying the defense spending bill.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2024\/03\/18\/senators-eye-pay-boost-for-junior-troops-more-funds-for-housing-fixes\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7989240.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Senators eye pay boost for junior troops, more funds for housing fixes<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Both House and Senate lawmakers want to pass targeted pay raises for junior enlisted troops, but budget caps may complicate those plans.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Congress has until Friday night to adopt the full-year appropriations bill, already nearly six months late. If not, the Defense Department will head into a partial shutdown, with troops\u2019 paychecks delayed and hundreds of thousands of workers at risk of furlough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The monthly bonuses for junior enlisted troops were already approved as part of <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.house.gov\/billsthisweek\/20240318\/Division%20A%20Defense.PDF\" target=\"_blank\">the annual defense authorization bill <\/a>approved in December. But money to fund the bonuses has been held up by the appropriations delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new budget plan includes $43 million for the program, which allows the Defense Secretary to award \u201cjunior enlisted monthly economic hardship bonuses\u201d for troops of rank E-6 and below \u201cas economic conditions dictate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The monthly bonuses are only authorized for 2024, and are not expected to carry over into 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The exact amounts and timing of the program are still to be determined by Pentagon leaders following passage of the legislation. Department officials have not yet publicly announced any details of those plans, or if they may decline the option to award bonuses altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But lawmakers are hopeful the extra money will help offset low salaries for some of the youngest service members. Under the current pay tables, some junior troops can make as little as $23,000 annually in base pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pentagon officials are currently conducting its Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, expected to be delivered to Congress early next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The appropriations bill includes language \u201cto more rapidly review and consider any proposed changes to compensation\u201d and mandates an interim report on findings by May, to help inform potential legislative changes for 2025. House and Senate members have already eyed plans to boost all troops\u2019 basic pay to at least $31,000 annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers are expected to vote on the full $1.2 billion appropriations package in the next few days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Under the latest congressional budget plan, troops E-6 and below could start getting monthly bonuses from the Defense Department to offset low base 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By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Monthly bonuses for junior troops included in defense budget plan - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Under the latest congressional budget plan, troops E-6 and below could start getting monthly bonuses from the Defense Department to offset low base pay.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Monthly bonuses for junior troops included in defense budget plan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Under the latest congressional budget plan, troops E-6 and below could start getting monthly bonuses from the Defense Department to offset low base 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