The Army plans to end jump pay for about 22,000 parachutist positions, the service said in a message delivered to troops on July 30, 2025. (Stars and Stripes)
Some Army paratroopers will lose $150 in monthly pay next year as the service reorganizes its airborne force and reclassifies more than 22,000 paid parachutist positions.
The jobs in fiscal year 2026 will be recoded so that airborne experience is required but jump pay is not authorized, according to an administrative message delivered to the force July 30.
The change still will allow soldiers to attend airborne school but won’t require them to keep their qualifications current or participate in jump operations.
Lt. Gen. Gregory Anderson, XVIII Airborne Corps commander, said a lack of available aircraft and personnel challenges with parachute riggers and jumpmasters were driving factors for this reorganization on an April episode of the “From the Green Notebook” podcast.
“We’re trying to prop up a very big structure of 56,000 with dwindling resources, we’re spreading those resources out, and we’re undermining our own readiness goals,” Anderson said.
The Army has grown its airborne force by over 13,000 positions since 2002, including activating the Arctic-focused 11th Airborne Division in June 2022.
A majority of the cuts will come from support and headquarters units, while prioritizing pay for soldiers in front-line combat positions.
“It’s not about the money per se,” Anderson said on the April podcast. “It’s literally about the forces that will jump in the alpha echelon and fight off a potentially contested drop zone. We want them at the highest level of readiness.”
Paratroopers who currently receive what is formally known as hazardous duty incentive pay should direct questions about their airborne status to the local chain of command, the service said.
Estimates from the Army, originally reported by Army Times in April, put the number of affected jobs at slightly under 20,000.
The Army did not immediately answer questions on the updated figures when asked Tuesday.
Soldiers who continue to receive jump pay will see a boost in line with a revision for airborne-qualified personnel announced in May by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Paratroopers’ monthly jump pay will increase from $150 to $200, while jumpmasters will receive an additional $150 per month, bringing their total to $300.
