Some U.S. troops in the Pacific soon will see a little bump in the paycheck.
Servicemembers in most U.S. military communities in Japan will see a slight increase in their cost-of-living allowance — about $54 for March.
For example, an E-6 with 10 years’ experience and three dependents living off base near Misawa will see his daily allowance go from $16.15 to $17.94, a difference of $1.79 a day.
Similar increases will be seen on Okinawa and in a handful of places in South Korea. Okinawa servicemembers’ COLA will go up about the same $55. In South Korea, increases will be seen in Osan and Camp Humphreys, while most other places — including Seoul — will remain the same.
The allowance is designed to help offset the high cost of living abroad.
A COLA index is used as a guideline to determine how much allowance servicemembers receive. Actual cash amounts they get depend on duty station, rank, time in service and number of dependents.
The changes to the COLA were based on new foreign exchange rate adjustments, according to to the Defense Department’s Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee Web site.
For a full explanation of the COLA and to see the new rates in each locality, visit the allowance committee’s Web site at: https://secureapp2.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/.
