YOKOSUKA  NAVAL BASE, Japan — Servicemembers in 18 Japanese prefectures will earn an extra $50 per month in hardship duty pay, according to Defense Department documents obtained by Stars and Stripes.
The payments were authorized based on the effects of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear emergency.
“This designation is projected to be in effect for the duration of these events,” according to an April 1 memo from the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense.
The order, effective April 1, comes after March 27 State Department directive that gave civilian employees in the same prefectures a 10 percent boost to their base compensation pay.
Servicemembers will earn the extra pay in the following prefectures: Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Iwate, Kanagawa, Miyagi, Nagano, Niigita, Saitama, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokyo-to, Yamagata and Yamanashi.
Both servicemembers permanently stationed in those areas and those on temporary deployment for more than 30 days will earn the hardship pay.
Hardship duty pay by location is granted to servicemembers based on physical environment, living conditions, security or a combination of the three, according to Defense Department documents.
