ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has increased Special Duty Assignment Pay for about 2,400 sailors with critical skills, said Senior Chief Scott Rossiter.
Sailors who are seeing an increase in the special duty pay are in high-demand, undermanned ratings that are important to the global war on terrorism, he said.
Rossiter is coordinator for the Special Duty Assignment Pay program, which gives sailors in high-demand skills extra money per month.
About 22,000 enlisted sailors receive the extra pay, which is meant to attract sailors to certain assignments, according to the Navy. The last time the Navy made changes to the program was in January 2006.
The Navy offers six levels of special duty pay per month: SD-1-$75; SD-2-$150; SD-3-$225; SD-4-$300; SD-5-$375; SD-6-$450.
He said the following sailors will see increases in special duty pay:
Navy SEALs will get $450 per month, up from $375 per month.Basic explosive ordnance disposal technicians will get $300 per month, up from $150 per month.Senior EOD technicians will get $450 per month, up from $300 per month.Master EOD technicians will get $450 per month, up from $375 per month.Master divers will get $450 per month, up from $375 per month.Special warfare combat craft sailors will get $300 per month, up from $225 per month.Fleet marine force corpsmen will get $75 per month; this is the first time they have been eligible for special duty pay.Rossiter did not have any information on how many sailors in these ratings the Navy hopes to retain.
About 340 other sailors will see reductions in their special duty pay, Rossiter said.
Of those sailors, the extra pay for surface rescue swimmers will go down from $150 to $75 per month, and private quarters culinary specialists — cooks for flag officers and guests — will lose their $300 per month in extra pay, he said.
Rossiter could not say what the reason was for these reductions.
He also said several skills have been removed from the list of who is eligible for the program due to ratings mergers and other administrative changes. For example, saturation divers are no longer listed because their jobs are performed by master divers.
For more information, go to NAVADMIN 140/07 at: www.npc.navy.mil.
