(DailyDig.com) – The Department of Defense (DOD) under Biden’s administration announced on July 19 that the Pentagon will start to give a monthly 20-dollar bonus to the military for economic hardship. The bonus aims to assist in covering inflation and living expenses.
Originally, the Pentagon planned to start the bonuses in the fall of last year. They will now begin with the July payments and go through December 2024. An anonymous official in the DOD announced that the troops to receive bonuses are the enlisted E1 and E3 ranks, which average out to be about $120 every six months.
The military has expressed some concerns about the sufficiency of the relief effort. Despite the Pentagon’s assurance that the $20 monthly raise will assist their troops struggling financially, critics argue that the $120 over six months falls woefully short of significantly alleviating the financial struggles faced by military families.
Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2024 last year, which appropriated the funding for the bonuses. Upon calculating the allocated funding for the nearly 266,000 enlisted troops, the Pentagon found that it was insufficient for the entire year. They reduced the number of troops to receive the bonus by eliminating the rank of E6. The start date shifted from December 2023 to July 2024 due to the non-appropriation of the funds until March 2024.
According to a spokesperson, Justine Tripathi, for the House Armed Services Committee, the temporary bonuses are welcome for some of the junior enlisted troops, but they are not enough to address the significant challenges they face economically. She stated that the NDAA for next year must provide them with a permanent pay raise of 19.5 percent.
In April, a study by the Armed Services Committee found that nearly half of these service members struggle with feeding and housing their families. The study also showed that troops of their rank have had nominal to no pay raises within the last four decades.
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