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Clothing allowances go up for airmen

Airmen, Marines, sailors and Coast Guardsmen will see relatively robust increases in their annual clothing allowances to pay for wear and tear on their military uniforms in fiscal 2008, but soldiers had no changes to their uniform clothing bag and thus will see no change in their clothing allowances in fiscal 2008.

Airmen also will see increases in their allowances due to a number of items associated with the new airman battle uniform.

The charts

2008 clothing allowances

2008 clothing bags, men and women

But the biggest increases are going to sailors and Marines, whose services have made big changes to their working and combat uniforms and have added other comparatively costly items to their seabags.

The new allowances took effect Oct. 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

The military provides a complete set of uniforms for enlisted members when they first enter service. They are then paid annual allowances based on how long it takes each item to wear out, dividing the cost by how many years the item is expected to last. For example, a duffel bag might be expected to last 10 years or more, while T-shirts would be expected to be replaced after a few months.

The clothing allowance typically is paid on the anniversary of the day members entered the military. People with fewer than three years of service receive a basic clothing allowance to begin replacing items from their initial issue as they wear out. Also, at the end of the first year of active duty, enlisted troops receive only half of the yearly allowance because it is assumed they do not need to replace any clothing in their first six months.

After enlisted troops complete three years on active duty, they begin receiving the standard clothing allowance, which is higher than the basic allowance.

To replace an entire set of uniforms, an Air Force enlisted man would pay $1,292.89, a decrease of $19.35 from last fiscal year. An Air Force enlisted woman would pay $1,499.21, a decrease of $35.73 from last year.

Changes in the Air Force’s standard and basic clothing replacement allowances are almost all related to the new airman battle uniform. Even though the total value of the Air Force clothing bag has declined slightly for both men and women, the allowances have increased because some of the new items will be costlier to replace when they wear out.

For men, the Air Force’s fiscal 2008 standard replacement allowance is $453.60, an increase of $82.80 over last fiscal year, and the basic allowance is $316.80, up $57.60 from last fiscal year.

For women, the Air Force’s standard replacement allowance is $496.80, an increase of $75.60, and the basic allowance is $349.20, up $54.

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