The Air Force plans to offer new special payments to certain special operations airmen in fiscal 2016, as well as airmen in the nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile field operations forces.
The Air Force is planning to increase its tTotal spending on special payments and incentives would increase from $819 million in fiscal 2015 to $921 million next year, a 12 percent increase. That would include $650 million for special payments and $271 million for incentives in 2016.
The Air Force plans is planning to offer an Air Force Special Operations Command air operations flight assignment incentive pay to both officers and enlisted in 2016, the Air Force said. Officers could receive an ICBM field operations assignment incentive pay. And enlisted airmen could receive a nuclear force improvement special duty assignment pay.
Those new special payments will total $16.8 million, the Air Force said. Most of that — early $14.1 million — will go to the nuclear force special duty pay.
"The Air Force continued to experience high overall retention trends for both officer and enlisted personnel throughout [fiscal 2014]," the Air Force said in an email. "Still, there are pockets of critical and emerging career fields that are experiencing poor retention, low manning and/or high operational demands, such as battlefield airmen and cyberspace specialties. There are numerous efforts to increase the health of these career fields to include special [pays] and incentive and bonus pays."
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
