Effective Jan. 1, military personnel will receive a one-percent increase in basic pay, announced the Defense Department on Monday. The exceptions are general and flag officers, who will see no basic pay increase in 2015, states the Pentagon’s release. Service members will also see a 0.5-percent bump to their basic allowance for housing in 2015, which will equate on average to $17 more each month than in 2014. Meanwhile, their basic allowance for subsistence (i.e., food) will go up by 2.9 percent next year. That means enlisted personnel will receive a BAS payment of $367.92 per month, while officers will get $253.38 each month, states the release. As for the cost-of-living allowance in the contiguous United States, DOD officials said roughly 12,000 service members would see a decrease in these payments, while some 7,000 members would receive more or experience no change. Another 4,000 personnel would no longer receive a CONUS COLA payment, states the release. (See also Se?nate Approves O?ne-Percent Pay Raise.)
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.