The Air Force has approved 78 jobs to receive special duty assignment pay for 2025, an increase from the 70 for 2024, but also coming in a year when the service is planning to cut funding to the program.
While the service announced the 78 jobs figure, Air Force officials have refused to disclose details of its bonus program, including declining to share the eligible jobs and outline how the cuts to funding would affect the bonuses, claiming it’s a security risk to disclose how it uses those taxpayer funds.
Air Force budget documents show that the service requested $4.1 million less for the program next year, down from the estimated $95.2 million allocation for the program in fiscal 2024.
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The bonuses, ranging from $75 to $450 a month, are designed “to compensate enlisted service members who serve in duties which are extremely difficult” or “involve an unusual degree of responsibility in a military skill,” according to the service’s budget documents. Historically, they have been given to service members who take on assignments from pararescueman to nuclear missile worker.
When Military.com obtained the list of career fields eligible for the bonus through a source, an Air Force official confirmed it was authentic and accurate. But the service declined to provide any details on which jobs lost money, gained money or were cut, citing…
