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| -Land of the Free |
| US troops stationed overseas face cuts to cost-of-living allowance amid soaring inflation |
| 2023-10-19 |
| [FoxNews] Over 230,000 troops receive the overseas allowance set to be cut Service members at some of the most expensive duty assignments are set to receive a cut in a monthly allowance designed to offset high costs of living. The Defense Department will make a second round of cuts to troops' overseas cost-of-living allowances (OCOLA) next month, with the final cut coming on Nov. 15 and effecting members' Dec. 1 paychecks, according to a report from Military.com The final cuts come after nearly a year of delay, with lawmakers passing a restriction into last year's National Defense Authorization Act that limited decreases in the allowance to once every six months. The Defense Department announced the first cut to the OCOLA rates in May, with the final cuts now set to come next month. The cuts will also impact troops stationed in areas outside the contiguous U.S. such as Alaska and Hawaii, two duty locations with notoriously high costs of living. According to the report, an E-4 with one dependent stationed in Alaska can expect to lose out on about $129 a month, while a major with four dependents will see a decrease of about $464.68 per month. Over 230,000 troops receive the OCOLA allowance. The report notes that the cuts come as inflation has continued to drive prices higher in the continental U.S., a situation that has diminished the gap between the cost of living for troops in typically expensive locations and their counterparts serving in the contiguous 48 states. That shrinking gap as well as currency fluctuations necessitated the cut to the allowance, which is calculated by comparing the costs of goods and services overseas to U.S. prices. |
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