US Navy Releases Revised SDAP Rates

Revisions to Special Duty Assignment Pay (SDAP) for eligible enlisted Sailors were announced in NAVADMIN 156/14 released July 7.

The SDAP program enhances the Navy’s ability to size, shape and stabilize the force by encouraging qualified Sailors to serve in designated Special Duty Assignments (SDAs) for a monetary incentive ranging from $75 to $450 a month.

The update incorporates two additions and several increases to existing SDAPs. Increases to existing SDAP levels are effective upon release of NAVADMIN 156/14. Eligible Sailors serving in the following duty assignments and at the commands listed will receive back pay to March 25, 2013 to cover lost pay due to administrative errors:

* Air Traffic Controllers aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69),
* Helicopter Rescue Swimmers (AW) at Afloat Training Group Mayport, Florida, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City, Florida, and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VX 1), Patuxent River, Maryland.

In order to qualify for SDAP, a service member must be assigned to and working in a valid billet on the command’s Enlisted Distribution Verification Report (EDVR), hold a matching Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC), must be working in the authorized billet, and. the billet must be authorized by the Bureau of Naval Personnel in the latest SDAP NAVADMIN as an SDA billet.

Commanding officers must certify that service members meet all the qualifying criteria established by OPNAVINST 1160.6B, DODINST 1304.27 and NAVADMIN 156/14 prior to a Sailor receiving SDAP. A Sailor must complete all qualifications, including Personal Qualification Standards (PQS) and Under Instruction (UI) watches before they are eligible for SDAP certification.

The annual re-certification required by commands with SDAP billets will begin upon release of the recertification NAVADMIN which will provide guidance for the re-certification process.

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Press Release, July 08, 2014; Image: US Navy