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Special Duty Assignment Pay

If you are an enlisted member who is performing duties which have been designated as extremely difficult or involving an unusual degree of responsibility in a military skill, you may be entitled to Special Duty Assignment Pay (SDAP).

The following table reflects the most recent SDAP monthly rates:

What Military Specialties Qualify For Special Duty Assignment Pay?

Some of the qualifying military specialties include:

• Nuclear Trained Sailors
• Special Operations Forces
• Production Recruiter
• White House Communications Agency
• Defense Threat Reduction Agency
• Defense Courier Operations
• Senior Enlisted Advisor to the JCS

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First Duty and Future Assignments in the Military

There are circumstances where military members can request assignment

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Future Assignments

Follow-on assignment, hardship assignments, joint spouse assignments, permissive reassignments, base of preference, travel entitlements, privately owned vehicle shipment.

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First duty station selection is made (in either basic training or technical school/AIT/A-School), based ​upon your preferences, and the needs of the service. While the services will consider your preferences, the overriding deciding factor is where the military needs you the most.

Some Navy jobs  allow your assignment to be based on your class-standing in "A-School." And of course, it goes without saying that assignments are based on valid vacancies. If you have the job of tank-fixer, you're only going to be assigned to bases that have tanks to fix.

After the first duty assignment, subsequent assignments are done a little differently. In most cases, you'll have a little more say in future assignments, than you have for the first duty assignment . There are a few restrictions, however.

First-term (those in their first enlistment ) enlisted members assigned to a continental (CONUS) U.S. location must have 12 months time-on-station before being eligible to move to an overseas location and must have 24 months time-on-station before being allowed to move to another continental U.S. location.

Career (those who have re-enlisted at least once) enlisted members assigned to the continental U.S. must have 24 months time-on-station to move to an overseas location and must have 36 months time-on-station in order to move to another continental U.S. location.

The length of time one spends on an overseas tour depends on the location. For example, most of Europe and Japan are considered standard overseas tours. The length of the assignment is 24 months for single people, or those with dependents who elect not to bring their dependents, and 36 months for those who bring their dependents.

Another type of overseas assignment, like most assignments to Korea, is considered remote. On a remote tour one cannot bring their family at government expense, and the tour-length is 12 months. On the other hand, those returning from a remote tour usually get assignment preference over those returning from a standard tour.

For standard overseas tours, one can generally increase his or her chances of being selected by volunteering for the extended tour length. This is the standard tour, plus 12 months.

Of course, one can be involuntarily assigned overseas as well. In general, this is done based on the military member's last overseas return date. 

A follow-on assignment is an assignment after a remote tour. Those with orders for a remote tour can apply for their next assignment before they even depart to the remote tour.

When is assigned to a 12-month remote tour, military members can move their dependents anywhere they want to live in the United States, at government expense, while the member is away. The government must then pay again to relocate the dependents from where they are living to the new assignment when the member returns from the remote tour. Single people, even though they don't have dependents can use the follow-on program, as well.

It's important not to confuse assignments with deployments , which are of course based on many factors such as geopolitical situations and the need for U.S. military troops around the world. 

Each of the services also has procedures for hardship assignments. This allows a military member to apply for reassignment to a specific area/base, due to a valid family hardship. The military's definition of hardship is when there are extreme family problems such as illness, death, or extremely unusual circumstances that are temporary in nature and the specific circumstances necessitate the military member's presence.

If the problem is not one that can be resolved within one year, a  hardship discharge  will be considered, rather than a hardship assignment.

When one military member is married to another military member, both must apply to be assigned together. This is called a joint spouse assignment. The military will try to assign spouses together, but there are no guarantees. The success rate for joint spouse assignments is about 85 percent.

Joint spouse assignments are obviously much easier to accommodate if both spouses are in the same branch of the military. 

A permissive reassignment is one that doesn't cost the government any money. Most permissive reassignments are in the form of swaps, which is when one military member finds another with the same rank and job, currently assigned (or with orders) to a base they want to go to.

Both members who agree to swap must pay for their own move. This includes shipment of personal property. Usually, military personnel offices maintain lists of military people worldwide who are looking to swap. In order to be eligible for a swap, one must have the required time-on-station mentioned above. In other words, a first-termer must have 24 months time-on-station to swap with someone at another continental U.S. location.

Before a military member re-enlists, he can apply to move to a base of his choice. The military, of course, wants this person to re-enlist, so they try to accommodate such base of preference requests. If approved, the member must then re-enlist to accept the assignment. 

When you graduate technical school, the military will pay the authorized costs for you to go to your next duty assignment or, to the port of your military flight for overseas assignments. 

The military does not pay you for travel on leave. They pay you for direct travel from your old duty assignment to your next duty assignment. If you travel home on leave, any additional cost is out of your pocket.

If you own a vehicle and get an overseas assignment, the military will either ship the vehicle for you or store it while you are away. 

Some locations don't allow the shipping of a personal vehicle and others restrict this privilege to certain ranks. In these cases, the military will store the vehicle for you for free while you are assigned overseas.

The military will pay to move your personal property from your home location to your first permanent duty station, or, you can rent a truck, move it yourself. In such cases, the military will reimburse you a portion of what it would have paid a contractor to move the vehicle.

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The Military Wallet

Temporary Duty Assignments – Understanding Your Pay & Benefits While on TDY Orders

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TDY is the three-letter acronym that often leaves servicemembers and families confused. Get to know the various types of Temporary Duty Assignment (TDY) or Temporary Assignment Duty (TAD) to keep your finances and sanity from teetering into the red when you are on TDY orders.

Fully  understanding your military assignments and benefits is the benchmark of a seasoned servicemember. Pay increases or decreases, what per diem covers, and whether or not family members could or should accompany are all factors to fully grasp before going TDY.

Three Types of Military Orders

There are three primary types of military orders:

• Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
• Temporary Duty Assignment (TDY)

Of the three, TDY orders are likely the most complex, as they can be issued as an add-on to additional orders like a PCS. In addition to complexity, TDY orders also offer the most flexibility for servicemembers and their dependents to determine how they will handle assignments, placing them in a location anywhere from just a few days to six months.

There are likely dozens of situations where TDY may be issued. Some examples include additional schooling, career specialties that require frequent travel, or completing special assignments for the military. In nature, the assignments are meant to be short in duration and non-permanent.

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Financial Considerations of TDY Orders

The financial characteristics of TDY are perhaps the most important piece to understand. Consider TDY orders to be similar to travel for professional civilian jobs (like conferences). The organization, in this case, the military, will authorize a certain dollar amount per day called “per diem” for everyday expenses such as food, lodging, and transportation. Essentially, additional TDY pay on top of your regular pay is an additional fixed budget given to you per day. It is the servicemember’s responsibility to budget adequately.

You may be eligible for per diem even if you are temporarily assigned in the same state as your current duty station depending on the situation.

While on assignment, it is critical to keep the following receipts so you can have them validated for reimbursement upon return.

• Meal receipts
• Taxi/Uber/shuttle expenses
• Any travel costs like flights, subway, etc.
• Daily mileage totals (if you are traveling in your own vehicle)
• Incidental expenses or any unexpected costs directly related to daily operations

According to the Department of Defense , “A Service member ordered to a U.S. installation must use adequate and available Government quarters.” This means that if lodging is available, you will likely be required to stay in military housing, such as the barracks, or in installation hotels or accommodations. While exceptions to policy (ETP) do happen, it is largely dependent on a host of factors.

Exceptions to Policy (ETP)

Let’s say, for example, that following his commission , a soldier receives TDY orders to Basic Officer Leaders Course (BOLC) which requires a six-month stay. The soldier has a family and would prefer they accompany him to the training and he requests to stay in off-installation accommodations for the duration of the training course.

While it is not guaranteed, this is a strong case for ETP to be considered. Off installation accommodations would offer greater flexibility to find budget-friendly options within per diem that also include benefits such as on-site laundry and kitchenettes.

When overages or excessive fees are incurred or circumstances constitute an exception to policy, the Authorizing Official (AO) will need to pre-approve the charges before they will be reimbursed. You may not be reimbursed if you are not given pre-authorization, so it is essential to communicate prior to making decisions that will incur costs.

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Per Diem – What is Covered on TDY Orders?

Knowing what is not covered in per diem is just as important as knowing what is.

The military will not cover alcohol purchases in stores or in restaurant establishments. If a servicemember chooses to consume alcohol with their meal, a separate receipt would likely be the best choice, additionally, any charges will be the full responsibility of the individual. Additionally, when deciding to consume alcohol, a full understanding of what hours are considered on and off duty is the responsibility of the servicemember.

Family Separation Allowance (FSA) is an additional benefit offered to servicemembers when they are on assignment away from their family greater than 30 days. It is important to note that if a servicemember’s family accompanies the active duty member for the entire duration of the TDY, FSA would not be considered. However, FSA benefits do apply when dependents visit the servicemember for less than 30 consecutive days.

The eligibility for FSA may be extended to National Guard and wounded warriors, depending on the type, length, and restrictions of the TDY assignment.

Meal rates are based upon location, just like in the civilian world. Speaking with the Authorizing Official (AO) before going TDY to get a precise dollar amount for per diem is highly recommended. A portion, but not always the full amount of gratuity is also included in travel-related expenses.

An often-forgotten component of TDY rates includes factoring in “included” meals provided by the conference or government in your stay. If two out of three meals will be provided, rates may be reduced per day as well as any additional meals. Religious or dietary requirements are an exception to the policy if the traveler meets all requirements. All servicemembers should speak with their local Authorizing Official, command, and financial office to ensure they are fully up to speed.

Going TDY can provide an interesting change of pace and has the potential to put some extra cash in your pocket depending on your budget and personal preferences. If you are someone who likes to cook for yourself in a kitchenette you can save some money. But if you are expected to attend formal functions, eating out often, TDY can get expensive. With a little planning, your TDY experience can be a good one.

About Post Author

Samantha Peterson

Samantha Peterson is a regular contributor for military publications such as The Military Wallet, Military Families Magazine, We Are The Mighty and more. She feels passionately about telling compelling stories and crafting captivating narratives. Living life one PCS at a time, she’s travel schooling her children while tackling careers in the nonprofit and environmental sector all as military life allows.

Featured In: Samantha’s writing has been featured in We Are The Mighty, Military Families Magazine, InDependent, Reserve + National Guard Magazine, and other publications.

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• General Military Questions

Military TDY: Temporary Duty Assignment Explained

The U.S. Armed Forces issue different types of military travel orders to personnel.

Your military travel orders pertain to changes in your duty location and the duration, and may also impact your military pay.

Military TDY (Temporary Duty) is one common type of military travel order .

Get all your questions answered about Temporary Duty (TDY) status and what you can expect to experience with this type of order.

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Table of Contents

What is TDY?

The U.S. Military has three primary types of military travel orders:

• Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
• Temporary Duty (TDY)
• Deployments Orders

It is important to keep in mind that the three types of military assignment orders are not the same and each has its own characteristics.

Your military orders may affect how long you serve at the post, the specific location, and special duty pay.

Temporary Duty (TDY) is defined by the Department of Defense as:

Duty at one or more locations, away from the permanent duty station (PDS), under an order, providing for further assignment or pending further assignment, to return to the old PDS or to proceed to a new PDS.

Military branches under the U.S. Armed Forces have different references for Military TDY, like TAD (temporary additional duty) or TCS (temporary change of station).

However, they all mean basically the same thing that your military orders are temporary.

The primary difference between Military TDY and other orders is that it grants authorization for a service member to perform work away from the permanent duty station.

The Department of Defense requires the label Military TDY (or one of its variants) to approve travel pay, per diem, and coverage of other expenses to assist the soldier.

Since the assignment is temporary, the service member can expect a shorter stay than a permanent station assignment, however, the length of the orders may vary.

The individual details of TDY orders are fleshed out with each commitment.

The specifics of your Military TDY outline expected duration, amount of travel pay, coverage of expenses, housing and food support, transportation, and other forms of assistance.

How long is a TDY?

Military TDY is temporary for military orders, so the length is generally not longer than 180 days.

Temporary duty orders may range anywhere from a few days to a half year.

Long-term TDY is any orders which specify longer than 30 days.

TDY per diem rates depend on the location you have orders for. It will also include reimbursement for lodging, meals, and incidentals. 

Use this calculator to determine how much you can expect to receive. 

Military TDY is a stark contrast from Permanent Duty Assignments and Deployments, which have commitments of several months or years.

The Department of Defense authorizes TDY through Joint Travel Regulations.

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Is TDY considered a deployment?

Technically there is a difference between a temporary duty assignment (TDY) and Deployment, even though they are both military orders.

Deployments are similar to military TDY, except that the service member is assigned to a specific operation.

Therefore, deployments usually reference combat operations that take place overseas.

When most civilians think of military orders, they commonly associate everything with being deployed, though that’s not always the case based on the actual military definition.

Deployment refers to assigning military personnel from a home station to somewhere outside the continental United States.

Mobilizations are also classified as deployments under the Department of Defense guidelines.

How does a TDY differ from a deployment?

The biggest difference between deployments and temporary duty assignments is the length of the orders.

Military TDY is short-term, with even longer stints requiring less than a half year of commitment.

On the other hand, deployments are typically longer and involve assignments outside the United States.

Additionally, deployments involve assignments to specific operations and usually in combat situations.

However, both types of military orders have similarities.

For example, military personnel must leave their home station for a different location under each type of order.

Military TDY is not always as serious as deployments.

For instance, a temporary duty assignment could mean nothing more than attending school, conferences, or a military-sponsored event.

Or it could pertain to a regular part of military duty where frequent travel is mandatory and the service member hopes to receive some form of compensation for their travel exs.

There are cases where military personnel earn TDY status even when working in the same geographic area as the home base to justify lodging and meal expenses associated with the duty.

Soldiers also rely on military TDY for house hunting and other searches when considering a new permanent change of station or out-processing from military service.

Can I go with my husband/wife on a TDY?

One of the many perks of temporary duty assignments is that you can occasionally bring along the family.

The same is not true of deployments where it would put your spouse or other family members in danger.

If given the chance to bring along a spouse for your temporary duty assignment, you should welcome the opportunity, but keep in mind that pier diem rates are only calculated for the service member.

Military personnel often spend months away from family and friends, so having a unique opportunity like this to spend with a loved one is rare and special.

MilitaryShoppers.com put together a great resource on the topic.

It explains the pros and cons of tagging along with a significant other while he or she is on TDY.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that while you can live with your spouse while on temporary duty assignment, his or her time is still limited and it might drain your budget quickly.

Other than that, it’s an enticing opportunity to catch up after potentially months of separation.

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Will I get paid extra during a TDY?

Despite having to leave your home station, there is nothing more rewarding than a little extra pay in freedom.

It is exactly what temporary duty assignments provide to service members.

In fact, the reason that military personnel may request or seek TDY is the opportunity to put more in their wallet.

Military TDY usually grants per diem pay, which helps cover lodging, meals, and incidental expenses.

You get a set per diem pay regardless of what you actually spend each day on daily expenses.

As a result, if you budget accordingly, you can earn extra cash by pocketing whatever per diem you don’t spend on daily living expenses.

What kind of accommodations can I expect during a TDY?

The accommodations of temporary duty assignments are nothing to brag about yet offer incentives that most military personnel don’t get to enjoy.

For example, the potential opportunity to take your significant other along with you when TDY is a major advantage for some.

Military personnel may get the opportunity to stay at furnished apartments or long-term stay hotels.

Long-term stays help save you money on your per diem since you can cook your own meals as opposed to dining out all of the time.

Furnished apartments may also include laundry and other housing services to save even more money.

Service members on TDY may also request a cash advance of 60-80% of the total value.

It helps cover move-in costs as opposed to spending out of their own pocket.

Some military organizations deem anything over 30 consecutive calendar days. 

For this reason, it allows partial reimbursement of living expenses prior to concluding the assignment.

Military TDY, or temporary duty assignments, refer to relatively short-term military travel orders away from a home station.

Temporary duty assignments range from a couple of days to under six months.

Military TDY is a good thing for soldiers despite the travel arrangements, as it helps cover lodging, food, and transportation regarding the orders.

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PCS, TDY and Deployments

Written by Veteran.com Team

There are several different types of military orders one can receive. They directly affect the service member’s duty location, the duration of that duty and how the service member is to be paid. These orders include Permanent Change of Station (PCS), Temporary Duty (TDY, TAD or other designation depending on the branch of service), and Deployments.

These three separate types of orders are not interchangeable. Depending on the nature of your military service, the orders may have specific implications about time served, special duty pay, per diem pay, and other compensation.

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Temporary Duty Orders

What are Temporary Duty Orders? The Navy defines Temporary Duty Orders as, “duty at one or more locations, away from the permanent duty station (PDS), under an order, providing for further assignment or pending further assignment, to return to the old PDS or to proceed to a new PDS.”

Different Acronyms for The Same General Purpose: TDY Orders Across The Services

The Navy has Temporary Duty orders and Temporary Additional Duty orders. Official communications from the Navy official site refer to TAD as the Navy version of TDY.

Temporary Duty orders are known as TDY orders in the Air Force and the United States Army. The Army has other categories similar to TDY orders. Temporary Change of Station (TCS) orders authorize duty in a similar way to TDY orders.

The United States Marine Corps also uses TDY, but includes something called Long-Term TDY for orders authorizing duty at another location for longer than 30 days.

TDY Orders and Their Variants Are Subject to Regulation Changes

The basic distinguishing factor about TDY orders and their variants (TCS, TAD, etc.) is that these orders are designed to authorize duty in a location away from the service member’s duty station or assignment on a temporary basis.

TDY orders are required because Department of Defense regulations authorizing travel pay, per diem, and other expenses must be justified by official military orders to a specific location for a specific purpose. The documentation of the duty authorization, related expenses, and the results of the duty are required as a typical part of the process.

All other details are subject to change by government regulations. This includes the duration of authorized TDY travel and duty, the amount of travel pay or other money permitted to the service member, and how lodging and transportation are handled during the period of duty.

Do a Google search on the phrase “TDY rules” and you will find a staggering amount of information. Some old and outdated data, but some new and featuring changes or adjustments to areas mentioned above.

 What TDY, TAD, and TCS Orders Are Used For

There are hundreds of examples of typical use of Temporary Duty orders.  TDY status is used for professional military education such as Airman Leadership School or Navy Chief Petty Officer training. It may also be used as a regular part of military duty where frequent travel is required.

For example, pilots flying missions from a stateside base to duty in an overseas location may require TDY orders. Emergency medical evacuation teams sent to an operating location away from the military member’s assignment could also require the use of TDY orders.

TDY status may be required even when working in the same basic geographic area as the military member’s home base . If there is duty required at another base, TDY orders may be needed to justify lodging or meal requirements associated with that duty, where applicable.

TDY or TAD orders can be cut for purposes that strictly benefit the military member. There is something called Permissive TDY that can be used for house hunting in connection with a new assignment or in conjunction with outprocessing from military service.

This practice is common especially among those making a permanent change of station move with family members. TDY for house hunting allows a transition from one assignment to the next without excessive use of personal leave while trying to find a place to live.

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Deployment Orders

Deployment orders are different than TDY orders for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is that deployments are conducted for a specific purpose. They normally involve either training, combat operations, or some other type of mission with a specific activity.

Some branches of the service use the phrase “deployment” interchangeably with TDY, PCS, etc. But the most precise use of the term for our purposes is the traditional one. Deployments are usually to “forward” locations whether for training purposes (a simulated or actual forward deployed area for the training), combat, etc.

Why Deployment Orders Are Different Than TDY Orders

Deployment orders are subject to their own rules and regulations. They are handled differently than PCS or TDY orders. Deployments normally happen in groups. So an individual soldier, sailor, airman, or marine will get deployment orders along with a group of others going to the same place. Group processing into and out of the deployment area of operations will likely be required.

Deployment Time Limits, Pay Issues

Deployments usually have a maximum time for “boots on the ground.” Traditionally, in recent decades, 179 days is a typical deployment length. The reason for this arbitrary number has much do to with the way this type of duty is categorized.

A military member sent out to a forward location for longer than 179 days would need to have that duty time recharacterized as a Permanent Change of Station move rather than a TDY or deployment. Some are confused by the need for jargon to define all this until they learn that how the military handles certain pay and allowances. It may depend on the status of the military member as being on TDY, PCS, or involved in a deployment.

TDY orders may involve a per diem payment for meals, funds for lodging, etc. A deployment presupposes that no such expenses are necessary, except for specifically defined circumstances listed in the orders.

For example, if commercial travel is required for a portion of the deployment, those expenses would be reimbursed. Such is the case if authorized on the orders or if the orders have been amended after the fact to authorize such expenses.

Deployments may trigger the authorization for hazardous duty pay or other payments, where applicable. TDY orders would not. A permanent change of station move (see below) would also include payments and authorizations that are not available under either TDY or deployment orders.

Unique Deployment Considerations: Stop Loss

Because of the nature of deployments (compared to PCS orders and TDY / TAD/ TCS orders), certain issues come up in connection with them that aren’t relevant to PCS or TDYs. One of those is the use of something called Stop-Loss . This is a practice where military members are not permitted to leave military service at the end of their military commitment due to mission demands.

Stop Loss can affect deployments because troops who get orders to deploy may (or may not) be at the end of a current enlistment. The military may choose to deploy these service members anyway and adjust the separation date accordingly. This is usually not done arbitrarily. Career fields who are vulnerable for stop loss action are normally identified/notified in advance of a deployment or potential deployment. Stop loss is not always invoked, but when it is there is usually a high demand or shortage involved for certain types of career fields or duty.

Those with approaching separation dates who are concerned about stop loss and its ability to affect the service member’s plans should discuss their questions with the unit orderly room, command support staff, or personnel office.

» MORE: See how your military service can get you into a home for $0 down

Permanent Change of Station Orders

A Permanent Change of Station (PCS), also commonly referred to as a reassignment or sometimes (depending on the branch of service) as a “deployment” (but not a “real” deployment to a combat zone or forward location) is a totally different set of circumstances.

PCS orders authorize certain kinds of travel pay which is not permitted under other types of orders. For example, a service member may be authorized to claim mileage, lodging expenses associated with the PCS move, and there may be a provision for permissive TDY orders for house hunting.

PCS Orders, Pay, and Allowances

PCS orders essentially change the service member’s pay and allowances in some cases. Any cost of living allowance paid at the previous duty station, any housing allowances, and authorization for separate rations will change depending on policies at the gaining command or base.

By comparison, a set of TDY orders does not change any of these things. Hence the phrase “temporary duty” implying that the service member has NOT been reassigned to a new command. Deployments also do not touch the servicemember’s current assignment, etc. PCS orders indicate a more permanent (hence the name) relocation than temporary duty or deployments.

PCS Orders Can Include Family Members

PCS orders are also different than TDY and deployment orders because PCS moves affect the entire military family , where applicable. In some cases the orders will specify an “accompanied tour” and may name the family members in the orders. In others the service member may be reassigned as a “geographic bachelor” and not have the family accompany the service member.

Compare that to most TDY orders which are for service members only (or DoD civilians, etc.) and deployments which never authorize family members to accompany the soldier, sailor, airman, or marine.

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Retiring Marines have to give 6 months’ notice, up from 4 months

Marines who wish to retire from the Marine Corps now have to let the service know at least six months before their planned retirement dates, up from four months.

The change, announced in a Marine administrative message Friday, comes as the Corps is overhauling its approach to retaining Marines, in an initiative called Talent Management . The service has tried to keep more experienced Marines in its ranks by offering incentives, financial and otherwise, and by making it easier to reenlist for second or third terms.

But the Talent Management initiative also has implications for Marines who are nearing the end of their time in uniform.

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“One of the elements of Talent Management is predictability, and to facilitate it for assignments and related actions,” the administrative message reads.

Effective immediately, Marines must submit their requests for retirement not more than 18 months and not less than six months before the day they would like to retire. Previously, they had to submit their requests not more than 14 months and not less than four months out, according to the separation and retirement manual .

The new time limits also apply to Marines who resign from the Corps.

The Corps’ Manpower and Reserve Affairs division reviewed the previous four-to-14-month window and found it didn’t give Marines enough time to plan for a smooth transition from the ranks, Marine spokeswoman Capt. Sarah Eason said via email to Marine Corps Times on Friday.

“A model that requires a 6-month to 18-month lead time ensures a Marine has sufficient time to complete all requirements associated with transition, while also allowing the service to more effectively forecast the availability of manpower capacity to meet service requirements,” Eason said.

Before Marines leave the service, they need to complete the Transition Readiness Seminar, Permissive Temporary Additional Duty, a final physical, unit checkout requirements, terminal leave and more, Eason noted.

The Corps’ director of manpower management may approve a retirement or resignation request for a date other than the one a Marine has requested “based on the needs of the service, service limitations, or the laws and policies related to retirements/resignations,” according to the Marine administrative message.

Enlisted Marines and officers alike are eligible to become retirees — who receive pensions , along with a host of other benefits — after 20 years’ active duty service. Enlisted Marine retirees with less than 30 years of service technically get transferred to the Fleet Reserve , where it is possible they could be ordered back to active duty .

The tweak to the retirement process isn’t the only policy pertaining to soon-to-be-veterans that the Corps’ Manpower and Reserve Affairs division has recently reassessed.

In October, the Corps released a document announcing cuts to the time that Marines could spend training at civilian workplaces before leaving active duty. Service members in that transition program, called SkillBridge, spend the final months of their active duty commitments at jobs in the civilian sector rather than at their military jobs.

The Marine Corps later pulled the “premature” document from its website, and the cuts to SkillBridge didn’t actually go into effect, Marine spokeswoman Maj. Danielle Phillips said in November. But Phillips acknowledged the Marine Corps was evaluating its SkillBridge policy “to ensure we balance the needs of the individual Marine with Congressional intent and a mission-capable Marine Corps.”

Irene Loewenson is a staff reporter for Marine Corps Times. She joined Military Times as an editorial fellow in August 2022. She is a graduate of Williams College, where she was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper.

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GOP Senate candidate in Montana builds campaign on once-secret Navy exploits

Tim sheehy, who has offered inconsistent accounts of his war wounds, was a well-respected navy seal. now he’s benefiting from the elite force’s star power..

When Tim Sheehy completed training as a Navy SEAL in 2009 and shipped off to Iraq, the elite fighting force was not a household name. People were perplexed when he told them what he did, he would later say.

That all changed in 2011, when a SEAL team conducted the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, a shift that took Sheehy, now a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Montana, by surprise. Suddenly, he said, “SEALs were everywhere, you know — TV shows, books.”

“It was crazy,” Sheehy, 38, added in a podcast interview last November. “And to be honest, we got overexposed.” As a result, he said, “sometimes I hate saying I was a Navy SEAL because I was like, ‘Oh great, I’m so sick of hearing about Navy SEALs.’”

But as he campaigns in one of the country’s most competitive Senate races, which could decide control of the chamber, Sheehy — a decorated veteran who earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star — is hardly circumspect about his work as a Navy SEAL.

He lists it as the first line in all his online profiles. He splashed it across his campaign website. He mentioned it nearly 70 times in his 2023 memoir. He told the audience at a Republican women’s meeting in Montana last fall, “I’m a war hero, a job creator, a philanthropist.”

In touting his time as a SEAL, however, Sheehy has sometimes contradicted himself and made puzzling statements about aspects of his Navy activity.

Most notably, Sheehy, who now owns an aerial firefighting business, has told voters that he has a bullet in his arm from combat in Afghanistan. But he told a National Park Service ranger in 2015 that he had accidentally shot himself when his Colt .45 revolver fell and discharged in Montana’s Glacier National Park, according to a record of the episode filed in court. When asked about that account last week, Sheehy told The Washington Post that he had lied to the ranger to protect himself and his former platoonmates from scrutiny over an old bullet wound that he said he had suffered in Afghanistan in 2012.

This week, after The Post sent new questions to Sheehy’s campaign, the candidate posted part of the inquiry on social media and warned of a “hit piece attacking me for serving my country.” Katie Martin, a campaign spokeswoman, did not respond to those questions but issued a statement saying, in part, “Tim Sheehy humbly served our nation with honor as a Navy SEAL. He has never called himself a hero, but he served alongside plenty of them. His military service is well documented and is a matter of public record.”

Since The Post first reported Sheehy’s 2015 encounter with the park ranger, some Republicans in Montana and nationally have rallied around him. But VoteVets, a liberal political action committee focused on electing veterans, said it was “deeply troubled that a fellow veteran may have misrepresented aspects of their service while trying to win a political campaign” and called on Sheehy to release underlying medical records.

In discussing his Navy career, Sheehy has highlighted the work he did with the unit that killed bin Laden, SEAL Team Six, also sometimes called “Task Force Blue,” tying himself in the process to one of its darkest episodes, the death of an aid worker in a failed rescue attempt.

Finally, Sheehy has offered different explanations for his exit from the Navy — variously saying he left because of wounds from Afghanistan and because of a heart problem triggered by an underwater training mission in the Pacific.

All political candidates must promote their work experience. The blend of secrecy and valor central to SEAL activity makes that task more promising — but also more perilous. Part of the official SEAL ethos states , “I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions.”

Still, Sheehy joins a growing number of former SEALs discussing that work as they campaign to win votes. In the decade since Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) became the first former Navy SEAL elected to the U.S. House, in 2014, the ranks of retired members of the elite force in Congress have grown to five — all Republican, from Texas, Arizona and Wisconsin, in addition to Montana.

Sheehy would be the sixth, and the second from Montana after Zinke. His path points to the dilemmas involved in mixing politics with the SEAL ethos.

“There’s this conflict inside the SEAL teams between being the quiet professional, which is the professed ideal, and trading on the reputation of the organization for your own personal benefit,” said Dave Madden, a former Navy SEAL who served with Sheehy in Afghanistan and declined to comment specifically on his former platoonmate.

Trained to fight

Sheehy grew up outside Minneapolis. His father was in the financial services industry, and his mother has worked as a museum docent, according to a college roommate, Nick Adkins.

The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were decisive for him, Sheehy wrote in his 2023 memoir, “Mudslingers.”

“Like a lot of young men in the early 2000s, I was eager to fight,” he wrote. “Who needed college when the world seemingly was on fire?”

His parents insisted on college, he wrote, so he applied and gained admission to the U.S. Naval Academy.

Adkins, his roommate for all four years, said Sheehy was driven and exacting. He took issue with the film “300,” Adkins said, because he said it included inaccuracies about the Battle of Thermopylae in the Greco-Persian Wars. He was first impressed by the woman who would become his wife — Carmen, a Naval Academy classmate who would go on to become a Marine — because she could do more pull-ups than Sheehy, according to Adkins.

While at the Naval Academy, Sheehy also went to Ranger School, the Army’s rigorous tactical leadership course, in 2006, part of what he described as an “experimental program” to integrate Navy officers in Army operations at a time when Special Operations units were under pressure globally.

Another classmate, Donnie Horner III, said Sheehy “doesn’t view being a Ranger, being a SEAL or even being a U.S. Senate candidate at 38 as something to brag about or a feather in his cap. He sees it as his commitment to duty and service.”

Reflecting on Sheehy’s current task of translating that experience to the campaign trail, Horner said, “I would say it would not come naturally for him to talk about his extraordinary career as a Ranger or a SEAL.”

Sheehy completed SEAL training in 2009 and quickly deployed to Iraq.

“I went right to a team that was already deployed,” Sheehy said in the November 2023 interview, explaining to a county sheriff and podcast host in Montana how he graduated, drove across the country, “hopped on a plane, and was in Iraq a day later.”

A taste of combat

Sheehy was eager to see combat, as he wrote in his memoir, but he spent much of his first deployment in an operations center in Baghdad, according to Matt Stevens, the commanding officer of the SEAL team that welcomed the young recruit.

Because Sheehy joined midway through the deployment, Stevens said, he focused mainly on behind-the-scenes work in the Iraqi capital.

He did that work well, according to Stevens. “He was more mature than his peers,” said the former commanding officer, “being a guy who could get things done, anticipate and take the initiative.”

Sheehy has said he completed several additional deployments in the Middle East and Central Asia, while also conducting counternarcotics work in South America — “deep in the Amazon” — and taking part in a “special reconnaissance team that would do missions around the world.”

In the fall of 2010, Sheehy assisted in the failed effort to rescue Linda Norgrove, a British aid worker whom the Taliban had kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan, according to Sheehy’s memoir. The effort, botched when a grenade thrown by a U.S. service member killed Norgrove, was led by the same elite SEAL team that would later kill bin Laden, according to published accounts.

Sheehy wrote that he was assigned to a classified task force and served “as a liaison between ‘Blue’ and our Army counterparts.” He recalled that “the process was maddening and the final result dispiriting.”

At an event promoting his memoir earlier this year, he called the Norgrove assignment “one of the most daring hostage rescue missions ever.” And he boasted of his responsibilities as a 25-year-old SEAL: “I’m up there running … you know, a task force to find a hostage.”

Sheehy’s unit had difficulties of its own in Afghanistan.

He was the officer in charge of a small platoon that spent the first half of 2012 deployed mostly in southeast Afghanistan, according to multiple former members of the platoon, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were still on active duty or in other fields that do not allow them to discuss past work.

Unlike most of his time in Baghdad, this was a very hazardous deployment for Sheehy — “firefights, IEDs almost daily,” recalled Scott Weaver, a platoonmate who was responsible for clearing explosive devices. The platoon was conducting what are called “village stability operations” — living in small rural outposts and seeking to empower local Afghans to take back control from the Taliban.

April 2012 was an especially brutal month for the platoon. That’s when Sheehy suffered the injuries that earned him a Purple Heart, which came after he was knocked unconscious by an IED blast, according to a local news report about his ceremony.

It was also the month that two members of the platoon were medically evacuated after being wounded in explosive blasts — first Craig Meekins, whom Sheehy carried on his shoulder to a helicopter, in an act that would later earn him a Bronze Star, and then Weaver, who said his left calf was blown off when a truck detonated an explosive device.

Weaver recalled in a podcast interview last summer how he had posed for a photo on a stretcher before being evacuated — part of a tradition of documenting combat wounds.

“The guys in war that had been hit had this kind of sick thing where whenever you got hit or shot, you had to do a picture with your thumbs up,” he said in the interview. “It was like the cool guy picture, right?”

Campaign trail

But soon after, Sheehy broke with tradition and kept a gunshot wound private, according to the account he gave to The Post last week.

He told The Post he suffered the wound at issue in the park ranger’s report in late April or May of 2012. He said he was unsure if the ricochet bullet that landed in his arm had come from enemy combatants or friendly fire, though he believed two members of his unit were positioned such that they may have been responsible. In his memoir, by contrast, he wrote that he knew which member of his team — a “total stud” — had accidentally shot him, and kept it quiet to protect that person and to avoid being sent away for medical treatment.

Sheehy said he received no treatment for the wound and feared disclosing it to the park ranger in Montana, three years later, because he was still a reservist at that time and thought such a disclosure could spark a Navy investigation — a possibility that some military experts said was remote. Sheehy said he didn’t shoot himself in the park but rather fell and cut his arm, an injury that he worried might have dislodged the bullet. He said he decided to go to the emergency room, where he said he informed hospital staff of the bullet in his arm, and hospital officials said they had to alert law enforcement of all gunshot wounds, leading to the interaction with the park ranger.

Sheehy’s campaign arranged an interview with a former member of the platoon who said he remembered Sheehy telling him while they were both in Afghanistan that he had been hit by a ricochet bullet but that he didn’t want to report the wound. The former platoon member spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is a military reservist and said he is not authorized to speak to the media.

The Post interviewed several other former members of the platoon who served with Sheehy during his 2012 deployment, and they said they understood why he might have kept a gunshot wound to himself — but said the only wounds they knew Sheehy to have suffered involved traumatic brain injury from explosive blasts. These former platoonmates said he didn’t mention a gunshot wound during the deployment or when platoon members reconvened in Virginia Beach later in 2012.

Weaver chalked up such a move to his leadership qualities.

“His mind-set was, ‘always the first one in, always the last one out,’ even when that put him in danger,” Weaver said. “At first I thought he had a death wish, but I very soon came to realize that’s just his leadership style.”

He probably feared “being shipped home away from his team,” Weaver added.

After that deployment, Sheehy moved to Honolulu, where he oversaw undersea missions until the fall of 2014, according to a résumé he submitted to the Montana legislature. That résumé, dated January 2021, says he was ultimately “medically separated from active duty due to wounds received in Afghanistan.”

Elsewhere, Sheehy has offered a different account of his departure from the Navy. In his 2023 memoir, he wrote that he decided to leave the Navy after a submarine incident in the Pacific left him with decompression sickness that made him “damaged goods” and would keep him from active duty. In the November 2023 podcast interview, he said the incident “popped a hole in my heart.”

Martin, the Sheehy spokeswoman, did not address the discrepancy, saying only, “Sheehy was honorably discharged from the Navy after being declared medically unfit to continue to serve as a Navy SEAL.”

As he looked for a place to land, he wrote in his memoir, “Montana seemed like the ideal spot.” It wasn’t too far from his home in Minnesota and offered plenty of outdoor space. He soon bought the aircraft — a 40-year-old Twin Commander 500 — that would become the centerpiece of his aerial firefighting business.

In 2015, he was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart in a ceremony presided over by Zinke, also a former Navy SEAL and then a Republican congressman from Montana who would later become Donald Trump’s interior secretary. Zinke returned to the U.S. House in 2023, the same year Sheehy launched his Senate campaign.

His launch video opens with footage from the Sept. 11 attacks and uses a font reminiscent of military movies and video games.

Other ads are filled with photos of Sheehy in military fatigues. In one, he ties his war experience to the culture wars, telling the camera, “I’m a combat-wounded Navy SEAL running for the Senate to get this woke crap out of our military and to keep our country safe.”

Alice Crites, Alex Horton, Fenit Nirappil and Aaron Schaffer contributed to this report.