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.)
The U.S. thwarted a drone attack on U.S. forces at Al Asad air base in western Iraq on April 22, marking the first time that American troops have been targeted since February, U.S. officials said. “We can confirm it was an attack on Al Asad,” a defense official told Air & Space…