Pentagon may cut hazard pay in some regions

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is eyeing plans to eliminate danger pay for service members in as many as 18 countries and five waterways around the world, saving $120 million a year while taking a bite out of troops' salaries, The Associated Press has learned.

Senior military leaders came up with the proposed list of locations in regions that no longer were perilous enough to warrant danger pay, including several countries in the heart of the Middle East, such as Jordan, where hundreds of troops have been deployed recently because of the Syrian civil war.

Defense officials said the proposal would strip the stipend, up to $225 a month, from as many as 56,000 service members, including thousands stationed in Kuwait, which was a key hub during the Iraq War. It also would affect thousands of sailors who routinely travel through the Persian Gulf region on ships or airmen who fly over the Gulf.

Troops would still receive the extra money if they serve in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen and in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. -- AP