MILPERSMAN 7220-100 & DODFMR 7A –The Financial Cost of Navy Command
MILPERSMAN 7220-100 & DODFMR 7A – Navy Command Responsibility Pay
I only realized a few months prior to taking command that Navy Commanding Officers receive “Command Responsibility Pay”, a $50-$150 pay bonus for those in an at Sea Command to:
provide tangible recognition to enhance the status of the operational commander (OPCDR) by providing additional pay for positions of unusual responsibility.
This command responsibility pay is described in MILPERSMAN 7220-100. The MILPERSMAN states that command at sea is the primary criteria for this command responsibility pay; however it does not specify how much a Naval Officer is to receive for this command pay. To get that information you need to the DOD comptroller office, DOD Financial Management Regulation Volume 7A Chapter 13. This instruction states that Officers will received command responsibility pay in accordance with the below schedule:
06 – $150
05 – $100
04 – $50
While it is a great deal, there are quite a few unexpected expenses associated with the Change of Command, Gifts, and day to day running of the command.
I’ve been in command 1 week and here is a break down of my current expenses.
$230 – My parting gift (we decided to purchase both the outgoing and incoming CO’s gift at the same time, as it saved us money and saved the last minute gift buying scramble
$60 – Uniform items, such as command pin and updated metals for the Change of Command
$100 – Personal Coins to Hand out
$190 – Food and drinks for the Change of command
$50 – Flowers for the Change of command
$47 – A new set of thank you notes from American Stationery
For a grand total of $680 or Nearly 7 months of Navy Command Pay for items only associated with taking command.
In relation to my other Commanding Officers these expenses seem average to below average, and I fully expect that the remainder of the money will be used buying donuts for the office, drinks on TAD and wardroom gifts.
If there are any other expenses I missed please let me know and I will be happy to add.
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