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Some Minnesota lawmakers believe Kosovo’s current combat status could be changed and that 400 Minnesota Army National Guard members being sent there could lose their tax exclusion and imminent-danger pay, as well as government-paid flights home for leave. That could cost families hundreds of dollars each month.
Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, drafted a letter earlier in the week that was being sent to Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday evening, urging him to maintain Kosovo’s status.
“We believe the current designation of Kosovo as a combat zone should be maintained to reflect the dangerous missions encountered there by our soldiers on a regular basis,” the letter said.
Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., who spent 24 years in the National Guard, pledged to organize congressional support for maintaining combat pay for soldiers in Kosovo.
See Guard, page 4A
“Remember, these are soldiers that have already been in Afghanistan or Iraq. They’re going again,” he said. “Now they’re telling them that a grenade attack, a rocket attack, a few land mines or ethnic unrest doesn’t warrant a little extra pay.”
Members of a Mankato-based battalion will begin their second deployment to Kosovo later this year. They were part of a group of about 800 sent to Kosovo in 2004.
A Guard member in a combat zone receives combat pay (officially called “imminent-danger pay“) of $225 per month above and beyond regular pay. There is also a tax advantage. Earnings received while in a combat zone are not taxed.
The Department of Defense is reviewing all areas designated as combat zones to make sure the conditions still warrant the status and that service members who should be entitled to certain benefits receive them, department officials said.
“The Department of Defense regularly reviews those areas of the world — worldwide, not just one region at a time, but worldwide — where we have combat zone tax exclusion and imminent-danger pay,” said Cmdr. Joe Carpenter, a spokesman for the Defense Department.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty, visiting Guard troops in Iraq with National Guard Bureau Chief Lt. General H. Steven Blum, said during a teleconference on Wednesday that he was not aware of the new plan on combat pay in the Balkans. But he said, if true, it raised serious concerns and that he would make his concerns known to Blum.
G.L. wrote on Mar 13, 2007 8:31 AM: