Originally Posted by
USMCFLYR
......You get incentive pay because the job you do is dangerous. They get incentive pay for the same reasons. You get more than they do because of your education, training, rank, responsibility, etc....
USMCFLYR
There is nothing about flight pay that says it is because of the danger of the job - as a matter of fact, the official name is Aviation Career Incentive Pay, not flight pay - you don't have to fly to get it (reference previous mentions of gates, etc). I could not fly again and still get ACIP for the remainder of my career. DOD Instruction defines ACIP as "Additional pay intended to attract and retain officers in a military aviation career." Nothing about danger. ACIP is pay given for a specific skill set. Do medical personnel get their annual medical pay because their job is dangerous?
FWIW, UAV operators do not get any pay related to danger unless they physically go into theater.