U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) urged the Secretary of the Air Force this week to help address mental health problems in the military by implementing cold weather special duty pay for service members located in North Dakota, Alaska, and Montana.
The Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act introduced cold weather pay to help address the mental health crisis among service members in northern locations. However, Sen. Hoeven’s office said service members across North Dakota, Alaska, and Montana have yet to receive the authorized special duty pay.
“As you know, cold weather locations have long endured increased risks related to suicide, a trend that has unfortunately manifested across both the civilian and military populations,” wrote Sen. Hoeven and three of his colleagues in a March 5 letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. The letter also was signed by U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND).
“Airmen and Guardians in cold weather locations are asked to perform their duties in harsh environments, with temperatures that regularly dip below minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter,” the letter said. The service members in extreme cold locations must pay for the cost of necessities to ensure their families are appropriately equipped for the long winter season, a financial burden that most other members across the department do not encounter.
“Providing additional funds for our Airmen and Guardians in cold weather locations—installations that the Department directed they be assigned—is not likely to solve the Department’s suicide problem, but it will assuredly help,” Sen. Hoeven and his colleagues wrote.