DoD Fire Fighters Get Long Overdue Uniform Allowance Hike

September 21, 2007 – The Senate has unanimously approved an amendment to the defense authorization bill offered by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) effectively doubling to $800 the maximum yearly uniform allowance for Department of Defense (DoD) fire fighters, the first increase in 18 years.

Since 1989, DoD fire fighters have received a maximum of $400 a year to cover uniform costs, an amount that is no longer sufficient to cover even basic uniform costs. The IAFF worked to bring the issue to the attention of federal agencies, and on May 29, 2007, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) doubled the uniform allowance for federal fire fighters to $800 a year. However, despite the May increase, an old DoD law still prevented DoD fire fighters from qualifying for OPM’s $800 maximum allowance.

The Nelson-Graham amendment threw out the old DoD law that, since May, singled out DoD fire fighters and prevented them from getting the same uniform allowance as their counterparts in other federal agencies. With the amendment, OPM’s $800 maximum annual uniform allowance will now apply to DoD fire fighters. The amendment was approved during Senate consideration of the defense authorization bill (HR 1585), which sets funding priorities for the nation’s defense budget.

General President Harold Schaitberger welcomed the increase. “This increase is long overdue,” he says. It is high time our brothers and sisters at DoD are provided with the resources for their uniforms they desperately need and rightfully deserve.”

Although the uniform allowance amendment has been adopted, the underlying defense authorization bill is still being debated on the Senate floor. The bill is expected to pass next week, and must then be reconciled with the House version that does not include the uniform allowance increase. The IAFF will continue its efforts until the increase is signed into law.