---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 1603"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "1603"
heading: "Additional compensation, incentives, and allowances"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/1603"
units:
  - "Subtitle A — General Military Law"
  - "Part II — Personnel"
  - "Chapter 83 — Civilian Defense Intelligence Employees"
  - "Subchapter I — Defense-Wide Intelligence Personnel Policy"
---

# §1603. Additional compensation, incentives, and allowances

- (a) **Additional Compensation Based on Title 5 Authorities.—** The [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense may provide employees in [defense intelligence positions](/usc/10/1614.md?p=1) compensation (in addition to basic [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15)), including benefits, incentives, and allowances, consistent with, and not in excess of the level authorized for, comparable positions authorized by title 5.
- (b) **Allowances Based on Living Costs and Environment.—**
  - (1) In addition to basic [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15), employees in [defense intelligence positions](/usc/10/1614.md?p=1) who are citizens or nationals of the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1) and are stationed outside the continental [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1) or in Alaska may be paid an allowance, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense, while they are so stationed.
  - (2) An allowance under this subsection shall be based on—
    - (A) living costs substantially higher than in the District of Columbia;
    - (B) conditions of [environment](/usc/10/2700.md?p=2) which (i) differ substantially from conditions of [environment](/usc/10/2700.md?p=2) in the continental [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1), and (ii) warrant an allowance as a recruitment incentive; or
    - (C) both of the factors specified in subparagraphs [(A)](#b-2-A) and [(B)](#b-2-B).
  - (3) An allowance under this subsection may not exceed the allowance authorized to be paid by [section 5941(a) of title 5](/usc/5/5941.md?p=a) for employees whose [rates](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-9) of basic [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15) are fixed by statute.
- (c) **Additional Allowances and Benefits for Certain Employees of the Defense Clandestine Service.—**
  - (1) Beginning on the date on which the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense submits the report under [paragraph (3)(A)](#c-3-A), in addition to the authority to provide compensation under [subsection (a)](#a), the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) may provide a covered employee allowances and benefits under paragraph (1) of [section 9904 of title 5](/usc/5/9904.md) without regard to the limitations in that section—
    - (A) that the employee be assigned to activities outside the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1); or
    - (B) that the activities to which the employee is assigned be in support of [Department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) of Defense activities abroad.
  - (2) The [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) may not provide allowances and benefits under [paragraph (1)](#c-1) to more than 125 covered employees per year.
  - (3)
    - (A) The [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) shall submit to the [appropriate congressional committees](/usc/10/301.md?p=1) a report containing a strategy addressing the mission of the Defense Clandestine Service during the period covered by the most recent future-years defense [program](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) submitted under [section 221 of this title](/usc/10/221.md), including—
      - (i) how such mission will evolve during such period;
      - (ii) how the authority provided by [paragraph (1)](#c-1) will assist the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) in carrying out such mission; and
      - (iii) an implementation plan for carrying out [paragraph (1)](#c-1), including a projection of how much the amount of the allowances and benefits provided under such paragraph compare with the amount of the allowances and benefits provided before the date of the report.
    - (B) Not later than December 31, 2020, and each year thereafter, the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) shall submit to the [appropriate congressional committees](/usc/10/301.md?p=1) a report, with respect to the fiscal year preceding the date on which the report is submitted—
      - (i) identifying the number of covered employees for whom the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) provided allowances and benefits under [paragraph (1)](#c-1); and
      - (ii) evaluating the efficacy of such allowances and benefits in enabling the execution of the objectives of the Defense Intelligence [Agency](/usc/10/3451.md?p=3).
    - (C) The reports under subparagraphs [(A)](#c-3-A) and [(B)](#c-3-B) may be submitted in classified form.
  - (4) In this subsection:
    - (A) The term “[appropriate congressional committees](/usc/10/301.md?p=1)” means—
      - (i) the [congressional defense committees](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-16); and
      - (ii) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
    - (B) The term “covered employee” means an employee in a [defense intelligence position](/usc/10/1614.md?p=1) who is assigned to the Defense Clandestine Service at a location in the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1) that the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) determines has living costs equal to or higher than the District of Columbia.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title XVI, § 1632(a)(3), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2746; amended Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title XI, § 1108, Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1597.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Prior Provisions

A prior section 1603, added Pub. L. 97–89, title VII, § 701(a)(1), Dec. 4, 1981, 95 Stat. 1160; amended Pub. L. 99–145, title XIII, § 1302(a)(3), Nov. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 738; Pub. L. 99–661, div. A, title XIII, § 1343(a)(9), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3992, related to limits on pay to members of the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title XVI, §§ 1632(a)(3), 1635, Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2745, 2752, effective Oct. 1, 1996.

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in sections 1590(d) and 1604(b)(2), (d) of this title prior to repeal by Pub. L. 104–201, §§ 1632(a)(3), 1633(a).

### Amendments

2019—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–92 added subsec. (c).

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 1, 1996, see section 1635 of Pub. L. 104–201, set out as an Effective Date of 1996 Amendment note under section 1593 of this title.