In late 2017, an aviation boatswain’s mate (handling) chief petty officer started another day of flight operations on board the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). It began like any other day; however, just prior to sunset, an F/A-18E Super Hornet ran over his legs, resulting in the loss of a leg and permanent disability. In 2018, an aviation boatswain’s mate (handling) airman apprentice tragically lost his life on the flight deck after being struck by the propellers of an E-2C Hawkeye on board the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77).
Whether they involve an experienced chief petty officer or a new accession, such catastrophic mishaps demonstrate the dangers encountered every day during flight deck operations on board the Navy’s aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships.
Historically, flight deck personnel have experienced “a serious injury and fatality rate many times higher than the normal Navy rate.”1 Yet, the associated flight deck hazardous duty incentive pay (FDHDIP) has remained $150 per month since November 1997. Intended to compensate for increased peril and retain qualified personnel in critical billets, the original incentive would be more than $290 in today’s dollars when accounting for inflation alone.
Given the current challenges in qualifying and retaining motivated, experienced sailors to serve on the Navy’s flight decks, as well as inflation over the past three decades, Navy leaders should request the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs increase the monthly rate for FDHDIP to $275 (the current maximum allowed under USC Title 37).
Dangerous and Demanding
Working in one of the most dangerous and unforgiving work environments in the world, the Navy’s flight deck personnel perform their duties “under and in extremely close proximity (within inches) to moving aircraft” and “are exposed to hazards of jet intakes, jet blast, propeller and rotor wash, high-speed propellers and rotors, possible arresting cable separations, and the obvious hazards associated with aircraft crashes and fires on confined flight decks.”2 In 2019, 12 sailors were injured when a helicopter crashed on board the Ronald Reagan, and in 2022, five sailors were injured when an F-35C crashed on board the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70).
Codified in Title 37, hazardous duty pay is authorized for flight deck duty “based upon the inherent dangers of that duty and risks of physical injury.”3 FDHDIP is specifically offered to service members who serve in billets that require “frequent and regular participation in flight operations” on the deck of an aircraft carrier or other air-capable ship, participate in at least four days of flight operations per calendar month, and meet the minimum number of flight deck evolutions per month.4
The Cost of Experience
Because individuals are eligible to receive FDHDIP only when a ship is at sea conducting flight operations, it is particularly suited to incentivize operational sea duty for aviation boatswain’s mates. An increase thus would directly support manning and retention in priority seagoing billets that currently experience persistently low manning.
No aircraft can be safely launched or recovered without fully qualified aviation boatswain’s mates (ABs), which includes the equipment subspecialty (ABE) for catapults, arresting gear, and visual landing aids; fuels subspecialty (ABF) for fuel refining and refueling of aircraft and support equipment; and handling subspecialty (ABH) for aircraft movement on the flight and hangar decks, as well as crash and salvage (firefighting). A more competitive FDHDIP rate would help increase the accession and retention of sailors in these ratings and morale within air departments across the fleet.
For example, ABHs reach peak qualification as aircraft directors, a job that requires skill and precision to efficiently and safely direct aircraft around the flight deck. In addition to the hazards faced, their duties are “compounded by extended or prolonged launch (takeoff) and recovery (landing) cycles that may last greater than 24 consecutive hours in duration and may be accomplished in an all-weather, high paced environment, interrupted only by short periods of rest and nourishment.”5 The current low value of FDHDIP means it likely does not factor heavily into undesignated sailors’ selection of the ABE, ABF, or ABH ratings or in the reenlistment decisions of more senior ABs.
It takes years of experience to develop a skilled AB, experience that comes only during underway operations. If an AB joins a command when the ship is in a maintenance phase, he or she is guaranteed to be assigned temporary duty on a different ship to gain underway experience. There is no “A” school or simulator rigorous enough to mimic real-world flight deck operations. As a result, the monetary cost of AB expertise cannot be easily quantified. But the cost of losing this experience—and the threat it poses to the operational capability of the Navy’s aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships—is high.
Navy manning for flight deck personnel already has reached critically low levels. At the same time, persistently high operational tempo results in personnel burnout. During its recent deployment, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) conducted flight operations with underway manning in the Air Department below 70 percent.6 This manning level routinely required 12–14 hour workdays from thinly stretched flight deck personnel, in 90 degree heat and high humidity, often for more than a week at a time without a day off.
As is common practice across the aircraft carrier fleet, the Theodore Roosevelt’s low manning required the temporary assignment of personnel from other nondeployed carriers to meet operational minimums. After completing most of the deployment, many of those temporary personnel returned to their home carriers to begin their own ship’s next work-up cycle. This results in near-continuous underway operations for those sailors and very little dwell time at home. In an age in which it is not uncommon for young sailors to challenge their duties, the question often asked is, Why would I risk my life and work long hours on the flight deck for an extra $5 a day when there are numerous jobs on the ship that would not expose me to the same physical dangers and demanding duties?7
Raise Incentive Pay
The Navy recently expanded the Advance-to-Position program to more efficiently manage force distribution. At the same time, selective reenlistment bonuses target retention in critical ratings and Navy enlisted classification skills. However, to incentivize AB ratings, the Navy need not wait for reenlistment that occurs only once every two to six years.
To increase the appeal of demanding positions critical to flight deck operations and encourage qualified ABs to return to sea duty, FDHDIP should be increased to the $275 maximum allowed by law, and Congress then should take up the case to raise this limit to reflect the criticality of flight deck personnel. Undesignated sailors who enter service under the Professional Apprenticeship Career Track program would have a meaningful incentive to strike aviation boatswain’s mate and serve on the Navy’s flight decks. Without a more competitive financial incentive for the AB community, the Navy’s aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships’ ability to project and sustain combat power worldwide will be degraded.
1. Chief of Naval Operations Instruction 7220.4L, “Flight Deck Hazardous Duty Incentive Pay,” 16 July 2019, 2.
2. Instruction 7220.4L, 2.
3. 37 U.S. Code § 351—Hazardous Duty Pay.
4. DoD Instruction 1340.09, “Hazard Pay Program, Change 1, February 2, 2024,” 19–20.
5. Instruction 7220.4L, 2.
6. Authors’ experience. This figure was calculated by dividing the number of underway personnel by the total baseline allocation of personnel for the Air Department.
7. This question is frequently posed by junior sailors who, after only a short period of flight deck exposure, express their desire to no longer work on the flight deck.
