Incentives for airmen in nuclear career fields kicked in Wednesday, but it will take months for them to see the pay adjustments.
But the pay for eligible airmen will be retroactive to Wednesday, according to the Air Force.
The incentives were announced earlier this year as part of the Force Improvement Program that looked for ways to improve life for airmen in the nuclear fields after a cheating investigation at Malmstrom Air Force Base was announced in January.
Certain officers and enlisted airmen serving in 11 nuclear career fields and assignment areas will be eligible for bonus pay or incentives ranging from $75 to $300 per month.
Those fields include enlisted service members assigned to command posts, nuclear aircraft maintenance, security forces, missile maintenance, aircraft armament systems, nuclear weapons and support personnel who deploy to the missile field.
Officers involved in missile launch, security forces and maintenance will also be eligible to receive the special pay, according to an Air Force release Thursday.
According to the federal pay tables for military members, service members who qualify for hazardous duty pay as air crew members can receive up to $250 per month; non-crew members receive $150 per month.
Imminent danger/hostile fire pay is $225 per month for all ranks and all services, according to the federal pay table.
"The purpose of these special pays is to incentivize airmen to volunteer for and perform duties in a particular career field, location and/or special assignment where the scope of responsibility and required skills exceed those of other airmen in the same career field and rank," Brig. Gen. Brian Kelly, director of force management policy, said in an Air Force release.
In September, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James spoke about the incentives and nuclear airmen.
"People assigned to these demanding and exclusive nuclear positions take on an extraordinary amount of responsibility, workload and inspection rigor for the world's most lethal weapons," James said.
"The nuclear mission is our number one mission and we're going to compensate our airmen accordingly."
The Force Improvement Program began in February after a cheating investigation at Malmstrom Air Force Base was announced.
Since that time, the Air Force has directed more than $160 million from the current fiscal year for equipment and parts for maintainers, vehicles and quality-of-life improvements in the field.
In April, Malmstrom announced it has received $2.86 million for upgrades identified through FIP, and an additional $1 million for quality-of-life improvements was also distributed to each of the three missile wings, including Malmstrom.
The funding received so far at Malmstrom includes $467,000 for intercontinental ballistic missile weapons system parts and $200,000 for parts for the minuteman integrated life extension program known as Rivet MILE.
The base also received $2.19 million for launch control center refurbishment.
The quality-of-life improvements at Malmstrom include updated kitchen equipment and working gear for the missile alert facilities, as well as reopening the base pool and resurfacing the gym floor in the fitness center.
