An enlisted member who is entitled to basic pay and is performing duties which have been designated under subsection (b) as extremely difficult or as involving an unusual degree of responsibility in a military skill may, in addition to other pay or allowances to which he is entitled, be paid special duty assignment pay at a monthly rate not to exceed $600.

The Secretary concerned shall determine which enlisted members under his jurisdiction are to be paid special duty assignment pay under subsection (a). He shall also designate those skills within each armed force under his jurisdiction for which special duty assignment pay is authorized and shall prescribe the criteria under which members of that armed force are eligible for special duty assignment pay in each skill. He may increase, decrease, or abolish such pay for any skill.

This section shall be administered under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense for the armed forces under his jurisdiction and by the Secretary of Homeland Security for the Coast Guard when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the Navy.

A member of the National Guard or a reserve component entitled to an increase in compensation under paragraph (1) is entitled to the increase—

(1) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned and to the extent provided for by appropriations, when an enlisted member of the National Guard or a reserve component of a uniformed service who is entitled to compensation under section 206 of this title performs duty for which a member described in subsection (a) is entitled to special pay under such subsection, the member of the National Guard or reserve component is entitled to an increase in compensation equal to 1⁄30 of the monthly special duty assignment pay prescribed by the Secretary concerned for the performance of that same duty by members described in subsection (a).

A member of the National Guard or a reserve component entitled to an increase in compensation under paragraph (1) is entitled to the increase—

(A) for each regular period of instruction, or period of appropriate duty, at which the member is engaged for at least two hours, including that performed on a Sunday or holiday; or

(B) for the performance of such other equivalent training, instruction, duty, or appropriate duties, as the Secretary may prescribe under section 206(a) of this title.

(3) This subsection does not apply to a member of the National Guard or a reserve component who is entitled to basic pay under section 204 of this title.

(Pub. L. 87–649, Sept. 7, 1962, 76 Stat. 467; Pub. L. 90–623, § 3(1), Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1314; Pub. L. 98–525, title VI, § 623(b)(1), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2541; Pub. L. 102–25, title VII, § 702(b)(1), (c), Apr. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 117; Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title VI, § 619(a), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 363; Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title VI, §§ 631, 632(a)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–156; Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, § 1704(c), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314.)