Medical Corps Special Pays

Validated May 2026

Medical Corps officers may receive up to three concurrent special pays beyond Basic Pay: Incentive Pay (IP), an annually paid Retention Bonus (RB), and Board Certification Pay (BCP). All three run simultaneously when eligibility is maintained — no election is required. Rates depend on specialty, training phase, and RB agreement length, and represent DoD-authorized maximums; individual services may pay less. Effective October 1, 2025.

2026 Rates

Board Certification Pay

BCP requires an active board certification and applies on top of IP and RB with no interaction between the three.

GMO and Training-Phase Incentive Pay

The following rates apply during training phases and for General Medical Officers who have not entered a post-residency specialty agreement.

Officers at O-7 and above in the Medical Corps receive IP at the GMO rate, not their specialty rate (§6.2.2).

Post-Resident and Graduate Fellow IP and RB

All dollar amounts are annual. IP is paid in equal monthly installments (divide by 12 for monthly amount). RB is paid as an annual lump sum. N/A means that agreement length is not authorized for that specialty.

Note A — Flight Surgery / AMP: Physicians trained in a primary specialty who completed the Aerospace Medicine Primary Course (AMP, USAF) or Undersea Medical Officer Training (USN) earn a $3,000/yr increase in both IP and RB above their primary specialty rates. There is no standalone Flight Surgery row — the increase layers onto the primary specialty agreement.

Note B — Neurosurgery: The $75,000 annual IP applies when not in a 4-year or 6-year RB agreement. Under a 4-year RB, annual IP rises to $102,000 ($8,500/month). Under a 6-year RB, annual IP rises to $120,000 ($10,000/month).

Note C — RAM (Other Residency Trained): Physicians residency-trained in a specialty other than Aerospace Medicine who also completed the Residency in Aerospace Medicine earn a $5,000/yr increase in both IP and RB above their non-RAM specialty rates.

Note D — Subspecialty Category I: Requires primary specialty in General Surgery or fellowship training in one of: Cardio Thoracic Surgery; Colorectal Surgery; Orthopedic Surgery (fellowship trained); Oncology Surgery; Organ Transplant; Pediatric Surgery; Plastic Surgery; Trauma/Critical Care Surgery; or Vascular Surgery.

Note E — Subspecialty Category II: Internal Medicine and Nuclear Medicine physicians only.

Note F — Subspecialty Category III: All Internal Medicine/Pediatric fellowship-trained subspecialties not listed separately in the rate table above.

Note G — Subspecialty Category IV: All Family Medicine fellowship-trained subspecialties.

Note H — Subspecialty Category V: Physicians fellowship-trained in Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Obstetrics/Gynecology, or Urology.

Source: DFAS Medical Corps BCP IP/RB Tables
Rates effective October 1, 2025 (FY 2026). Published September 25, 2025.

Critically Short Wartime Special Accession Bonus (CSWSAB)

The CSWSAB is a one-time accession bonus paid to physicians commissioning into the Medical Corps. It is not a recurring monthly or annual pay — it is paid at accession under a written agreement committing to 3 or 4 years of active duty service. Officers already on active duty are not eligible. The CSWSAB cannot be combined with a regular officer accession bonus under 37 U.S.C. § 332 for the same service period.

Also on the same DFAS page — Clinical Psychologists (a separate health professions officer category):

Source: DFAS CSWSAB Dental and Medical Corps Tables
Rates effective October 1, 2025. Page updated October 22, 2025.

Eligibility

Medical Corps special pays are authorized under DoDI 6000.13 and DoD FMR Vol. 7A, Ch. 5. Coverage applies to Army, Navy, and Air Force Medical Corps officers (Marines are served by Navy Medical Corps; Space Force uses Air Force medical support).

To be eligible, a Medical Corps officer must:

1. Hold an appointment as a commissioned officer in a Military Service and be entitled to basic pay (37 U.S.C. § 204) or qualifying Reserve Component compensation (37 U.S.C. § 206) (§6.2.1.1)
2. Execute a written agreement accepted by the Secretary concerned that specifies the pay type, amount, service obligation, and repayment terms if eligibility requirements are not met (§2.3)
3. Not have reached the mandatory retirement or removal date at the time of agreement execution (§2.3.1)

For IP specifically:

• Agreement must be for at least 1 year; IP cannot be prorated (§6.1.1)
• The effective date is calculated from the date qualifying training is completed plus 3 months (§6.1.3)
• If the officer becomes eligible for a higher IP rate during an agreement, they may terminate and renegotiate, but must obligate for at least one year from the renegotiation date (§6.1.1)

For RB specifically:

• Specialty or subspecialty qualifications must be completed before the beginning of the fiscal year in which the written agreement is executed (§7.2.2)
• Agreement options are 2, 3, 4, or 6 years (§7.2.3)

For BCP specifically:

• Must hold a post-baccalaureate degree in a clinical specialty (§5.1.1.4)
• Must hold an active board certification in that specialty (§5.1.1)

IP and RB must be for the same specialty. A physician qualified in two specialties may only receive IP and RB for one. Both agreements must be effective on the same date (§2.1).

IP rate locks when an RB agreement is executed. Once in an RB contract, IP continues at the rate in effect on the date the RB became effective for the duration of the contract. Renegotiating either the IP or RB requires a new RB agreement at the then-current rate with a new obligation that extends beyond the original (§6.1.2).

Pay Limits

What This Means for Your Pay

Your monthly IP depends on training phase and specialty, not rank. A GMO earns $1,667/month. A neurosurgeon under a 6-year RB earns $10,000/month IP ($120,000/yr) plus a $150,000/yr RB lump sum — a combined annual special-pay package of $270,000 on top of Basic Pay. The difference between phases and specialties is enormous.

BCP stacks with everything. A board-certified physician collects $667/month on top of IP and RB simultaneously. There is no election — all three run concurrently as long as eligibility is maintained.

RB is paid annually as a lump sum, not monthly. The RB column in the rate table shows annual amounts. A physician under a 4-year General Surgery agreement earns $105,000 once per year, not added to monthly pay. IP is the monthly component — divide the Annual IP column by 12.

Your IP rate locks when you sign an RB. Once you execute an RB agreement, your IP is frozen at the rate that was in effect on the effective date of that agreement. Service-wide rate increases during your contract do not flow through automatically. To capture a higher rate, you must renegotiate — which requires a new, longer commitment.

Neurosurgery IP is not a flat $75,000/yr. That is the base rate with no multi-year agreement. Under a 4-year agreement, IP rises to $102,000/yr; under a 6-year agreement, IP is $120,000/yr. The RB for both term lengths is $150,000/yr.

Specialty qualifications must be complete before the fiscal year starts. You cannot execute an RB agreement for a specialty you qualified in during the current fiscal year — qualifications must be complete before the fiscal year in which you sign begins (§7.2.2).

There is a 3-month delay before IP starts. IP does not begin on the day training ends. The effective date is calculated as training completion plus 3 months (§6.1.3). An officer finishing residency in June cannot receive IP before September.

These are DoD maximums — your Service may pay less. The rate table reflects what the DoD is authorized to pay. Army, Navy, and Air Force each set actual rates within those ceilings. Confirm with your service personnel office before planning around DFAS table figures.

HPS&I pay does not count toward retirement. None of IP, RB, or BCP factor into retired pay calculations. Retirement is computed solely on Basic Pay (§2.2.1).

The CSWSAB is a one-time payment — it will never appear on a recurring LES. It is paid once at accession under a written agreement. A Cardio-Thoracic, Trauma/Critical Care, or Vascular surgeon commissioning with a 4-year obligation receives up to $800,000 at accession. Even the floor — "Any Physician Specialty Not Listed" — is $400,000 (4-year) or $225,000 (3-year). Active duty officers are not eligible; the window is commissioning only. The CSWSAB cannot be combined with a standard officer accession bonus under 37 U.S.C. § 332 for the same service period.

Common Mistakes

Reading the IP column as a monthly rate. The DFAS table header reads "IP 1-YEAR RATE (PRORATED MONTHLY)" — the number shown is the annual rate. Divide by 12 for the monthly installment. Anesthesiology at $66,000 means $5,500/month, not $66,000/month.

Assuming Neurosurgery IP is always $75,000/yr. That rate applies only when the physician is not under a 4-year or 6-year RB agreement. Under a 4-year agreement, IP is $102,000/yr; under a 6-year agreement, it is $120,000/yr. The RB rows in the table ($75,000 / $100,000 / $150,000 / $150,000) are separate from the IP change.

Electing IP and RB for multiple specialties. §2.1 allows IP and RB for exactly one specialty, regardless of how many the officer holds credentials in. You cannot take the higher IP from one specialty and the higher RB from another.

Expecting automatic rate increases mid-RB contract. IP is locked at the rate in effect when the RB was executed. Any service-wide rate increase during the contract does not pass through until renegotiation, which requires a longer new commitment.

Treating DFAS table values as your service's guaranteed rate. The table lists DoD-authorized maximums. Each service independently sets amounts within those ceilings. Verify with your service personnel office before signing any agreement.

Assuming O-7+ physicians receive specialty IP. Medical Corps officers at O-7 and above are capped at the GMO rate ($20,000/yr) regardless of specialty credentials (§6.2.2).

Expecting RB to appear in monthly pay. RB is an annual lump-sum, not a monthly allotment. Many members confuse the large RB dollar figures with monthly pay additions.

Forgetting the 3-month IP start delay. IP effective date is training completion plus 3 months per §6.1.3. There is no IP payment during those 3 months, and no retroactive payment once IP begins.

Thinking specialty qualifications can be completed during the contract year. RB eligibility requires the specialty qualifications to be complete before the start of the fiscal year in which the agreement is signed (§7.2.2). Finishing a residency partway through a fiscal year means waiting until the next fiscal year to execute an RB.

Treating the CSWSAB as a recurring special pay. It is a one-time accession bonus. It appears on the LES once, at accession, and never again. Do not project it as a recurring annual amount. Also, active duty officers have no CSWSAB eligibility — the payment is available only to officers commissioning into the Medical Corps.

Citation

Authority: 37 U.S.C. §§ 302, 302c (Medical Officer Special and Incentive Pay)
Regulation: DoD Financial Management Regulation (FMR) Volume 7A, Chapter 5 — Health Professions Officer Special and Incentive Pay
Implementation: DoD Instruction 6000.13
Official rate table: DFAS Medical Corps BCP IP/RB Tables (rates effective October 1, 2025; page updated September 25, 2025)

Validated May 2026