Hundreds of special forces soldiers to get pay raise
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 | 6:33 PM ETCBC News
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Hundreds of Canadian soldiers will receive a pay raise this month — as much as $18,000 per year in some cases — CBC News has learned.
The military has approved a new allowance for some members of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. Troops as well as technicians and support staff who work with the elite troops are eligible for the pay increase.
"When we're looking at the whole command, we're really deploying a special operations task force," said the command's chief of staff, Lt.-Col. Jean-Francois Prevost. "We pick the right capabilities from each one of those units."
The special forces command runs several regiments, and one of Prevost's duties is overseeing administration and support for the elite forces.
One of those units, the secretive Joint Task Force 2, is quite well known, and its soldiers are said to be among the most highly trained in the world. These troops, whose mission is to focus on counter-terrorism and hostage rescue, have received extra pay for years.
Two other special forces units that send their members into the field alongside those commandos will now also start receiving that extra pay.
This includes soldiers with specialized training in handling nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. It also includes commandos who perform the most daring infantry attacks and patrol behind enemy lines. The extra pay ranges from $8,000 to nearly $18,000 a year.
"It's really to be fairly compensated for what we're asking them to do," said Prevost. "It shows our people that we care for them."
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