To help pay for uniform and other clothing costs, service members may be given a clothing allowance if appropriate clothing is not provided. The following allowances for the 2025 fiscal year are effective Oct. 1, 2024. There are four types of clothing allowances.
Military members, both officers and enlisted, receive a uniform allowance when they first report for duty.
Enlisted members of the military receive an annual allowance to cover the cost of replacing uniforms. What you receive depends on how long you have served.
Available only for enlisted members, extra clothing allowances do not change or impact regular clothing allowances. They cover the cost of specific uniforms required for certain types of duty.
Available only to enlisted members of the Coast Guard, the Coast Guard clothing maintenance allowance is paid monthly.
Military officers receive a clothing allowance only once. The clothing allowance is issued when when they first report for active duty for more than 90 days; after completing at least 14 days of active duty or active duty for training while a member of the Reserves; after completing 14 periods of inactive-duty training as a member of the Ready Reserve; or after reporting for the first period of active duty as a member of the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program.
Enlisted military members qualify for an initial clothing allowance when they first enlist and after special qualification. The majority of the initial clothing allowance is issued in-kind, as clothing. See the table below for the cash amount that is given to new service members.
Enlisted members of the U.S. military receive a clothing allowance each year on the anniversary month of their initial allowance. This allowance is meant to cover the replacement of uniforms based on normal wear and tear.
The Basic Clothing Replacement Allowance is paid after six months of active duty and then yearly for the next two years.
The Standard Clothing Replacement Allowance begins after three years of active duty and is paid at the end of the service member’s anniversary month.
*The Special Clothing Replacement Allowance is paid annually to Sailors in paygrades E7-E9. Navy Chiefs also get a Special Initial Clothing Allowance when advanced to E-7.
Extra Clothing Allowances are those paid in addition to the standard and initial allowances. They include payments to service members who require special uniforms for duty. They also include allowances for maternity uniforms.
The Coast Guard pays enlisted members a monthly Clothing Maintenance Allowance. The Basic Allowance is paid during the first 3 years of active duty and the Standard Allowance is paid thereafter.
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Amanda Miller is an editor and writer for Military.com specializing in coverage of military and veteran pay and benefits. She became a journalist in the 1990s, began covering the military in 2007 for Military Times, and has since contributed to a number of military-oriented publications including Military Officer Magazine, The War Horse, and Air & Space Forces Magazine. Read Full Bio
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2025 Military Clothing Allowances – Military.com
