The Korea Area Incentive Program or KAIP (called by its initials K-A-I-P) is a system which gives members of the U.S. military an incentive pay

United States Military Pay

United States Military Pay is money paid to members in the United States Armed Forces. The amount of pay may vary by the member's rank, time in the military, location duty assignment, and by some special skills the member may have.-Pay versus Allowance:...

 for voluntarily extending their tour of duty in the Republic of Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

.

Reasons

A typical tour of duty in South Korea is unaccompanied and 1 year in duration. This provides for a number of problems involving unit and mission continuity as people are constantly coming, being trained, training their replacements, and then leaving. The KAIP is a chance for the member to receive extra money in exchange for staying for 2 years instead of 1.

Terms

KAIP typically pays a member $300 (taxable) extra per month for every month that they are in Korea. Over a 2 year tour, this can amount to an extra $7,200. Some units may allow a member to renew KAIP for a third year. Typically, if a member gains accompanied status (called command sponsorship), then their regular tour is extended to 2 years. If they sign up for KAIP then it becomes a 3 year tour.

Some services require the member to accept or decline KAIP before their Permanent Change of Station. Others allow the member the option of signing up after they have been in Korea no more than 3 months. In that case the KAIP money goes into effect upon signing.

Controversy

The KAIP, also known as AIP for short, has recently (since about 2003) been called the "Avoid Iraq Pay" by some troops. This is because many soldiers accepting the KAIP seek to avoid a PCS out of Korea, most likely to a unit which will soon deploy to Iraq. Although the soldiers are still technically deployed, they do not have to put with the hardship and dangers of being deployed to an actual combat zone (as perceived by some who have not been stationed in Korea). Soldiers also lose the chance to take advantage of the follow-on base program. Follow-ons are the number one reason why the soldiers do short tours in the first place.