What Evacuation Pay Covers
Military evacuation pay covers three costs once a commander orders you to evacuate: mileage to the safe haven, lodging, and per diem for meals and incidentals. The governing regulation is the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR).
The rules below follow the JTR as summarized in service and installation evacuation guidance from 2019 to 2026. The current JTR and your own evacuation order are the controlling text.
- Mileage for the trip to the safe haven, paid up to the distance your evacuation order authorizes.
- Lodging in commercial lodging, reimbursed with receipts up to the locality rate.
- Per diem for meals and incidentals, with dependents paid up to a percentage of the locality per diem rate based on age.
All three depend on one condition: an evacuation order from the competent authority. For a base, that is the installation or wing commander. The order names the safe haven area and may set distance limits, so read it before you choose where to go.
Payment generally comes after the trip. You claim the costs on a travel voucher once the evacuation ends and you return, and advances are available only in some cases.
Why Costs Before the Order Are Not Reimbursed
Travel expenses you incur before the evacuation order is issued are not reimbursable. Evacuation entitlements depend on an order from the competent authority. If you send your family away and no evacuation is ordered, you receive no evacuation travel entitlements at all.
If your family drives out ahead of an order, plan to pay for that gas, hotel, and food yourself. Keep a copy of the order showing when it was issued. Costs before that time are not reimbursed.
Members on leave status get no evacuation entitlements, and their dependents get none either. If you are on leave when your installation orders an evacuation, plan for your family's evacuation costs as your own expense.
Safe Haven Rules for Mileage and Location
The safe haven is the area your evacuation order names, and the order controls both where you go and how many miles are paid. Four rules set the mileage you can claim:
- The first place you stop inside the safe haven area is generally treated as your safe haven location.
- If you travel on from that first stop to a different location, the extra mileage may not be paid.
- Reimbursed mileage is capped at the authorized distance in the order. Driving farther does not raise the payment.
- Moving to another area requires authorization stated in the order.
This guide gives no mileage rate. Confirm it in the current JTR.
Plan around the first-stop rule. Choose your final safe haven before your first stop inside the area. If your order sets a different area, distance, or authorization, follow the order.
Dependent Per Diem Rates
Dependent per diem under the JTR safe haven rules is a percentage of the locality per diem rate, and the percentage drops after the first 30 days. Each percentage below is a ceiling, so a dependent receives up to that share.
| Dependent Age | Days 1 to 30 | Day 31 Onward |
|---|---|---|
| 12 and older | Up to 100 percent of the locality per diem rate | Up to 60 percent of the locality per diem rate |
| Under 12 | Up to 50 percent of the locality per diem rate | Up to 30 percent of the locality per diem rate |
Allowances may be paid for up to 180 days after the effective date of the order to evacuate.
Take a spouse, a 14-year-old, and an 8-year-old. For the first 30 days, the three dependents can receive up to 250 percent of one locality per diem rate per day (100 + 100 + 50).
From day 31, the same three dependents can receive up to 150 percent (60 + 60 + 30), which is 40 percent less per day.
Look up the rate for your safe haven location in the current JTR before you set a daily budget. If the order runs long, plan for the cut at day 31.
What Is Not Reimbursed
- Staying with friends or family. Lodging is not reimbursed when you stay with friends or family, even if you pay them. If you want the lodging covered, stay in commercial lodging and keep the receipt.
- Local travel. Travel within or around the safe haven is generally not reimbursed. Installation guidance describes a small flat local travel allowance in certain cases, so ask your finance office whether one applies to you.
- Staying home. Dependents who choose not to evacuate are not authorized safe haven allowances.
Who Is Not Eligible for Safe Haven Allowances
Two groups receive no safe haven allowances:
- Members on leave status, and their dependents.
- Retirees and Reserve Component members who are not on active duty orders during the evacuation, and their dependents.
If you fall in one of these groups, these reimbursement rules do not apply to your trip, and the evacuation costs are yours to cover. Reserve Component members on active duty orders during the evacuation are not in the second group.
The Hurlburt Field Evacuation Example
An October 2026 order at Hurlburt Field shows how narrow an evacuation order can be. According to a local news report, the 1st Special Operations Wing commander ordered about 1,000 residents of privatized base housing and FAMCamp to evacuate by 5 p.m. Thursday, October 8, 2026. The stated reason was rising water projected to flood a utility lift station on the Soundside, which would interrupt wastewater and drinking water service.
The order covered Hurlburt privatized housing and FAMCamp only. It did not cover the rest of the installation or Okaloosa County. Read your own order for its scope, distance and direction limits. Eligible personnel and dependents can be reimbursed for evacuation mileage, lodging, and per diem, for safe havens up to 500 miles away north of U.S. Highway 98.
How to File a Military Evacuation Pay Claim
You file a military evacuation pay claim as a travel voucher, generally through the Defense Travel System (DTS), after the evacuation ends and you return. Navy guidance says to file within five days of returning, and to file every 30 days during an extended evacuation. The five-day figure comes from Navy guidance, so ask your finance office for the deadline that applies to you.
Find where to submit your claim on the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) travel pay page.
Advances are limited and available only in some cases. Navy guidance allows up to 75 percent of estimated evacuation per diem, paid by direct deposit at the safe haven, for members who do not hold a government travel card. Ask your finance office whether an advance is available before you count on one.
Records to Keep from Day One
- A copy of the evacuation order, including the safe haven area and any distance limit it sets.
- Every commercial lodging receipt, since lodging is reimbursed with receipts.
- The address of your first stop inside the safe haven area, because that stop is generally treated as your safe haven location.
- The age of each dependent who evacuated, since per diem rates differ for those 12 and older and those under 12.
- Any written authorization in the order to move to another area.
Evacuation allowances are a different benefit from permanent change of station (PCS) entitlements. Our military pay hub links the rest of our pay guides, including basic allowance for housing (BAH). The explainers index lists all our explainers.
Ask your finance office how to file before you leave, and keep every receipt from the trip.
General information, not legal or financial advice. Verify any figure with your finance office and the current Joint Travel Regulations before you file.