Wounded soldiers evacuated from a combat zone no longer need to wait 30 days or more to begin receiving their Combat-Related Injury Rehabilitation Pay (CIP).

CIP now kicks in immediately, ensuring troops continue to receive an additional $430 a month, even while they are recovering in a military hospital.

The change is more in line with what Congress envisioned when the program was created, said Craig Taylor, CIP program coordinator, last month.

Military members may be entitled to receive special benefits such as hostile fire pay, hazardous duty pay and imminent danger pay while deployed to places such as Iraq or Afghanistan. That pay can add up to $430 dollars a mondi.

But when a military member is forced to leave the combat zone for medical reasons, that pay stops.

CIP is meant to alleviate the hardship caused by that unexpected loss of income.

Guardsmen who receive CIP will see this benefit annotated on their Leave and Earnings Statement as "Other Credits," with an explanation in the remarks section.

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