Members of the U.S. Armed Forces who serve in a combat zone may exclude certain pay from their income. The entitlement to the pay must have fully accrued in a month during which they served in the combat zone or were hospitalized due to wounds, disease, or injury incurred while serving in the combat zone. They do not have to receive the pay while in a combat zone, in a hospital, or in the same year they served in a combat zone.

Military service outside a combat zone is considered to be performed in a combat zone if the service:

• Is in direct support of military operations in the combat zone, and
• Qualifies a member for hostile fire/imminent danger pay due to dangers or risks from the combat zone

Military pay received for this service will qualify for the combat zone exclusion if the other requirements are met.