Statement by the President Upon Signing Executive Order 11259, Incentive Pay for Hazardous Duty Involving Parachute Jumping.
DURING his visit to South Viet-Nam several days ago, Secretary McNamara informed me that certain technical restrictions were preventing our paratroopers from earning incentive pay.
The rules were that a paratrooper had to perform one or more jumps from an airplane during any 3 consecutive months to qualify for incentive pay for that period. In many instances, however, while paratroopers were engaged in ground actions, they were thus unable to make the jumps, and, as a result, lost their eligibility for incentive pay.
This was the situation that called for prompt corrective action. I have today taken that action by approving an amendment to Executive Order 11157. Under the change, a paratrooper can now earn incentive pay if his commanding officer waives the jump requirements when a paratrooper is unable to meet them because he is engaged in operations in a hostile-fire area.
Note: The statement was read by Joseph Laitin, an assistant press secretary, at his news conference at 10:45 a.m. on Friday, December 3, 1965, at Austin, Tex. It was not made public in the form of a White House press release.
The President referred to Executive Order 11259 of December 3, 1965 "Amending Executive Order No. 11157 as It Relates to Incentive Pay for Hazardous Duty Involving Parachute Jumping" (1 Weekly Comp. Pres. Docs., p. 548; 30 F.R. 15057; 3 CFR, 1965 Supp., p. 192), and to Executive Order 11157 of June 22, 1964 "Prescribing Regulations Relating to Incentive Pay for Hazardous Duty, Special Pay for Sea Duty and Duty at Certain Places, Basic Allowances for Subsistence and Basic Allowances for Quarters" (29 F.R. 7973; 3 CFR, 1964 Supp., p. 139).
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President Upon Signing Executive Order 11259, Incentive Pay for Hazardous Duty Involving Parachute Jumping. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/240952