Each year, the Senate and House Armed Services Committees report their respective versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). These bills contain numerous provisions that affect military personnel, retirees and their family members. Provisions in one version are often not included in another; are treated differently; or, in certain cases, are identical. Following passage of these bills by the respective legislative bodies, a Conference Committee is usually convened to resolve the various differences between the House and Senate versions. In the course of a typical authorization cycle, congressional staffs receive many constituent requests for information on provisions contained in the annual NDAA. This report highlights those personnel-related issues that seem to generate the most intense congressional and constituent interest, and tracks their status in the FY2011 House and Senate versions of the NDAA. The House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, H.R. 5136 , was introduced in the House on April 26, 2010, reported by the House Committee on Armed Services on May 21, 2010 ( H.Rept. 111-491 ), and passed by the House on May 28, 2010. The Senate version of the NDAA, S. 3454 , was introduced in the Senate on June 4, 2010 and reported by the Senate Committee on Armed Services on June 4, 2010 ( S.Rept. 111-201 ). However, S. 3454 was never passed by the Senate. Instead of a Conference Committee to resolve differences, a new bill ( H.R. 6523 ) was introduced in the House of Representatives on December 15, 2010. It was passed by the House on December 17, 2010 and passed by the Senate on December 22, 2010. The bill, the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, was signed by the President on January 7, 2010 and became P.L. 111-383 . The entries under the headings "House-passed", "Senate-reported", and "House and Senate-passed " in the tables on the following pages are based on language in these bills, unless otherwise indicated. Where appropriate, related CRS products are identified to provide more detailed background information and analysis of the issue. For each issue, a CRS analyst is identified and contact information is provided. Some issues were addressed in the FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act and discussed in CRS Report R40711, FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Policy Issues , coordinated by [author name scrubbed]. Those issues that were previously considered are designated with a " * " in the relevant section titles of this report. Background: The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 ( P.L. 110-181 ) authorized the Army to grow by 65,000 and the Marine Corps by 27,000, to respective end strengths of 547,400 and 202,000 by FY2012. In both FY2009 and FY2010, the Army was authorized additional, but smaller, increases to an FY2010 end strength of 562,400. Even with these increases, the nation's armed forces, especially the Army and Marine Corps, continue to experience high deployment rates and abbreviated "dwell time" at home station. With a significant increase in the number of servicemembers deployed to Afghanistan during 2009 and 2010, some observers have recommended further increases in end strength, especially for the Army. Others, pointing to the potential Army drawdown beginning in 2012 and the high cost of military personnel, have advocated reducing end strength. Discussion: With ongoing operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan, service end strengths remain a high visibility issue because of the impact on dwell time, readiness and unit manning concerns. The House-passed version authorizes an increase of 7,000 for the Army, an increase of 500 for the Air Force, a decrease of 100 for the Navy, and no change for the Marine Corps (see table below). References : Previously discussed in CRS Report RL34590, FY2009 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Policy Issues , coordinated by [author name scrubbed] and CRS Report R40711, FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Policy Issues , coordinated by [author name scrubbed]. CRS Point of Contact: Charles Henning, x[phone number scrubbed]. Background: Although the Reserves have been used extensively in support of operations since September 11, 2001, the overall authorized end-strength of the Selected Reserves has declined by about 2 ½% over the past nine years (874,664 in FY2001 versus 854,500 in FY2010). Much of this can be attributed to the reduction in Navy Reserve strength during this period. There were also modest shifts in strength for some other components of the Selected Reserve. For comparative purposes, the authorized end-strengths for the Selected Reserves for FY2001 were as follows: Army National Guard (350,526), Army Reserve (205,300), Navy Reserve (88,900), Marine Corps Reserve (39,558), Air National Guard (108,022), Air Force Reserve (74,358), Coast Guard Reserve (8,000). Between FY2001 and FY2010, the largest shifts in authorized end-strength have occurred in the Army National Guard (+7,674 or +2%), Coast Guard Reserve (+2,000 or +25%), Air Force Reserve (-4,858 or -7%), and Navy Reserve (-23,400 or -26%). A smaller change occurred in the Air National Guard (-1,322 or -1.2%), while the authorized end-strength of the Army Reserve (-300 or -0.15%) and the Marine Corps Reserve (+42 or +0.11%) have been essentially unchanged during this period. Discussion: The authorized Selected Reserve end-strengths for FY2011 are the same as those for FY2010 with the exception of the Air Force Reserve. The Air Force Reserve's authorized end-strength in FY2010 was 69,500, but the administration requested an increase to 71,200 (+1,700), noting that "The Fiscal Year 2011 end strength amount includes the increase associated with the Department of Defense decision to halt the drawdown of active duty Air Force end strength at 330,000 personnel." Reference(s): None. CRS Point of Contact: [author name scrubbed], x[phone number scrubbed] Background: Ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, highlighted by the significant increase in the number of servicemembers deployed to Afghanistan, continue to focus interest on the military pay raise. Title 37 U.S.C. §1009 provides a permanent formula for an automatic annual military pay raise that indexes the raise to the annual increase in the Employment Cost Index (ECI). The FY2011 President's Budget request for a 1.4%% military pay raise was consistent with this formula. However, Congress, in FYs 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 approved the pay raise as the ECI increase plus 0.5%. The FY2007 pay raise was equal to the ECI. Discussion: A military pay raise larger than the permanent formula is not uncommon. In addition to "across-the-board" pay raises for all military personnel, mid-year and "targeted" pay raises (targeted at specific grades and longevity) have also been authorized over the past several years. While the House-passed version of the NDAA recommended a 1.9% across the board pay raise, both the Senate-reported bill and H.R. 6523 were silent on the pay raise issue. As a result , the Title 37 provision (37 U.S.C. 1009) became operative with an automatic January 1, 2011 across-the-board raise of 1.4% (equal to the ECI). Reference : Previously discussed in CRS Report RL34590, FY2009 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Policy Issues , coordinated by [author name scrubbed], page 6 and CRS Report R40711, FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Policy Issues , coordinated by [author name scrubbed]. See also CRS Report RL33446, Military Pay and Benefits: Key Questions and Answers , by [author name scrubbed]. CRS Point of Contact: Charles Henning, x[phone number scrubbed]. Background: Hostile Fire or Imminent Danger Pay (HP/IDP) is a special pay that is paid to servicemembers who are exposed to hostile fire or the explosion of hostile mines (such as Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs); serve in an area where other servicemembers were subject to such hazards or are: killed, wounded, or injured by any hostile action; or are on duty in a foreign area where the servicemember is in imminent danger due to insurrection, civil war, terrorism, or war. This pay was temporarily increased from $100 to $225/month by the FY2004 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and this increase was then made permanent by the FY2005 NDAA. The Family Separation Allowance (FSA) is paid to servicemembers with dependents when the servicemember is deployed to a dependent-restricted area, serves on board ship for more than 30 days or when the member is on temporary duty (TDY) for more than 30 days. This allowance was temporarily increased from $100 to $250/month by the FY2004 NDAA and then made permanent by the FY2005 NDAA. Discussion: Increasing these two types of pay is intended to compensate for the erosion in compensation due to inflation since the last increase. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the House-approved increase to the Family Separation Allowance would cost $288 million over the 2011-2015 period and the increase to the Hostile Fire Pay would cost $188 million over the same period.