What it is
Overseas COLA offsets the higher cost of goods overseas. It is not taxed and is driven by location, grade, years of service, number of dependents, and currency exchange rates. On the LES the number of dependents used for COLA shows in the DEPNS field and the location code in the JFTR field.
2026 rate
Varies by overseas location and adjusts through the year.
What goes wrong
COLA changes several times a year with exchange rates. That is normal. What is not normal is COLA computed for the wrong number of dependents, which happens when family members arrive or leave and DEERS is not updated.