Capt. Nick Sloan was $68,021.35 in debt early in 2007, when he decided he needed to do something ‘radical’ to get out of debt…

He volunteered to go to Iraq.

Sloan, 26, a captain in the US Air Force, was stationed in Colorado Springs and could see a series of bad decisions in his financial life. So he decided to do something about it. In May he arrived for duty in Baghdad.

“I came to the realization that I was so far over my head, I had to do something drastic to increase my cash flow,” Captain Sloan said in a telephone call from the Green Zone, where he received extra pay and had minimal living expenses. “Iraq did that.”

In the US, coverage of debt issues is at an all-time high. And for good reason. “I hate to make it seem like I’m here just for money, because it’s not true,” he said. “There’s many worthy things about being here. But if I can use this to my advantage, I definitely should.”

Since arriving in Baghdad, he has managed to reduce his debt to less than $4,000. “I’ve met people who’ve gone on to one or more tours just to get out of debt, with jobs much more dangerous than mine,” Captain Sloan said. “One soldier in Afghanistan said, ‘That’s why I’m here, to get out of debt.’ ”

All his income is tax-free under the Combat Zone Tax Exclusion and he gets an extra $225 a month imminent danger pay and $100 “safe” pay to improve his living conditions. “The real benefit is that it’s tax-free money,” he said. “I really don’t feel in imminent danger on a day-to-day basis, but there have been times my heart did skip a beat or two.”

Apart from an occasional haircut, or dried fruit, he said, “every paycheck I get goes straight toward my debt.”

Financial counsellors working with military families say that volunteering for deployment to get out of debt is rare. But debt is a problem in the armed services, as it is in the country at large. In 2005, military charities for all branches of service provided over $87 million USD in emergency no-interest loans or grants to over 100,000 service personnel in financial distress.

Captain Sloan’s debts began at the Air Force Academy, with a low-interest loan of $25,000. “It was this awesome loan at 1 percent interest, and I just squandered it,” he said.

Captain Sloan borrowed another $35,000 last year to buy a 2005 Nissan 350Z, bringing his debt above $68,000. He was using one credit card to pay off another and considering a payday loan to meet his regular expenses. He also said he kept his debts hidden from most of his friends and relatives.

“When I look back, I feel somewhat ashamed that I got myself in this position,” he said. “But at the same time it was necessary for me to learn to manage my finances. When you can’t pay your monthly bills, you need to make some changes.”

He also sold things and simplified his life. He eats at the chow hall rather than Pizza Hut and uses a Sony Reader to scan free books on the Internet.

Changes, indeed. I have to applaud his courage to take such drastic measures. And I think that even for a military person, opting to go to a war-zone is a pretty daring move.

What are you prepared to do to get out of debt? Because action is so much more powerful than words alone…

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