Defence chiefs blew up to £816 a night at five-star hotels as troops face kit shortages and live in squalid quarters.
One Ministry of Defence boss stayed in a Dubai hotel at an eye-watering £4,900 for six nights.
Other trips to the Emirates saw the MoD book a total of 38 rooms which each cost more than £300-per-night.
In another case, an MoD worker and guest stayed in Limassol, Cyprus, for three nights at a cost of £2,200 – which comes to £733 a night.
Officials even splashed out £500 for a one-night stay in BIRMINGHAM.
The figures emerged as the MoD revealed it spent £205million on hotels, meals and transport last year.
They come amid fears the military faces a £1.2billion black hole by 2022.
Armed Forces charities branded the spending a “betrayal”.
Tony Hayes, from the Veterans Association UK, said: “Spending of this kind is ethically wrong but it should be legally wrong.
“Troops are under-equipped and under-resourced while veterans are left on the heap, their benefits cut.
“All the while some MoD guy spends £800 on a hotel in Dubai. It’s obscene.”
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Veterans in Action founder Billy MacLeod said: “It’s a betrayal. This could be spent on PTSD. For £800 I could take a veteran for a three-week expedition where we could get to the root of his problems.”
The Royal Marines Charity is building a centre for traumatised veterans.
It will cost £2.4million – a fraction of the MoD’s spend on car rental, transport, use of a private vehicle, overnight stays and meals.
The average squaddie could only dream of visiting hotels used by the MoD. One official had two nights at Omni Berkshire Place hotel in Manhattan, New York. Cost: £808.
There was £822 for two nights at the Grand Hotel Rica in Oslo, Norway, plus £912 for three nights at the Lord Elgin hotel in Ottawa, Canada.
And three rooms at the Concorde Opera hotel in Paris were £316 each.
In Sydney, aides spent £10,226 on 30 nights at the five-star Meriton Kent Street apartments. Four MoD staff enjoyed two nights at the Monaco Hotel in Washington at £361 per person, per night.
But some of the biggest spends were yards from the MoD’s HQ in Whitehall, London.
Officials spent £9,246 for 22 nights at the five-star Royal Horseguards Hotel, on Embankment.
And 21 days at the Mercure London City Bankside hotel cost £7,062.
There was £1,085 for three nights at Macdonald Randolph Hotel, in Oxford, and £1,200 for three nights at a hotel in Glasgow.
The MoD said: “We expect staff to act responsibly when incurring expenses and continue to make significant savings in travel costs. Hotels are only approved when they are the most cost-effective solution.”
Earlier this year it emerged homes on army bases sparked 36,000 complaints in three years. Some are plagued by rats and riddled with leaks.
Aides' £250m bonuses as troops suffer
By Sean Rayment
Bonuses of £16million were paid last year to MoD civil servants – taking the 10-year total to almost £250million.
The biggest sum went to Sir Simon Bollom, £300,000-a-year chief executive of the Defence Equipment and Supply Agency.
He is the MoD’s highest paid civil servant.
The amount has not yet been revealed but previous performance-related bonuses paid to him have been worth over £250,000.
An MoD spokesperson said: “The salary for this post reflects the challenging nature of the role, including managing a complex portfolio of work totalling around £10bn.
“We want the best people to lead the organisation and therefore benchmark remuneration packages against similar roles in the private sector, ensuring salaries are competitive for such specialised jobs”
Figures seen by the Mirror show 81 senior civil servants – some on salaries of £100,000-plus – shared a bonus windfall of over £600,000.
The £16million bonuses covered 2017-18 and were up from £10million the year before.
ack in 2009-10 the figure was £60million – but the MoD workforce then was 87,000, compared to around 30,000 now.
While civil servants are rewarded, troops have faced years of defence cuts and wage freezes. They do not get performance-related bonuses.
The Armed Forces are almost 10,000 troops short and many of those who leave cite poor pay as the main reason for quitting.
Soldiers have told the Armed Forces Pay Review Body that they have been left feeling “undervalued “ as they face the “perfect storm” of below-inflation pay rises, tax hikes and increased rents.
Between 2013 and 2018 the basic pay rise across the Forces was one per cent. The 2019 pay rise is due to be announced in the next few weeks.
Troops complained they were effectively getting a pay cut because of inflation and warned that they could leave the services.
Col Richard Kemp, a former commander of British troops in Afghanistan, said: “Troops have seen salaries frozen, allowances and benefits eroded.
To see the extent of these civil service bonuses – some beyond the wildest dreams of those who risk their lives for their country – will make them again question how much the Government values their own service.”
The MoD spokesperson added: “Like many employers, we offer bonuses to staff who have demonstrated exceptional performance.
“The increase in figures for 2016/17 and 2017/18 reflects the change in 2017 to our bonus scheme. The overall level of money paid out in bonuses remains capped.”