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Army expands 2008 retention bonuses

Pressed to not only recruit but also retain quality soldiers, the Army will enter a new fiscal year with the largest and most diverse menu of retention incentives in the history of the all-volunteer force.

The incentives range from a few thousand dollars to $150,000.

The latest lists

• SRBs

• Enhanced SRBs

Bonus outlays for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 have not been totaled yet, but officials expect they will come in at nearly $660 million. A similar total is forecast for fiscal 2008.

Bonuses are paid lump-sum, and are tax-free if paid in a combat zone.

The incentives are aimed at select categories of officers and enlisted soldiers. And, in a major change from the Cold War era, are available to a broad swath of the active-component population — first-term, mid-career and career soldiers, including some senior NCOs and warrant officers who are eligible for retirement.

In addition to a standard fare of bonus and assignment extension incentives that have been updated throughout the year to support the war effort and help grow the force by an additional 35,000 soldiers, some new programs likely will be added in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

One initiative, called warrior pay, would establish a new kind of compensation for soldiers who serve repetitive deployments in a combat zone.

Similar to the sea pay available to sailors, Marines and Army mariners, warrior pay would recognize the cumulative time a soldier spends deployed over the course of a career.

Army officials do not know what the specific pay levels will be, but 2008 budget legislation now before Congress would authorize up to $1,500 per month.

If approved by lawmakers, warrior pay will apply to officers and enlisted soldiers.

Another incentive expected to be available in 2008 will feature a first-of-its-kind critical skills bonus for captains who have completed their initial service obligation and must decide if they want to make the Army a career.

While specific details of the program have not been announced, it is said by sources to include a menu of options involving assignments, military and civilian schooling opportunities, and a cash bonus.

Personnel officials expect that implementation instructions will be issued before the end of September.

The Army’s primary retention incentive for enlisted soldiers remains the Selective Re-enlistment Bonus, and several variants of that program, including the new Enhanced SRB program and the $15,000 branch-immaterial combat theater option introduced three years ago.

Soldiers generally qualify for a re-up bonus if they have 17 months to 14 years of service, are in the ranks of specialist through staff sergeant and re-enlist for three, four, five or six years.

The mainstay of the SRB program remains the “inventory” option, which features bonus tiers of $10,000 to $40,000 for soldiers in selected specialties.

Using authority granted by Congress five years ago, the Army also allows soldiers with six or more years of active service to transfer up to 18 months of Montgomery GI Bill benefits — now worth nearly $20,000 — to their spouses in return for accepting a cut in their Selective Re-enlistment Bonus. The law authorizing the transfer requires the soldier to be in a “critical military skill” (a specialty on the bonus list) and re-enlist for four, five or six years.

A variation of the inventory option called the “location” SRB features slightly higher bonuses for soldiers who agree to serve service extensions in specific units, like Special Forces, or at designated locations, such as Korea.

The location and inventory programs normally are updated two or three times a year, based on changing force structure and the manning requirements of specific MOSs.

Changes are based on budget capabilities and the recommendations of specialty proponents at the branch service schools and major headquarters.

Earlier this summer, the Army introduced the Enhanced SRB option, a variant of the regular bonus program that features flat-rate payments for soldiers in priority specialties who are nearing the end of their current enlistments.

The bonuses, which range from $6,500 to $33,500, are flat-rate, meaning they do not have to be calculated using the regular SRB formula (bonus multiplier times base pay times years of additional service).

“We have found there is a lot of confusion about the formula used in the regular SRB program, so we’ve come up with a system that allows the soldier to sit down with his family and see exactly what’s out there,” said Lt. Col. Gerald Conway, chief of the enlisted professional development branch in the Office of the Army G1.

Soldiers who elect this re-enlistment option are not eligible for the GI Bill spouse handoff program.

Another major feature of the Army’s 2008 retention campaign will be critical skills bonuses for senior NCOs and warrant officers who are nearing 20 years of service, or who already are eligible for retirement.

Within the NCO corps, bonuses of $8,000 to $150,000 are targeted at soldiers in the Special Forces career management field and selected specialties in the high-priority career fields of military intelligence, ordnance, transportation, engineer, psychological operations and signal.

Qualifying specialties and branches for warrant officers are military intelligence, Special Forces, field artillery and criminal investigation.

Annual retention bonuses of $12,000 to $25,000 also are available to the Army’s most experienced warrant officer pilots. The 2007 Aviation Continuation Pay program expires Sept. 30. Personnel officials expect it will be renewed later this year after enactment of 2008 budget legislation.

The bonuses are paid annually, and are targeted at aviators in priority units and positions, such as special operations, maintenance test pilot and maintenance test flight examiner billets.

The lump-sum bonuses are in addition to regular flight pay, which can range from $125 to $840 per month.

The latest lists

• SRBs

• Enhanced SRBs