The Army is now offering re-enlistment bonuses up to $81,000, and increasing bonuses across the board — some by more than $10,000.
The new bonuses will go into affect on September 9, 2019. The offers range from $1,000 for a private in a tier one MOS to re-enlist for a year, to $81,000 for a tier 10 staff sergeant to re-enlist for five or more years. According to the Army, $81,000 is their highest bonus offered in over five years.
Leadership has long said that when it comes to force levels, retention isn’t the problem. But the service is focused on keeping people around in certain job fields, such as cyber, intelligence, and special forces, senior Army counselor Sgt. Maj. Mark Thompson said in the Army’s press release.
This newest announcement follows a number of other bonus messaging released by the Army this year. The bonuses vary based on a soldier’s MOS, rank, and length of time they’ll be re-enlisting. Soldiers who reclassify into a new job will get their bonus after they’ve completed their training, per the Army’s release.
Previously, a sergeant with a job in tier 10 — cryptologic linguists, cryptologic cyberspace intelligence collectors, cyber operations specialists — could earn a re-enlistment bonus of $64,200 for a five year commitment, and now can earn $72,000. On the lower end of the scale, a sergeant in tier 2 — satellite communication systems operator-maintainers, signals intelligence analysts, parachute riggers — earned $6,100 for a five-year commitment under the previous guidance, and can receive a bonus for $7,800.
But some bonus offers are decreasing for short-term commitments, with the hope of incentivizing soldiers to sign on for a longer amount of time. For example, staff sergeants in tier 3 would get a $2,900 bonus for a one-year commitment and $8,800 for five years under the old guidance, but now will receive $1,600 for one year and $11,200 for five years.
“The chief of staff’s No. 1 priority is people, and we are investing in that priority,” Thompson said in the release.