Army Bonuses

I have noticed the bonuses the Army is offering and can only wonder how big a gamble you are taking by applying for the Army bonus. What if a person enlists or reenlists in the military to get a bonus and then later on if he is not able complete what he enlisted for and he does not get to keep the bonus. Then since he is enlisted, he is given another job to do most likely a job he does not want to do. I saw that happen a few times when I was in the military.
 
Bonus paid by the US Army is a band aid no one wants discuss. Throwing money at a dire situation never fixed anything. But that's a recruiting problem, not a retention problem.

Final two years of my military career spend counseling young trainees upon their arrival from BMT (Basic Military Training) to AIT (Advanced Individual Training). I had to re-direct many of them out of their chosen career field to another.

Recruiters perform what is called a LRC. Local Record Check. If the enlistee comes out clean then they are accepted in the bonus program and their chosen career path opened to them. Therin lies the problem. Once on active duty and arriving on station for AIT training, most require a second background check for the higher security clearance the bonus field requires. Oops. Lots of disqualifying information pops up and I had no option but to re-direct them to a job requiring a lesser or no security clearance. They lost their bonus. Lots of scatter shot anger and heartache followed. Fielded far too many Congressional complaints taking time away from counseling trainees that really needed assistance.

When I bumped this up the chain for resolution the answer I got back was that it was a retention problem, not a recruiting problem. The real stuckee in all this was the trainee. And of course, the US Army. Back 2000-2002, it cost $60K to put a recruit through BMT. AIT even more depending on the specialty. By the time the enhanced security check came back disapproved, they were already well into training. Having to re-direct them squandered a lot of unnecessary taxpayer dollars as well as impacting force readiness by failing to provide a sufficient back fill of trainees ready to soldier.

Yeah, so I am not a big fan of bonuses. Arnold
 
Lawrence said:
I have noticed the bonuses the Army is offering and can only wonder how big a gamble you are taking by applying for the Army bonus. What if a person enlists or reenlists in the military to get a bonus and then later on if he is not able complete what he enlisted for and he does not get to keep the bonus. Then since he is enlisted, he is given another job to do most likely a job he does not want to do. I saw that happen a few times when I was in the military.
Click to expand...
The Navy is paying the highest bonus and the Air Force and Marines are also offering a bonus. The Marines are offering the smallest amount for bonuses. I think the Marines are only dishing out a $1000 bonus. If any enlisted officer has nuclear experience, they are receiving fairly hefty bonuses. I figured with all my re-ups, rank and job, I missed out on over $100,000+ in bonuses. The longer your service, the type of job and a person’s rank will determine the amount that person will receive when they re-up.

I’m not sure how the plan fully works. However, from what I have been told by those still in active duty, if a person reenlists and signs on for a job paying ‘x’ amount of bonus, they will be notified whether or not they have been accepted for that job and will receive that bonus before they actually re-sign. The 2 men that I spoke with told me that not all of the bonus plan information has been released to them. Maybe that’s so they can change the rules as necessary.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
It was 50 years ago, so this is fuzzy. You were inducted as an "E-1"?? Anybody know what kind of big bucks we were hauling in, as an E-1 in 1968? I got out in 1972, just when a huge raise went through.
Click to expand...
In 1968, and through 1969, Army E-1 pay was $109.50 if under 2 years in service.
Now, E-4 in 1969 was a might different.

pay.jpg
 
Anyone recall the monthly rate in 1953? Seemed like it worked to around $25 bucks a week? And what's these bonuses they're speaking about? I enlisted back then and don't remember a bonus or any choice of what I was to do or not do. You went to boot camp, was sent to a ship or shore unit, and only the did you "strike" for a rating or request a school. Nothing was "promised" when you enlisted.
 
My nephew recently retired after 20 something years as an EOD guy. He got some huge bonuses to reenlist. I can however see why, he had the option of getting out and going to work for a contractor at a much higher pay rate. The Army was just doing what made sense, cost them less to pay the bonuses and keep him than have to retrain someone or hire more contractors. Given what he was doing and the risks he was taking it was money well earned. He lost a number of buddies in various deployments...
 
DaveA said:
Anyone recall the monthly rate in 1953? Seemed like it worked to around $25 bucks a week? And what's these bonuses they're speaking about? I enlisted back then and don't remember a bonus or any choice of what I was to do or not do. You went to boot camp, was sent to a ship or shore unit, and only the did you "strike" for a rating or request a school. Nothing was "promised" when you enlisted.
Click to expand...
This site may help. :) Looks like the pay scale stayed the same as 1952.

https://veteran.com/historical-military-pay-rates/
 
fuzzybuddy said:
It was 50 years ago, so this is fuzzy. You were inducted as an "E-1"?? Anybody know what kind of big bucks we were hauling in, as an E-1 in 1968? I got out in 1972, just when a huge raise went through.
Click to expand...
I dunno about prior to 1972, but i went active duty midyear 1972 for a total of about 42 weeks….i just looked up on SSA.gov and saw that my 1972 earnings were $3145, or $75 per week. Fast forward to 1973, SSA says i earned a whopping $4294 for the year (or $83 per week). Not knowing any better, i thought i was rolling in the dough given that i was living in the barracks & eating for free. I actually had a whole lot of fun during that time period and never once did it occur to me that i was poor…guess it was my intro to living within one’s means.
 

Back
Top