Bonuses for Army Captains
If you are an Army Captain check this out:
Active-duty captains thinking about leaving the Army now have a whole new set of reasons to reconsider: a new program of five incentives, including up to $35,000 in cash, being offered to keep the valuable officers onboard.
But the offers, which the Army announced in a military personnel message Thursday, won’t last long. Some have deadlines as early as Oct. 19, and the last deadline is Dec. 15.
The incentives are limited only to captains with O-3 dates of rank from April 1, 2002, through Nov. 1, 2007, who entered active duty in the following branches: air defense, adjutant general, armor, aviation, chemical engineer, field artillery, finance, infantry, military police, quartermaster, signal and transportation.
Incentives also are available to Nurse Corps officers and select categories of Medical Service Corps officers promoted to captain April 2, 2002, through Nov. 1, 2007.
Reserve officers, warrant officers, members of the special branches and captains who have been primary-zone candidates for promotion to major are not eligible for any of the incentives, the message said.
Captains have five incentives to choose from, with a limit of one option per soldier. Each option has to be “paid for” with a service obligation whose period of time varies, depending on the incentive:
– Cash (Critical Skills Retention Bonus): There are three tiers, depending on branch — $25,000, $30,000 and $35,000. The $35,000 bonus is limited to captains commissioned in military intelligence, infantry, field artillery, aviation and the transportation corps. The service obligation for any bonus is 36 months. The application deadline is Dec. 14.
– Graduate school: The Army will pay for an officer to earn a master’s degree. The service obligation is three days for every day spent in school. The application deadline is Oct. 19.
– Ranger school (requires a 12-month service obligation) and the Defense Language Institute (requires a three-day service obligation for every day of school). The application deadline is Dec. 14 for both schools.
– Switching career branches or functional areas: The service obligation is three years. The application deadline is Nov. 23.
– Extending for assignment to installation of choice: Officers who take this option must have completed 12 months at their current permanent duty stations. If approved, officers will be guaranteed stabilization for at least 24 months. The service obligation is three years. Officers assigned to life-cycle units are not eligible.
For more details on the bonuses, including how to apply, soldiers can review MilPer Message 07-237 at https://perscomnd04.army.mil/milpermsgs.nsf. [Stars & Stripes]
I’m sure more than a few captains will take advantage of this. Quite a good incentive.
I know that our longevity makes it pointless to ask …
… but it sure would be nice if the Army threw the field grade officers a bone !!!
Personally, I would not mind a trip to DLI.
The Army knows that the Field Grades aren't going anywhere because they have been in for over 10 years and are in it for the long haul. Though instead of offering a financial incentive to field grades it seems like some kind of schooling incentive would be possible though probably not DLI because not even all the captains as part of this incentive can attend DLI because of the lack of instructors.
Where is Mark at? I'm sure he has an opinion on this. 🙂
I'm with Jax on this. Money, school, choices…must be nice.
This is just going to build a jealous animosity between older and younger officers, not to mention the setting of a bad precedent in which future company grades will expect bribes of some sort to stay in.
I would echo the statements of the others on this one… this is a poor move. The captains intending to get out are not going to be swayed by $35,000–the ones that were going to stay in anyway are going to cash in on a fat bonus, and everyone else is getting disgruntled. It's just not field grades that are getting angry, senior NCOs are as well.
I'm sure more than a few field grade officers and senior NCOs will remember this at their twenty year mark when they are deciding whether or not to drop their retirement packets. And you know what the end result will be.
Short-sided and uncreative thinking at work again.