Black Hawk helicopter mechanics are among the soldiers eligible for up to a $5,000 bonus for extending their tours in South Korea by one year. (Travis Mueller/U.S. Army)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — Eighth Army troops in jobs on a critical shortage list may earn up to $5,000 for extending their tours in South Korea for another year.
Career specialties on the critical list are eligible for that incentive; jobs deemed “understrength” could be offered $3,600, Eighth Army assistant chief of staff Col. R. Arron Lummer said by email Tuesday.
The critical list includes fire control specialists, rocket system crew members, Black Hawk helicopter mechanics, information technology specialists, satellite communication systems operators, military working dog handlers, preventive medicine specialists, wheeled vehicle mechanics, culinary specialists and AH-64E Apache helicopter pilots.
Understrength jobs include combat engineers, joint fire support specialists, air defense enhanced early warning system operators, air traffic controllers, cavalry scouts and utilities equipment repairers.
The bonuses are dispersed to eligible soldiers in a lump sum on the first day of their extended yearlong tour in South Korea.
The incentive program is part of Eighth Army’s annual funding request to the Department of the Army, Lummer said. The program gives commanders “a financial incentive tool to increase unit readiness and team cohesion,” he said.
The lists of undermanned jobs are reviewed monthly and are changed depending on “impacts to mission readiness,” Lummer said.
Most soldiers are eligible for the $3,600 bonus “and we encourage anyone interested to talk to their command team and unit personnel office so they can choose the best option to remain on an assignment of purpose here in South Korea,” Lummer said.
Soldiers may receive the incentive pay twice; however, they may be eligible for other bonuses if they wish to extend, such as an in-place consecutive overseas tour or a foreign service tour extension bonus.
Soldiers who are accompanied by their families in South Korea typically serve two-year tours; unaccompanied soldiers serve one year.
Roughly 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, most of them at Camp Humphreys, about 40 miles south of Seoul.
