Space Force offers $25,000 to new recruits who commit to 8 years

Space Force recruits who agree to serve at least eight years on active duty could receive a $25,000 bonus under a new pilot incentive program, the service announced Monday.

The pilot program runs through Nov. 30 and is available to all incoming enlisted guardians regardless of their chosen military occupational specialty. It is designed to incentivize guardians to remain in the service for several years after completing “expensive and lengthy training” to do their jobs, according to a service news release.

“As a highly technical service, the Space Force must continue to adapt how we recruit, develop and retain talent,” said Katharine Kelley, the service’s personnel chief. “This pilot program supports long-term readiness by giving guardians greater stability at the start of their careers while ensuring the service benefits from their expertise after extensive technical training.”

The newest U.S. military service, Space Force was founded in 2019 and built primarily by transferring in space operations troops from other branches. Since then, it has sought to add about 700 guardians without prior military service into the Space Force per year.

The service has found it must train its enlisted recruits for about two years before they are prepared for their jobs, said Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force John Bentivegna, the top enlisted guardian.

The service hopes that by incentivizing recruits to commit to eight years in uniform it can better retain the institutional knowledge needed to conduct space-based operations than it has been able to with traditional four- and six-year enlistment contracts.

“A longer contract ensures ample time is available for operational use of that training, allowing guardians to become more capable and confident operators,” Bentivegna said in a statement. “By incentivizing an eight-year enlistment, we are asking future guardians to make a profound commitment to our mission.”

The pilot is limited to 100 recruits. The service will consider extending it, officials said.

The $25,000 will be disbursed to recruits after they complete technical training, according to the service.

The Space Force is the Pentagon’s smallest military service with about 10,000 guardians. It is also manned by about 5,000 civilian employees.

The service plans to increase its military strength to about 13,200 troops in fiscal year 2027, according to budget proposal documents sent to Congress in April. The Space Force also plans to nearly double its budget for next year from about $40 billion to about $72.2 billion as it seeks to build up space-based missile defense systems and compete with China’s increased space operations.

The Government Accountability Agency, in a report published Tuesday, found the Space Force faced a personnel shortfall of about 25% in fiscal year 2025 “when comparing assigned personnel with total personnel requirements.”

The federal watchdog organization said the Space Force should update its methods for determining its requirements after finding units were inconsistent in their efforts to assess how many guardians they needed to conduct operations. Some units have been operating with outdated personnel requirements that date back to those units’ responsibilities in their old military branches and that “do not reflect mission growth,” according to the report.

GAO suggested Space Force should establish a “comprehensive strategic workforce plan” to determine exactly how many guardians, civilian employees and contractors it needs to conduct its increasing operations.

“Without such a plan, the Space Force may not be able to systematically plan for and manage a workforce that meets current and future mission needs,” the report concluded.