ARLINGTON, Va. — Soldiers in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq or Korea who are up for reenlistment can score an additional $5,000 bonus if they do the deed by Sept. 30 and commit another three years to the Army.
The short-term addition to the Army’s Selective Reenlistment Bonus program began Sept. 19, and ends on Tuesday, Sheryl Carroll, the Army’s Selective Reenlistment Bonus program manager, said in a Friday telephone interview.
Soldiers who are eligible for the lump-sum bonus are mid-term active-duty troops in the ranks of E-4 through E-8, as well as privates first class (E-2s) who are wrapping up two-year enlistments, Carroll said.
A soldier’s military occupational specialty (MOS) doesn’t matter, but he or she must be currently deployed to Afghanistan, Kuwait or Iraq, or assigned to Korea, in order to qualify for the money.
To get the bonus, soldiers must complete their deployment with their current unit, or, if they are in Korea, must voluntarily extend their Korea assignment by an additional six months from the date they are scheduled to move to another assignment, Carroll said.
The extra six-month commitment “reduces turbulence, stabilizes the soldier, and [temporarily] eliminates the [Army’s] requirement to replace that soldier in Korea,” Carroll said.
The minimum re-enlistment is three years. Soldiers who don’t complete that commitment risk having to pay back some or the entire bonus, depending on circumstances, Carroll said.
The bonus is not retroactive for deployed soldiers who reenlisted before Sept. 19, Carroll said.
Word of the bonus went out to commanders in the field via an Army personnel message.
Carroll said she did not have data available on the number of soldiers who have signed up under the bonus program since Sept. 19.
