ARLINGTON, Va. — The Army has unveiled its selective re-enlistment bonus program for 2008, adding some new incentives and simplifying calculations, but shaving the number of eligible jobs.
The list of available SRBs, which range from $1,500 to $29,000, no longer requires a math expert to decipher, thanks to a new flat-rate, lump-sum approach that has replaced the old “multiplier” formula.
For bonuses related to military occupational specialties, soldiers can earn from $3,000 to $29,000, depending on rank, time in service, and whether his MOS is listed as “critical,” according to an Army message.
The payment, which is tax-free for soldiers who re-up in combat zones, is worth $3,000 to $19,000 for privates first class through staff sergeants whose MOSs are on the list, and whose current terms expire before Oct. 1.
But there are fewer jobs that now qualify: The Army is offering SRBs at some level for about 85 MOSs, out of a total of about 188 MOSs. Previously, there were bonuses available for about 126 specialities.
Not all the SRBs are job-dependent, however. Soldiers serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait can, depending on their rank and the length of re-enlistment, collect tax-free SRBs ranging from $1,500 to $12,000, regardless of MOS.
Some field artillery soldiers who are deployed to Djibouti can also collect this “deployed” SRB, as it is called in the message.
A new bonus available for the first time in 2008 is the “reset” SRB, for soldiers in certain specialties who have returned from a deployment within the past 120 days, and who still have more than 24 months left on their current service contract.
The Army normally doesn’t give SRBs to soldiers who have that much time left to serve. But the new brigade combat teams are designed around three-year cycles, so the reset bonuses will make it easier for Army assignment officers to staff the units with minimum personnel turnover, the message said.
In a companion message released Friday, the Army announced that the long-standing Bonus Extension And Retraining program is also dropping its multiplier calculation formula in favor of a flat-rate, lump-sum, zone-based payment.
The BEAR program gives soldiers a bonus if they agree to exchange their MOS for one of Army’s shortage and priority specialties.
Effective March 15, the range of BEAR bonuses is now $3,000 to $29,000, replacing the $10,000 to $40,000 bonuses offered by the Army previously.
The highest payouts are reserved for soldiers who agree to retrain into one of 17 listed “special critical skills,” including intelligence analyst and Special Forces positions. Another 22 MOSs are listed as “critical,” with lower payments.
Both the SRB and BEAR programs are still organized around three zones that reflect years of service. Zone A is for first-term soldiers with 17 months to six years of service; Zone B is for midcareer soldiers with six to 10 years; and Zone C is for career soldiers with 10 to 14 years.
