Fifteen sailors on the USS George Washington received a combined $1.3 million in re-enlistment bonuses during a May 8 ceremony aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

The sailors, all nuclear power operators, took advantage of a three-month, retention-driven program that allowed them to receive about $90,000 each.

The re-enlistments extended each sailor’s obligated service an additional five or six years.

“We’ve had issues with manning in certain rates,” said Capt. William Silkman, the ship’s reactor officer. “This shows that people at the highest levels of the nuclear program care and are doing something about it.”

Dozens of ratings in the Navy currently qualify for re-enlistment bonuses, but amounts vary depending on an individual’s specialty.

“The demands of our job are quite rigorous,” said Master Chief Petty Officer Peter White, the nuclear department’s leading chief petty officer. “The level of proficiency and knowledge are constantly tested and evaluated.”

According to the Navy’s Web site, students in the Navy’s nuclear power program endure an intense academic path, with courses in calculus, nuclear physics, thermodynamics, chemistry, reactor principles and electrical engineering.

“From the beginning of our training, it’s ingrained into us the accountability that comes with what we do,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Naddell, who has been a nuclear operator for seven years. “Some of these kids are 18 and 19 years old, but collectively they’re operating the nuclear reactors on a warship. … That’s a very high level of responsibility.

“Re-enlistment programs like this help us keep people that we want to keep — the ones that are motivated. Nuclear operators are highly sought-after in the civilian world, so these types of programs help us compete with them.”

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michalina Kulikowski said there’s no animosity between the nuclear operators and other sailors aboard the ship who don’t receive large bonuses.

“The training we go through and the hours we work are pretty well known,” she said. “We’re the first ones to get here and the last to leave, and I think people recognize that. … The bonuses are well deserved.”