US Army Offers $50k To New Recruits As It Struggles To Find Numbers

Faced with an ongoing pandemic and recruiting challenges, the US Army is for the first time offering up to $50,000 in bonuses for new recruits.

The total amount each new soldier receives will vary widely, with some receiving $1,000 and others getting far more, based on their position, skill, level, and how long they plan to serve. Those who enlist for six years

or the first time in its history, the U.S. Army will be offering a maximum enlistment bonus of $50,000 to some recruits who commit to six years of service.

The Associated Press reports that this bonus has been implemented in an attempt to bring in new recruits amid a critical drop in membership. Many of these new members will be assigned to jobs experiencing low numbers due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic. The recruitment attempt will also try to make up for the closing of some schools around the country.

“We are still living the implications of 2020 and the onset of COVID, when the school systems basically shut down,” said Major General Kevin Vereen, who heads the Army Recruiting Command. “We lost a full class of young men and women that we didn’t have contact with, face-to-face.”

To make up for time not spent recruiting in schools, those signing up for high-priority fields will be given maximum bonuses of up to $50,000. There will be high standards and expectations for many recruits in these fields, so it won’t be easy to receive the bonuses. However, the Army hopes that this competition will ensure they receive the best recruits possible.

The final figure depends on when recruits agree to ship out for training, if they already have critical skills and if they choose airborne or ranger posts. Certain careers—such as missile defense crew, special forces, signals intelligence and fire control specialists who coordinate battlefield weapons operations—can often come with the maximum bonuses. But other key jobs include infantry, intelligence analyst, combat medic specialist, military police, combat engineer and several others. Those bonuses may change every month, based on available spots in the training pipeline and other service needs.

Until now, the Army has offered a maximum bonus of $40,000.

“We’re in a competitive market,” said Vereen. “How we incentivize is absolutely essential, and that is absolutely something that we know that is important to trying to get somebody to come and join the military.”