A new roster of retention incentives that span several combat arms, combat support and combat service support specialties of the Regular Army will take effect Oct. 9, replacing a menu of re-up bonuses that have been in effect since May.
Bonus-eligible soldiers who want to reenlist under the old rates have until Oct. 9 to execute a new service extension contract, provided they are otherwise eligible for reenlistment.
The Army also has released a new menu of reclassification in/out calls, a career planning tool that reflects the latest manning requirements for nearly 200 military occupational specialties and MOS skill and language combinations.
The Bonus Extension and Retraining Program, or BEAR, program no longer is in effect, but soldiers who qualify may be able to reclassify, retrain and receive a bonus for one of the specialties on the new Selective Retention Bonus chart.
The new in/out calls indicate whether an MOS is balanced, over strength or under strength, which in turn will determine if that specialty is open or closed to reclassification.
With the Army poised to drop an additional 40,000 soldiers over the next three years, several career fields that traditionally have been open to reclassification, such as 11B infantryman and 12B combat engineer, are closed to most applicants.
Many of the reclassification candidates in the new version of in/out calls are for Skill Level 1 soldiers who are coming off their first enlistment, and who are not pending promotion to sergeant.
The new menu of SRB opportunities features bonuses of $500 to $72,000, depending on rank, MOS and length of service extension.
Soldiers must have at least 17 months of service and agree to reenlist for three years or more in order to qualify for an SRB.
The top-end bonuses of $10,000 or more generally apply to soldiers who reenlist for duty with specific units or commands, or who have special skills, such as proficiency in a priority foreign language.
Assignment-specific bonuses include duty with airborne units, the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Special Operations Command and the Civil Affairs Brigade.
Soldiers who have a listening and speaking or reading proficiency score on the Defense Language Proficiency Test of 3/3 or higher in a priority language at the time of reenlistment are authorized an additional $7,500 above the regular bonus amount, up to a total SRB amount not to exceed $90,000.
Similarly, CMF 18 Special Forces sergeants first class who will have six to 10 years of active service on the date of reenlistment are authorized an additional $10,000 above the normal bonus amount, not to exceed $90,000.
Soldiers may receive more than one SRB during their career, but the total combined SRB payments over a career cannot exceed $200,000.
Some special rules apply to the new in/out calls as follows:
- Soldiers can request reclassification into certain career management fields and MOS without regard to the in/out calls, although the request must be approved by the specialty proponent and Human Resources Command. These "by application" specialties are CMF 18 (Special Forces), MOS 12P (prime power production), 17C (cyber operations), 25D (cyber network defender), 25E (electromagnetic spectrum manager), 29E (electronic warfare), 31D (CID special agent), 35L (counterintelligence agent), 37F (psychological operations), 38B (civil affairs), 46R (public affairs broadcast specialist) and 79R (recruiter, for staff sergeants only who have successfully served as detailed recruiters).
- Soldiers who reenlist to continue service in a nominative or special management unit may do so without regard to the out call for their MOS.
- Soldiers who are reenlisting for a skill- or location-specific MOS may do so without regard to the out call for their MOS.
