The tiered Selective Retention Bonus program is the Army’s primary incentive for encouraging Regular Army enlisted soldiers in priority military occupational specialties to extend their careers.
The flat-rate, cash bonuses available under this program range from $500 to $72,000, depending on a soldier’s rank, military occupational specialty and length of service extension. Factoring in languages, a soldier’s bonus can max out at $90,000.
This program was last updated March 16. For the fulll chart visit armytimes.com/SRBupdate Additional revisions are possible this fiscal year, as early as May.
Personnel officials also expect the Army could issue a new round of in/out reclassification calls later this year. The calls, which were last updated in January, indicate which military occupational specialties are open or closed to reclassification in the Regular Army.
That is because bonus opportunities are likely to decline in the future as the Army moves deeper into a drawdown that over the next seven months will eliminate no fewer than 8,000 soldier authorizations. Additional reductions in 2016 and 2017 are likely, but the details have not yet been announced by the Pentagon.
The eligibility and payment charts for the Tiered SRB program now effect apply to soldiers whose enlistment contracts expire before Oct. 1, 2015, and who re-enlist for at least three years.
Army policy also requires that soldiers must have at least 17 months of continuous active duty, other than active duty for training as a reservist, and no more than 14 years of active federal service before reaching eligibility to receive an SRB.
Bonuses may be paid up to the 20th year of active federal service, and the maximum obligated service is 60 months.
The Army’s recent budget submission to Congress indicates that about 16,000 soldiers will be approved annually for Selective Retention Bonuses 2015 and 2016.
Those soldiers will represent about one-third of the soldiers who re-enlist in the active component annually over the next two years.
Bonuses will average $7,000 per soldier, for total outlays of $115 million in 2015 and $109 million in 2016.
