{"id":45816,"date":"2025-10-21T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:30:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:30:27","slug":"army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Army officials are looking to expand a pilot program allowing young officers to switch to new job fields in what they\u2019re calling a recognition that Gen-Z troops might value flexibility more than dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In November, the service will announce an extension of the Officer Voluntary Transfer Incentive Program (VTIP) to lieutenants in Year Group 23 \u2014 a third year of the pilot and one that may see an expansion of the branches and functional areas to which officers looking for a change can transfer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking to reporters during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/ausa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/ausa\/\">Association of the United States Army\u2019s annual meeting<\/a> this month, Maj. Gen. Hope Rampy, commanding general for Army Human Resources Command, said the service wanted to adapt to the priorities of a younger generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think what we understand the generational difference is, \u2018I don\u2019t want to sign up to do a job, the same thing for the rest of my life,\u2019\u201d Rampy said. \u201cAnd so we do want to show that there\u2019s an opportunity to serve a career in the Army, but not do the same thing for the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last year\u2019s VTIP program was open to lieutenants serving in four overstrength Army branches: Infantry, Armor, Field Artillery or Engineer. It offered up to 300 of them the opportunity to transfer into the understrength Adjutant General, Air Defense, Finance, Logistics and Signal Corps, or Functional Areas 26 (Info Technology Engineer), 40 (Space Operations), 46 (Public Affairs) and 57 (Simulations Operations). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Army messaging has in the past emphasized force rebalancing, but Rampy described the program as a way to \u201cget ahead\u201d of a possible indicator of dipping retention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Historically, she said, about 45% of lieutenant year groups stay in the Army long enough to make major. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut we saw a couple of year groups that had maybe a dip of 1% or a dip of 2%,\u201d Rampy said. \u201cSo I\u2019m not saying there\u2019s an issue, but I\u2019m saying there\u2019s an indicator. The data is indicating that you\u2019re not on a historical trend. So why wait for a problem, and why not get ahead of it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, she said, officials were reaching an understanding that financial payouts are no longer the most effective way to attract and keep soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe talk a lot about incentives, and everybody jumps to money,\u201d Rampy said. \u201cBut I think, really, what we\u2019ve learned the last couple of years is, we were probably paying economic rent that we didn\u2019t need to pay. The bonus rate has gone down as our recruiting numbers went up \u2026 Station of choice, training of choice, far outweighed the dollar figure spent on recruiting this last year, and we\u2019re seeing the same thing in retention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some details about the third year of VTIP have yet to be made public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re still finalizing the structure document, which will outline affected branches and functional areas,\u201d Lt. Col. Heba Bullock, a spokeswoman for Army Human Resources, said in an email to Military Times. \u201cThe in\/out chart will be released with the 2nd Quarter VTIP message, expected mid-November. Soldiers can submit in January 2026, with selections announced mid to late March.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And while enlisted retention continues to hold strong \u2014 the Army actually <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2025\/05\/21\/army-brings-back-90-day-reenlistment-window-suspends-most-extensions\/\" rel=\"\">brought back some re-enlistment restrictions<\/a> in May in light of the bullish outlook \u2014 the service is eyeing ways to extend more career flexibility to the enlisted forces, as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Atkinson, top enlisted leader at Army Human Resources Command, said the Army could do more to ensure the soldiers they value the most are the ones who stay on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re \u2026 looking at this population and saying \u2018Hey, maybe [home] station of choice is what they want \u2014 they want optionality. Maybe it\u2019s not all about incentivizing it with monetary issues,\u2019\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cSo the feedback that we\u2019re getting is, \u2018Hey, If you can get me to Ranger School, I would do an additional six years.\u2019 So we\u2019re looking at some type of initiative to help make sure that we\u2019ve got the right soldiers staying in the Army for the capabilities that we need in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Flexibility initiatives may begin rolling out as soon as this month to address these goals, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Army officials said the service is trying to adapt to the priorities of a younger generation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":89308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[78,29,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2594],"class_list":["post-45816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ausa-digital-show-dailies","category-digital-show-dailies","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"OU5WV2NNPVGXHPWUY6I4N7UU2I","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Army officials said the service is trying to adapt to the priorities of a younger generation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Army officials said the service is trying to adapt to the priorities of a younger generation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-21T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T04:30:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hope Hodge Seck\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hope Hodge Seck\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2025-10-21T17:00:00+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T04:30:27+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 714,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8927354.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"AUSA\",\n\t                \"Digital Show Dailies\",\n\t                \"Pentagon\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8927354.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2025-10-21T17:00:00+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T04:30:27+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Army officials said the service is trying to adapt to the priorities of a younger generation.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8927354.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8927354.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/21\\\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Pentagon\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"pentagon\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts - Defense News","description":"Army officials said the service is trying to adapt to the priorities of a younger generation.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts","og_description":"Army officials said the service is trying to adapt to the priorities of a younger generation.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2025-10-21T17:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T04:30:27+00:00","author":"Hope Hodge Seck","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hope Hodge Seck","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts","datePublished":"2025-10-21T17:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T04:30:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/"},"wordCount":714,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8927354.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["AUSA","Digital Show Dailies","Pentagon"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/","name":"Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8927354.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-21T17:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T04:30:27+00:00","description":"Army officials said the service is trying to adapt to the priorities of a younger generation.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8927354.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8927354.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/10\/21\/army-to-downplay-bonuses-ramp-up-job-flexibility-in-retention-efforts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pentagon","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/","ad_zone":"pentagon"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8927354.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45819,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45816\/revisions\/45819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45816"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=45816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}