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                         August 23, 2002

Army suspends re-enlistment bonus programs

WASHINGTON (Army News Service) -- The Army today suspended its re-enlistment bonus programs for active-duty soldiers until Oct. 1.

The suspension became necessary with a retention success that exhausted the fiscal year 2002 re-enlistment budget, said Ron Canada, chief of the U.S. Army Personnel Command retention office. He said the Army has already re-enlisted more than 51,600 soldiers against its goal of 49,019, or 105 percent.

Soldiers who are scheduled to separate from the Army between Aug. 19 and Sept. 30 will be allowed to voluntarily extend until after Oct. 1 so they can re-enlist for a bonus, Canada said.

The programs frozen include the selective re-enlistment bonus, the targeted selective re-enlistment bonus and the broken service selective re-enlistment bonus programs.

The freeze does not affect Army Reserve or Army National Guard re-enlistment bonuses, officials said. Nor will it stop the payment of re-enlistment bonuses that have already been granted, Canada said.

Soldiers who re-entered the Army or re-enlisted prior to Aug. 19 and were entitled to a re-enlistment bonus will continue to be paid their bonuses, Canada explained. Soldiers entitled to an anniversary payment from an earlier re-enlistment will continue to receive their anniversary payments during this suspension, he said.

Soldiers who were scheduled to re-enlist between Aug. 19 and Sept. 30 and were otherwise eligible for a bonus, will be advised to delay their re-enlistment until Oct. 1 or later or when the program will be funded for fiscal year 2003.

Those in specialties that do not have a bonus are not affected by this suspension and can continue to re-enlist, Canada said.

More than 100 of the Army’s military occupational skills had offered bonuses and are affected by the re-enlistment suspension, Canada said.

More information about the job specialties that were receiving re-enlistment bonuses can be found in military personnel messages 02-174 dated Jun. 16 and message 02-205 dated July 16. These messages can be found on https://www.perscomonline.army.mil.

Personnel officials ask that this suspension information reach all commanders, re-enlistment offices, recruiters, and finance and accounting offices. Re-enlistment offices will be notified through the Army retain system over the weekend, Canada said, and career counselors worldwide will be informed Monday morning when they turn on their retain system.

Career counselors throughout the Army will be able to answer questions about reenlistment options, Canada added.