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thedrifter
06-20-07, 07:55 AM
Military retention high with bonuses
Many also avoid taxes on payouts
THE BALTIMORE SUN
Wednesday, June 20, 2007


ABOARD FLIGHT REACH-5107 HEAVY - Boring through darkness at 30,000 feet toward Iraq, Air Force Staff Sgt. Eric Erbaugh, a loadmaster on this C-17 flying combat supplies, did a quick calculation and grinned. In a few hours, he would avoid paying the taxes on $41,161.50.

Erbaugh is based at Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina and flies regularly on cargo missions to the Middle East. After eight years in the Air Force, he was re-enlisting for another five. That earned him a $41,161.50 cash re-enlistment bonus. And by signing his re-enlistment papers in a war zone, he’ll receive that bonus tax-free, saving enough to help pay his law-school tuition and make a down payment on a house.

Despite the risks and stresses of war, and repeated long deployments, the military is re-enlisting more than enough soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines to keep its ranks filled with seasoned, experienced hands.

They have proven their dedication and courage. They have missed birthdays and anniversaries, lost time with growing children and endured the hardship on spouses left behind.

But the cash helps.

Overall, the Army is running at 120 percent of its re-enlistment goal for the year, in part by offering cash re-enlistment bonuses to soldiers in 114 “critical” jobs including infantrymen, cavalry scouts and Special Forces soldiers.

An Army staff sergeant such as Jeremy Forrest gets $33,500 for signing up for another five years. That came tax-free to Forrest, who re-enlisted in Iraq. This year, the Pentagon will hand out $1.3 billion in cash bonuses for re-enlistments that range from two to eight years or more.

Next year, as the services struggle to maintain their forces and the Army and Marines continue a major expansion, the Pentagon’s cash-bonus program will grow to $1.5 billion.

Cash bonuses top out at $150,000 for senior Special Forces enlisted soldiers who agree to stay past 20 years.

With many of its jobs requiring long and hazardous field experience or deep technical knowledge - or both - the military is working to maintain the right balance between recruiting new 18- and 19-year-old troops and holding on to the older ones.

Ellie