How much of a bonus...???

The U.S. is looking to transform its infantry into a higher-caliber fighting machine – and one that takes home a significantly bigger paycheck, too.

Officials in the Pentagon's Close Combat Lethality Task Force are considering recommending that those recruited for the infantry should be no younger than 26 – so they can gather more life experience before enlisting – and that they should be offered a $60,000 annual salary with $250,000 bonuses, according to Military.com.

"There is truth in this fact that we have not paid great attention to this idea of specially selecting people and incentivizing infantrymen and giving them the right skills," retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr told the website. "I think we can do a lot better in the Army... about getting the right people into these positions.”

Recruits also could be specially tested for their ability “to do well in infantry-specific skills”, added Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, one of the task force’s advisers.

The reported considerations come as the Army recently raised its maximum bonus for infantry recruits who enlist for a 6-year term to $40,000.

They are part of the task force’s larger vision to train the next generation of the infantry to be more like the 75th Ranger Regiment, which the Army calls its “premier large-scale special operations force”, made up of “some of the most elite soldiers in the world.”

Scales told Military.com that infantry units should be cleared from having to do “all the boring, routine… tasks” so they can be given more time to hone their marksmanship and close-quarter battle skills.

The belief is that infantry with a more specialized training path would be tougher to face in combat.

Sounds good and it's about time. Of course we could duke it out with the best of them and as an NCO my guys were great at picking up papers, butts and burning ****ters. It would be nice to do away with those jobs.

yep, it would, save those daunting tasks for the REMF's, after all, it's as close as they are likely to get to the "SHTF" situation.... think of it this way, no matter what the ARMY does, MARINES will STILL be America's SPARTANS.... I do, however, believe enlistments should be lengthened for those "select few" from today's 2/3/4/6/ year active duty commitments to a standardized 10 year active duty only commitment for those that wish to be part of one of the most elite and lethal combat units in the world .....

We all know that all the training Grunts go through, never prepares you enough for War. On the job training is the real teacher....

I don't think starting a guy in an MOS as arduous as infantry can be, at 26, is a good idea. Perhaps 20. And allow lateral MOS swaps into infantry too.

Higher pay for grunts is a good idea too. But I think base pay should continue to be as it is now. However, once in the Fleet, a specialty pay can be added to bring the pay up to a level considered adequate (the suggested $60,000 pay rate for instance).

However, it should be part of the plan that misbehavior or incompetence can mean being dropped to a non-infantry MOS.

But, what about other MOSs with significant exposure to combat? Truck drivers, for instance? In Vietnam, truck drivers (3531) were something like the third highest in casualties behind only a couple of infantry MOSs. I know most of the instructors at my 3531 school had Purple Hearts. I'm certain that truck drivers got well beat up in Iraq and Afghanistan with all of the IEDs.