National Guard Wants To Offer $15,000 Signing Bonuses (up from $50)

[truthpusher]

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/4130511/detail.html

National Guard Wants To Offer $15,000 Signing Bonuses
Guard Is 15,000 Soldiers Below Designated Strength

POSTED: 7:44 am EST January 26, 2005

PENTAGON -- Looking for new ways to bolster its thinning ranks, the Army National Guard is seeking legal authority to offer $15,000 bonuses to active-duty soldiers willing to join the Guard - up from $50 now.

Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told reporters Tuesday that the Guard is 15,000 soldiers below its normal strength of 350,000, and he expects further short-term declines despite recent gains from tripling re-enlistment bonuses for Guardsmen deployed abroad.

If the Guard fails to return to its normal troop level of 350,000 by the end of the budget year on Sept. 30, it will be the first time that has happened since 1989, the three-star general said. He added that he believes he has a formula for restoring the Guard's strength.

(snip)

Blum offered two main reasons the Guard has found it harder to get active-duty soldiers to switch to the Guard. Many are prevented from leaving the active Army even after their contracts are up or their retirement dates have arrived because the Army invoked a special authority known as "stop loss" that freezes soldiers in place for months at a time. Also, those who can leave active duty are sometimes less interested in joining the Guard if they believe that their prospective Guard unit is in line for a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.

more:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/4130511/detail.html

[sarcasmo]

1. War of the poor, just what the Repuke elite want.

[tnlefty]

2. My son told me that there were 5 TN Nat'l. Guard recruiters in

his school yesterday with slideshows and promising kids the moon if they would sign up. I'd like to know how to find out whether they visit all of the schools or if they concentrate on the poorest ones.

[CottonBear]

3. Who would sign up for a $50 bonus?

How much are they paid in salary?

[Moderator]

4. duplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1182839