Army bonuses may rise to $40K

[shanti]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&e=24&u=/usatoday/20050610/ts_usatoday/armybonusesmayriseto40k

The Army wants to double the top cash bonus for new recruits to $40,000 in an effort to stem a continued recruiting shortfall in the midst of the Iraq war.

As another incentive, the Army is proposing a pilot program to provide up to $50,000 in home mortgage help for recruits who sign up for eight years of active duty, Lt. Col. Thomas Collins said in an interview Thursday. Congress must approve both plans.

The $40,000 bonuses would apply only to a limited number of hard-to-fill and still-undetermined jobs, Collins said.

The Army raised bonuses for some jobs to $20,000 in 1999. It has steadily made more jobs eligible for bonuses this year as the recruiting shortfall has deepened.

Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey first raised the proposals during an appearance Tuesday, Collins said. They have not been sent to Congress.

The incentives have surfaced as the Army confirmed an account in The New York Times this week that it fell about 25% short of its May goal of 6,700 recruits, the fourth consecutive month the service has failed to meet its target.

The Army is running about 17% short of its annual recruiting goal of 80,000. At that pace, it will fall almost 14,000 recruits short for its fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

*snip*

[benburch]

1. That $40K would pay for a nice funeral.

Even as a young man in the full flush of my immortality, I would not have liked those odds.

[Barrett808]

12. "How much is your spine worth?"

Or your sight, or your limbs...

[lebkuchen]

28. Cremation doesn't cost that much

though a cardboard box to hold the body will run you $150.

[Supersedeas]

2. democracy at gunpoint is expensive

[Inland]

3. Have they raised the death and dismemberment benefit?

That's an important incentive, considering.

[Loki]

4. My husband just recieved a letter from the Army Health Care recruiting

office offering him a $30,000 enlistment bonus and a $50,000 credit for student loans. He's 56 years old, they must really be hurting for people.

[opihimoimoi]

13. I finally had to tell the recruiters to stop calling my daughter age 20

who is in college. These guys are desperate to fill their quotas working night and day and saying whatever it takes to get another head count.

Damn.

Peace under Clinton was SO MUCH BETTER.....Ever since Bush came aboard, everything SUCKs.

[indepat]

5. Peanuts compared to what is paid to mercenaries and Halliburtoners

[leetrisck]

10. You are so wrong about this - if people only knew

but beside the point. Any bonuses the military can get, I fully support. One problem with this - when and how do they get the bonus? I promise you it isn't going to be given the day they sign on the dotted line.

[shanti]

14. it works out to

5 grand a year, for 8 years. what are the chances of survival in iraq for 8 years??

[indepat]

26. Confused that the military bonuses will be peanuts compared to what

mercenaries, some reported to get $100 per hour or somewhere between $200K and $800K+ pa, and Halliburtoners get? What am I missing here?

[leetrisck]

31. You're missing an awful lot

because of what you think you know. I hope all the military get every dime of a bonus they can get.

[mitchum]

32. No, they are so right about this...

I have a friend in the Reserves who returned after a year in Iraq. She still had 2 years left of her Reserves commitment. The US government informed her that if she would agree to work for Haliburton for 1 year at $100,000 in Afghanistan, they would then write off the reaming year. If she did not accept this "option" she would still owe the remaining 2 years. And that it would be highly likely that she would be deployed back to Iraq.
Your tax dollars at work.

[bullimiami]

38. the us government is bribing and threatening people to work for

halliburton.

this has to be criminal

[ls317]

33. B.S

Some of my friends have left there jobs as local police officers to take jobs in Iraq.They are working as police officers,( Blackwater) Private Security

Any guess what they make??? 125k a year two year contract ( tax free) no installment payments either..

[maxrandb]

6. Dems Should Jump on This and

propose an ammendment that the bonuses be paid for by rolling back the tax-cuts on the wealthiest Americans, and using what's left over to shore up Social Security.

Let the Republicans justify giving $275K in tax-cuts to Dick Cheney instead of a bonus to soldiers that are risking their lives.

Let's have them put their "support the troops" rhetoric where their mouths are.

[denverbill]

19. Totally agree.

Democrats have to make the 'tax cuts for the rich' versus 'supporting the troops' argument on a daily basis.

[Sgt. Baker]

7. Like to see

I'd like to see them throw that kind of money at veterans instead of constantly cutting their benefits.

[Barkley]

8. Double cash bonuses for war and cut Pell Grants for college by $270 m

The U.S. Congress will cut federal Pell Grant funding by $270 million, beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, according to a report issued by the Congressional Research Service.

Some 1.3 million students will be affected. An estimated 90,000 students could be disqualified from receiving Pell Grants and face reduced aid from federal and state aid programs, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education

http://www.collegenews.org/x4035.xml

[shanti]

15. robbing from peter

to pay paul. their tactics stink.:-(

[NNN0LHI]

9. Do you think they would take a 50 year old guy like me?

The money is starting to get right.

Don

[TX-RAT]

17. Sure beats the 283 dollars a month i received.

[benburch]

23. I don't think the montly pay has gone up much.

And the benefits afterwards are getting harder and harder to receive.

[TX-RAT]

25. Never used any of the benefits myself.

My daughter did, used them to help, with her nursing degree.

[benburch]

27. Good for her!

My opinion is that when you have benefits like that you should at least consider making use of them because that is the nation's "Thank You" for your service.

[TX-RAT]

30. Agree 100%

[ls317]

34. wow

Stuck in the middle!

[BrotherBuzz]

41. Wow, this draftee was on easy street and and didn't even know it...

I was paid a whopping $287 a month!!!!

[billyoc]

35. You're starting to scare me.

:scared:

Because the money is starting to get right indeed...

[ticapnews]

11. Will the military follow the example of private industry in this country..

and start outsourcing these "job opportunities" to India? The job I had four years ago is now being done by a guy (or five) in New Delhi for pennies on the dollar of what I was paid. Or they can just start rounding up illegal immigrants and stick them in a uniform, since they can't find any Americans willing to do this work.

[NNN0LHI]

18. They have been doing the illegal immigrants and stick them in a uniform...

...thing since the beginning with promises of citizenship. Nothing in writing mind you, just promises. I think they realized that the only guaranteed road to US citizenship was getting killed. They are too smart for this scam.

Don

[SammyWinstonJack]

16. How are they paying for this?

By cutting Veterans' benefits?

[insane_cratic_gal]

20. Right you are AND

cutting college money

[BagEnd]

21. Hmmm... If I sign up, can I

1) Take the $40,000

2) later say I'm gay and get kicked out

3) Keep the $40k?

[NNN0LHI]

22. I have a suspicion it comes in installments n/t

[benburch]

24. Nope...

They have sued people for doing JUST that sort of thing; Taking a ROTC scholarship and then playing the "gay" card after graduation.

[Hawkeye-X]

29. Wait, wait. Offer me $1m PER day, then we'll talk

Otherwise, STFU.

[leesa]

36. Well, maybe it will help them pay their medical bills for a year

Keep them out of the homeless shelters that long anyway.

[Orsino]

37. Look for a quiet decision...

...to lift the ban on human cloning.

The Emperor needs you.

[maxrandb]

39. Wait A G-D MINUTE!

When it comes to education and Social Security...

Don't they say "You can't solve a problem by throwing more money at it" ?

:wtf:

[Name removed]

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