(military) Personnel chiefs warn against cuts to bonuses

[unhappycamper]

Personnel chiefs warn against cuts to bonuses
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 17, 2010 16:30:59 EDT

Despite meeting all recruiting and retention goals, the service personnel chiefs pleaded with a House panel Wednesday to keep paying enlistment and selective re-enlistment bonuses.

Clifford Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said military pay and benefits generally are competitive with the private sector, and that large across-the-board increases are not wanted or needed.

“The state of military compensation is healthy,” Stanley told the House Armed Serfices Committee’s military personnel panel. “For the first time, we truly have the ability to target pay with pinpoint accuracy to achieve desired aims and maximize effects of dollars spent.”

Service officials said they may be recruiting and keeping enough people to meet numerical goals — and they noted that they are reducing bonus budgets — but they worry about Congress cutting too deeply.

The Air Force, for example, wants $645 million for bonuses in fiscal 2011, said Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, that service’s deputy chief of staff for manpower and personnel.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/03/military_personnel_031710w/



unhappycamper comment: "For the first time, we truly have the ability to target pay with pinpoint accuracy to achieve desired aims and maximize effects of dollars spent.” Do you mean to tell me the $100K+ bonuses of a few years ago weren't 'pinpoint'? What??? Were you guys just pissing away money to piss it away?