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Army Offers Big Cash To Keep Key Officers
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Captains who choose the bonus receive a lump sum of $25,000, $30,000 or $35,000, depending on the severity of the shortage in their field.
The Army is also seeking to increase its ranks of active-duty captains by promoting lieutenants faster, in 38 months instead of 42, said Brig. Gen. Gina Farrisee, the Army's director of military personnel management. In addition it is recruiting hundreds of active-duty captains from the Army Reserve and Air Force, she said.
Army surveys show that the bonuses would persuade 40 to 55 percent of captains who intended to leave to sign new contracts. The Army's goal is for 85 percent of those eligible to stay on, either taking the bonus or another incentive such as attending graduate school or selecting their next post. About 600 of the 900 captains who chose incentives other than bonuses picked graduate school.
"This was the last opportunity for me to evaluate whether to stay in. [The bonus] reinforced my decision to stay," said Capt. Wayne Wall, 31, of Winston-Salem, N.C., who as an armor officer will receive $30,000. He expects to deploy soon to the Middle East.
"The choice to stay and go is more based on lifestyle," said Wall, who said he plans to invest the bonus money. "Some will stay on no matter how often they deploy. Others wear thinner and thinner and you can't put a price on it."
Capt. John Harvey, 30, of Milwaukee said he is unsure about whether to take the bonus or go to graduate school. The cash is "a great factor in staying in," he said.
Still, Army officials acknowledge that many eligible captains -- those promoted to that rank on or after April 1, 2002 -- would have stayed regardless. They say that they will not know whether the incentives are attracting officers who would have left until at least 70 percent sign up.
The officials said that while $35,000 might tilt wavering captains toward staying, it is unlikely to change the minds of those fundamentally opposed to three more years with likely war-zone duty.
"For a young family, these captains have known nothing but war and nonstop deployments," said Brig. Gen. Mark O'Neill, deputy commandant of the Army Command and General Staff College. "No amount of money can compensate me for missing . . . my daughter's first play," he said.
