Posted on 12/04/2007 10:01:39 AM PST by Incorrigible
By PATRICK O'DONNELL
Duty. Honor. Country.
And now a big down payment on your house.
The old patriotic reasons aren't quite pulling in recruits for the Army as well as they used to. So the Army is adding a new financial incentive to the college tuition benefits and bonuses it already offers.
Starting in January, recruiters will offer new enlistees up to $40,000 toward their mortgage or to start a business. The $40,000 requires a five-year commitment, though enlistees can receive lesser amounts for shorter terms. The money is available after finishing the term.
Cleveland is one of five markets where the new benefit, called the Army Advantage Program, will be tested before offering it nationwide. The other test areas are Montgomery, Ala.; Albany, N.Y.; Seattle and San Antonio.
The Army public relations department could not say last week why these cities were chosen other than through demographic research.
The Army has had trouble recruiting new candidates the last few years, amid the war in Iraq. Despite that, it has increased its overall size by several thousand. Last year it eased restrictions of recruits with criminal offenses to help bolster numbers.
The Army has met its national recruiting goals for this year, but the Cleveland area had its weakest year in several years.
Army spokeswoman Maj. Ann Edgecomb said the financial incentives will give potential recruits a new choice of benefits that the Army hopes will help it grow by another 27,000 soldiers by 2010.
"This is a very difficult time to recruit for an all-volunteer army," she said. "We have to compete with the other options that are out there in the civilian world. This is a way of competing."
The program is still being developed, so many details are still being sorted out. Local recruiters declined to comment because they are still waiting to be briefed on it.
The news caught even a long-time recruiter and now an adviser to the Army, Sgt. David Hack of Stow, Ohio, once the top recruiter in the country, by surprise.
"That's an awful lot of money," he said. "I think it's a fantastic selling tool."
For students graduating from high school in Cleveland, it could also have appeal, said Wesley Sanderson, a guidance counselor at the Max Hayes vocational school where about 15 percent of students join the armed forces. Some students, he said, want to go right into the work force after school or the service and can use help in buying a house. Families may look at the bonus as a chance for the youth and parents to finally land a dream house.
But Sanderson said he will often advise against taking this option and urge students to choose the Army's college tuition benefits instead.
"Education is the key to getting a better job," he said. "It's the logical sequence to get the training first and not overextend yourself right out of high school with a mortgage."
But Ted Ginn Sr., founder of an academy for at-risk students, said the program will be "huge" for Cleveland students in that it gives them another choice, one with a clear and tangible benefit. Ginn said many youths today have a "show-me" attitude and want some guarantee of benefits for making a commitment or sacrifice and doing work.
"They want to physically see it," said Ginn, football coach at Glenville High School. "This is something they can see."
Though many students are too young to think about buying a home and are used to living with their parents, Ginn said, others may look at it as a way to buy a home for their parents and move them out of apartments or bad neighborhoods.
"I can sacrifice four years of my life and take my mother out and buy her a house," Ginn said some students will reason.
But Hack cautioned that the old standby appeal to patriotism is still the major draw to the services, not cash.
"This is just icing on the cake," he said. "The main selling point for a young man or woman is duty."
"You can't pay a person to put the uniform on. You can't pay him to run up the hill and charge live ammo," he said. "There is no way."
Recruits to the Army get money based on the number of years they enlist for:
— Three years: $25,000
— Four years: $35,000
— Five years: $40,000
For the Army Reserve:
— Three years: $10,000
— Four years: $15,000
— Five years: $20,000
(Patrick O'Donnell is a reporter for The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. He can be contacted at paodonnell(at)plaind.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
Liberals will view this in the context of young people being anti-war. The truth is that there is a lot of opportunities for bright young people in private industry thanks to the Bush economy and thus, the Army is being competitive.
Maybe I’m using old math, but isn’t it more lucrative to serve for 3 years instead of 5?
I’d go active duty Army - but I don’t think they’re accepting 60 year olds.
Young people heck. Up the age and let us older ones have a shot at it too. I just want the cash with no strings on how to spend it though.
Actual four years is the most advantageous financially at $8,750 per year. (You only get an additional $5,000 for that last year commitment.)
I wish people knew more about the military, all service is a Eight Year commitment.
Don’t get wounded before the four years is up or you may lose your bonus.
Yeah I saw those articles. That isn’t right.
Yeah. Well I’ve been around the block a few times and would want my bonus upfront:’)
And you may not. Do you know that for a fact?
The Army is “fixing” this error in judgement. Whatever he has received...is going to be his. If there were future payments due to him (considered the normal method in the military...paying the guy X amount the first year, then X amount the second, the third, etc...then that future payment might be in question. Some folks believe the Army will waiver out the future payment question...to avoid questioning in congress...which I’d agree would be smart.
Active and reserve combined, you’re correct. However, they’re offering 4, 5 and 6 year AD commitments with the remainder to be served in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). BTW, I just went over 22 years on Saturday without ever having been offered a bonus. Guess I’m not what they’re looking for...
Colonel, USAFR
Yeah, I was just bringing up the fact even if you serve, lets say 3yrs AD, that leaves 5 yrs that you can be called up.
So when people say it’s a three or four year commitment, they really don’t understand that it is a 8yr obligation.
Roger all - we are in violent agreement.
I believe that report was proven to be false.
I recieved a $25,000 recruitment bonus in the early 80’s for my “Critical” position.
What is that in today’s dollars?
It did pay for college...
Oh, you’re right. I didn’t calculate that out. Good catch.
Hardly.
Jessica Pupovac - AHN News Writer
Pittsburgh, PA (AHN) - A soldier who returned home from Iraq early after being struck by a roadside bomb was asked to return nearly $3,000 of his sign-on bonus for not fulfilling his commitment to the Army.
Jordan Fox says a few weeks after returning home, he got a bill in the mail from the Department of Defense, saying he owes them for the three months he failed to serve.
“I tried to do my best and serve my country and unfortunately I was hurt in the process and now they’re telling me that they want their money back,” Fox told CBS station KDKA-TV.
Brigadier General Michael Tucker, deputy commanding general of Walter Reed, appeared on Fox News shortly after the soldier’s story appeared, saying that “army policy is that soldiers who are wounded in combat or have line of duty investigation injuries... we will not go after a recoupment of any bonuses they receive.” He said the “error” is under investigation.
However, Fox newscasters say that since they aired the story late Tuesday, they have gotten numerous calls from watchers, claiming that they, too, were forced to return sign-on bonuses after being wounded in combat.
The Pentagon canceled Fox’s debt Wednesday, but he says that isn’t enough. “Hopefully this will turn into change for not only me but many other soldiers that have lost limbs, become permanently deaf,” Fox said. “I hope to see a change for everybody.”
Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) introduced a bill last month that would require the Pentagon to go a step further and pay bonuses to wounded vets in full within 30 days after discharge for combat-related wounds. “It is preposterous for our government to have a policy that says that a soldier who has sustained serious injuries in the field of battle has not fulfilled his or her service obligation,” he said at a press conference Tuesday night.
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