NewsNation

The Army is suspending reenlistment bonuses

Zaid Jilani

BAGRAM, AFGHANISTAN - SEPTEMBER 11: U.S. Army soldiers salute during the national anthem during the an anniversary ceremony of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 on September 11, 2011 at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. Ten years after the 9/11 attacks in the United States and after almost a decade war in Afghanistan, American soldiers paid their respects in a solemn observence of the tragic day. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

(NewsNation) — The Army has announced that it will be ending its reenlistment bonuses, at least for the time being.

The move comes as the Army has been consistently hitting its retention goals.


This was the fourth year in a row the service hit its retention goals, retaining 55,000 soldiers who were scheduled to depart from the ranks.

While retention has been up, the Army has been less successful in bringing in new recruits. It fell 15,000 soldiers short of the goal of 60,000 recruits last year. It’s doing better this year, but still expects to fall short of the goal of bringing in 65,000 recruits.

“We have seen positive momentum over the last several months, and we are currently on track to recruit more young Americans than we did last year,” Madison Bonzo, an Army spokeswoman, said in a statement. “We have two weeks left in the fiscal year, and we are still actively recruiting.”

While the military is suspending the reenlistment bonuses for the rest of this fiscal year, which ends at the end of this month, Bonzo said that the service does expect to bring them back in the future.