The Army is bumping up signing bonuses to $50,000 to reel in some new service members.
“Right now there’s no real end dates on the $50,000 enlistening bonus. When I came in, it wasn’t available,” said Staff Sgt. Courtney Clary.
Clary decided to joined the Armed Forces in 2012, after meeting a recruiter at McGregor High School. Now a recruiter himself, he is hoping more aspiring soldiers get in to cash in.
“Whenever I’m trying to talk to these guys about doing it, is say it literally doesn’t get any better than it is right now,” said Clary.
Clary said the signing is only for those deemed highly skilled.
“It’s going to be somebody that scored higher than 50 on the ASVAB," Clary said. "Someone who is physically qualified across-the-board. Additionally, it’s somebody who’s gonna be mentally and physically fit."
Recruiter Capt. Robert Mancuso said the extra money provides incentive to recruits to fill positions in high demand, like fire control specialists or a signal intelligent voice interceptor.
“Those jobs that offer the highest incentives are those jobs that require the most training, upon completing Army Basic training," Mancuso said. "The time slots and the dates we can offer that training is more limited.”
This is one of the hardest times of the year to recruit and it’s being made even more difficult with the pandemic in full swing. There are more than 150 openings right now that qualify for the $50,000 bonus. They expect that amount of openings to keep increasing.
