Cuts ahead for Enhanced SRB, BEAR programs

Cuts ahead for Enhanced SRB, BEAR programs
By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Dec 17, 2008 15:43:32 EST

Major cuts loom for the Selective Re-enlistment Bonus program, but career-minded soldiers have until Dec. 31 to sign up for the hefty cash bonus levels announced three months ago.

Changes to the Enhanced SRB program and the Bonus Extension and Retraining, or BEAR, program take effect Jan. 1.

Virtually all incentive categories, to include the number of specialties that qualify for a bonus, will experience sharp reductions in 2009, according to Master Sgt. Patrick Johnson, retention operations NCO in the Office of the G-1 at the Pentagon.

A recap of the active component bonus programs for 2008 shows that of the nearly 74,000 soldiers who re-enlisted, 52,300 received lump-sum cash payments totaling $715 million.

Pentagon officials expect payments in 2009 will be cut by at least $90 million as the Army nears the end of the force expansion that began three years ago, and enlistment and retention programs thrive in an era of economic uncertainty in the civilian sector.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/army_reup_121708w/%2e