Air Force Offering Big Re-Enlistment Bonuses

by Alex A. Kecskes

If you're a first-term airman or airwoman, or a senior noncommissioned officer in a key specialty, you could end up with a hefty bonus if you re-enlist in 2011.

The Air Force has added five career fields to the bonus program. The new rates cover 89 career fields and reflect the Air Force’s efforts to put more servicemembers in undermanned specialties. While retention rates have reached an all-time 16-year high, targeted bonuses are needed to ensure the Air Force retains people with the critical skills and experience it needs.

Bonuses, especially in zone A, will encourage first-term airmen to go from what might be an overmanned career field into an undermanned career field. To swell the ranks in needed fields, the Air Force is also targeting senior NCOs in eight Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSCs), including four specialties that last year were not eligible for re-up bonuses.

New zones getting bonuses include six zone A, seven zone B, four zone C and four zone E payments, and most of those were in AFSCs that were already getting an SRB in another zone. Bonus rates for chronically undermanned career fields—like explosive ordnance disposal and tactical air control party--have not changed from last year.

Selective re-enlistment bonuses are calculated by multiplying a servicemember's monthly base pay with the number of years for which he or she re-enlists, and multiplying that with the multiplier assigned to that zone, for a maximum bonus of $90,000. Half of the bonus is paid when a servicemember re-enlists and the rest is paid annually over his or her new term.

Here’s a look at how much you can earn if you re-up using these new selective re-enlistment bonus rates:

• Zone A: $33,000

• Zone B: $43,000

• Zone C: $43,000

• Zone E: $59,000

The Air Force expects to review its SRB rates again in March or April, and any changes will be published around the middle of the fiscal year.

For an additional perspective, check out this video: