Military Pay Soars

Week of April 16, 2007

The struggle to entice Army Soldiers and Marines to stay in the military, after four years of war in Iraq, has ballooned into a $1 billion campaign, with bonuses soaring nearly sixfold since 2003. The size and number of bonuses have grown as officials scrambled to meet the steady demand for troops on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan and reverse sporadic shortfalls in the number of National Guard and Reserve Soldiers willing to sign on for multiple tours. The bonuses can range from a few thousand dollars to as much as $150,000 for very senior special forces Soldiers who re-enlist for six years. All told, the Army and Marines spent $1.03 billion for re-enlistment payments last year, compared with $174 million in 2003, the year the war in Iraq began. To learn more, read the full article at Military.com.

All military pay information can be found in Military.com's Pay Section.

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