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New changes to the Army retention program will affect when a Soldier can re-enlist and also the options a Soldier may be offered.
Previously, Soldiers were allowed to re-enlist up to two years before their expiration term of service date, or they could wait and re-enlist all the way up to the day before their ETS. However, that has changed. Now, when Soldiers fall within their 90-day ETS window, they will not be able to re-enlist unless they have an exception to policy signed by a colonel or above.
“We want all of our Soldiers to re-enlist as early as possible to get all of their options,” said Sgt. 1st Class Sharon Gillins, a career counselor for the 21st Theater Sustainment Command.
Those options may have changed, as well. In the past, first term Soldiers, who had never re-enlisted and are still fulfilling their initial contracts, were usually given a variety of options such as bonuses and choice of duty stations. However, that may not be true anymore. In an official Army message numbered 09-222, which goes into effect Tuesday, the bonus system is now laid out in tiers rather than zones.
It’s different because the zones went away. Instead of all the charts, Army officials replaced them with one big one, Sergeant Gillins said.
Some Soldiers will only get a bonus or duty station of choice if they have the skill identifier that is listed.
For Soldiers in over-strength Military Occupational Specialties, their only option will be to reclass to another MOS, even if they are first termer Soldiers.
The Deployment Extension Incentive Pay program is another retention program that is scheduled to start in January.
The DEIP program allows Soldiers in units that are deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom, who have an ETS date that occurs during the deployment or 60 days after redeployment, to extend for the length of the deployment for a bonus.
“I think being stop lossed is extremely demotivating for Soldiers,” said Pfc. Ashley Lovett, command secretary for the 21st TSC’s Special Troops Battalion. “For a lot of people being given the option, it puts them in a better state of mind.”
For more information on the DEIP program or the newest retention changes, go to the 21st TSC’s retention Web page at www.21tsc.army.mil/retention/index.html.
