Help re: Army signing bonus question

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stevetuna

New member
First of all, thanks to all who replied to my post about my nephew wanting to join the service. He read all of them, took a great deal of excellent advice and did his homework. He's decided on the Army. He loves to shoot, he wants to jump out of planes - hey, what can I say? He also understands that he may well be called upon to shoot at people instead of targets, and that those people might well shoot back. Jay simply said, "Hey, that's part of the deal and a lot of 'em out there might need shootin'..." Right answer, ten points.

So here's my question - I am negotiating with the recruiter. Jay wants infantry, jump school and the pre-ranger training. I know to get it in writing. Jay's willing to sign for four years in order to max out the college money on the back end. So now it comes down to the signing bonus... Jay scored very high on his prelim. ASVAB tests. He'll do fine on the physical stuff. He'll study hard and pass his drug test. The recruiter has $6,000 on the table. I'm not going for his opening offer, of course. How high can that signing bonus go? I believe I've heard $20,000 somewhere along the line. Please advise. Thanks!
 
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ehenz

New member
Unfortunatly, signing bonuses are not the same for the military as it is with, lets say, the NFL. There really is not a lot of wiggle room for the recruiter.

Unless your nephew is going going to max out at 6 years and picks a MOS the recruiter is trying to fill billit for, he may only be offered what he can be offered.

Regretably (in your nephews case) there is a long line of guys who want to jump out of planes, and not many in line for laying cable, cleaning water, and equipment operators.

I would actually be more inclined to try to get a higher pay grade than money up front. He would end up with the money on the back end, and better duty on the front.

My .02,

ehenz

ps. Don't forget the bonus is taxed as if you won it in the lottery. So, 20,000 turns into 10,000 real quick. For the extra 2 years he would have to sign to get that, it works out to about ten bucks a day. That is not much considering your nephew does not even know if he will like the army, geez, he might even hate it.
 
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Lancel

New member
In any case, the recruiter or career counselor will offer all the money that's authorized for your nephew's particular qualifications and desires.

It's there for an incentive; the recruiter won't hold anything back.
 
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Bogie

New member
One thing to also consider - there's not much of a civilian market for infantry... My suggestion would be to go for an MOS that is highly in demand in civilian life, that pays well, that can ALSO afford him the opportunity to jump outta airplanes... My father was in the 82nd, but made two major goofs... He allowed as how he knew how to headspace a browning machinegun, so he got to carry the thing... He also screwed up at told someone he knew how to type...
 
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Tommytrauma

New member
MP

Your nephew might want to consider 95B, combat MP. MPs get to jump out of planes and shoot, and are involved in quite a bit of field work, but the experience will stand him in better stead in the civillian job market. Wakenhut security, for instance, likes former MPs for the high end personel they use guarding nuke facilities.
 
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ojibweindian

New member
I'm not really too sure if your nephew would be able to negotiate going in at a higher rate. There are conditions that the recruiter must follow for that. In my case, I was able to enlist at E-2 because of the number of college credits I had when I signed the enlistment papers. Your nephew can also enlist at a higher rate than E-1 if he has a certain number of semesters of JROTC in high school.

Regardless, the highest rate your nephew could get going into boot camp is E-3. As far as monetary bonuses go, the recruiter has only so much he can offer per rating. If he is offering 6K for what your nephew is wanting to do, believe me, that's all the recruiter can do.

BTW, I would tell your nephew not to enlist for 6 years just to get a grand or two more in bonuses. He may discover that the military is not his cup of tea.
 
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fix

New member
Typically, neither the Army or USMC will offer high bonuses for infantry billets. They just aren't hard to fill. If he wants cash up front, he'll need to pick aviation or data communications.
 
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Sportcat

New member
Bogie stole my thuder

God Bless your nephew for going into the service. If I could do it all over again, I would as well.

Bogie said exactly what I was thinking, if your nephew does not plan on going career, then he needs to think about how his 4~6 years in the Army can prepare him after he gets out.

As well, please tell him to take advantage of every education opportunity he can get his hands on while in the military (I recruit for a two-year community college - I tell all of the military bound kids the same thing). Also tell him to spend that G.I. Bill money at a two-year college when he gets out. He'll get more bang for his buck that way.
 
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sideshow

New member
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444

New member
I have a little different take on the MOS thing. When I was 18, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I found out right around my 30th birthday. At least once a week I thank my lucky stars that I never went to college and got myself locked into a job that I hated. I am not an "inside" type of person and working in an office environment or something similar would be hell to me.
I had every opportunity to go to college. My dad was willing to pay for it, and then I got the GI Bill on my own. I never took advantage of it, and never regretted it.
My point is this. If your nephew wants to educate himself for a future career, then why not go to school instead of the military ? I mean, if you want a civilian job, get a civilian job. To me, the military is an opportunity to experience things that you can't do anywhere else. Why not take advantage of it ? If he continues with his dream, he can proudly say, for the rest of his life that he was an Airborne Ranger. In my job, rookies, for the first year are treated as rookies, FNGs. A large percentage of them have been in the military and most people don't even ask about it. Many have college degrees, again, so what ? About a year ago we had a guy come on that spent 10 years as an Airborne Ranger = instant respect. When everyone is sitting there watching the History Channel or a movie, he can honestly say; I did that, or I was there. If I was ever in charge of hiring employees for a business, I would be much more impressed with someone that had the guts and determination to endure the hellish training it takes to be an elite warrior. He will be mentally tough, he will have dedication, he had the determination to live out his dream dispite obstacles that would leave 99% of the population crying as they ran home to mama. Remember also that anything that doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. He will be stonger mentally and physically. I applaud him. He has the rest of his life to decide what to do for a living. He has the rest of his life to educate himself. But he will never be young again. He will never be as free again. Let him experience life to the fullest while he can.
 
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Sierra

New member
My contribution to this thread may be dated but during my military career I saw the following happen and would recommend this course of action.

I would enlist for the higher pay grade. After serving for a year or so if I wanted to stay in I would do two things. Assuming you had a college degree in something or could qualify for OCS I would get myself transferred to a combat zone, take the quickest discharge I could get, reenlist in the combat arms for the max tour allowed thus getting not only big bucks (and take it in a lump sum) but also pay in a combat zone is not taxed. I would also then immediately apply for OCS. If accepted the obligation tour for officers would cancel out the enlisted contract so you would have the bucks for reenlistment and the higher pay for being an officer. However, if you didn't finish out OCS or couldn't cut it your life would be pretty miserable.

Things may have changed but thats how it worked in recent history.
 
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chaim

New member
Regardless, the highest rate your nephew could get going into boot camp is E-3.
Click to expand...

For most people this is true. However, I've looked into the military again recently and with a degree if you don't want to, or can't (my case, Entry Level Discharge 12 1/2 years ago, and I am almost 32), become an officer with a degree the Army will put you in as an E-4 (Specialist) if you enlist.

Also, if he has some college, how about trying to go in through the Warrant Officer Flight program. More money, as a Warrant Officer there is less crap, more respect, etc. AND he'd get to fly a helocopter. If he is willing to take a longer enlistment for more money anyway this is a good option. Plus, there is a Special Operations flight unit as well if he is really interested in that direction.
 
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