A miscalculation forced the National Guard to temporarily stop providing reenlistment bonuses to soldiers signing new contracts.
“Effective immediately, the issuance of reenlistment bonuses will be discontinued,” an internal memo to military personnel states, as reported by Military.com.
A National Guard spokesperson told FOX News Digital that a miscalculation of the funds the National Guard needed to pay the bonuses forced the sudden policy change, adding that the incentives will not be available again in April. He added that this is expected.
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott has sent the National Guard to help install power lines on the border with Mexico. (Greg Abbott/Twitter)
“The popularity of the Army National Guard reenlistment bonus has exceeded initial budget projections,” the spokesperson said. “This requires a pause to assess funding to determine when we can resume providing new bonuses with the issuance of new reenlistment contracts. We intend to resume issuing incentives in April as a result of this evaluation.”
However, the spokesperson also clarified that the suspension will not prevent service members from receiving bonuses, and service members with existing contracts that include bonuses will not see their payments interrupted and Those interested in an extension can delay their decision until the next day, he said. Bonus program is available again.
“We expect the population affected to be relatively small,” the spokesperson said.
The suspension of reenlistment bonuses comes as the Army National Guard continues to struggle with recruitment and retention, with the report noting the service branch missed its 1,000-troop retention goal last year. .
District of Columbia National Guard and U.S. Park Police march through the White Rose in front of AFL-CIO headquarters, with St. John’s Church in the background, as demonstrators gather to protest the death of George Floyd near the White Rose. make them retreat. Washington House, June 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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These numbers are in stark contrast to the active-duty Army, which has easily met its retention goals in recent years despite suffering from significant shortfalls in recruiting. The crisis has spread to all branches except the Marine Corps, which was able to meet its recruitment goals last year.
“Our first duty to the Army and Congress is to fulfill the end-strength mission,” Army National Guard Chief Lt. Gen. John Jensen said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “We are working with Army leaders to determine courses of action and resource solutions to expand the recruiting market and further motivate Soldiers to remain in the military.”
Texas Army National Guard troops gather near the border. (Texas Department of Military Affairs)
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The suspension of bonuses is not the first time the National Guard has faced incentive pay issues in recent months, with reports in October that the service was behind on bonus payments to about 13,000 soldiers. This was in response to the incident. Of those, he was one of nearly 4,000 service members who served their full terms and retired without receiving bonuses of up to $20,000 after signing part-time service contracts.
Nevertheless, the National Guard expressed confidence that the suspension will not impact recruitment or retention, telling Fox News Digital that the service has “achieved 100% of both our recruitment and retention missions” this fiscal year. Ta.
