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12 | MHCE - News www.mhce.us MAY 2022 EDITION TO ADVERTISE contact kyle.stephens@mhce.us
WWW.MHCE.US Monthly Newsletter | 13 "This is arguably the most challenging recruiting year since the inception of the all-volunteer force," Lt. Gen. David Ottignon, the Marine Corps officer in charge of manpower, told the Senate during a public hearing April 27. All of the military's service branches are scrambling to find ways to compete for a younger generation of talent that has plenty of employment opportunities. VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT MHCE.US "The military provides a wonderful option for young people, but it's not the only option and so recruiters, I think just like other employers, are trying to understand what the different options are for young people and to address those effectively," said Joey Von Nessen, an economics professor at the University of South Carolina. The bonuses that serve as one of the most immediately tangible lures for new recruits, while escalating, aren't uniform across or even within the services. Most of the bonuses offered for new Air Force recruits range around ,000 for certain career fields. But for two of the most dangerous jobs, Special Warfare operations and explosive ordnance disposal, the service is making its maximum allowed offer of ,000 for people to join. "It is necessary. I think these are two of our hardest career fields to recruit toward," said Col. Jason Scott, chief of operations for the Air Force Recruiting Service. "It is absolutely necessary to do ,000 for each of those, and actually ,000 is the highest initial enlistment bonus amount that we can give." Overall, the Air Force is dedicating million to recruiting bonuses in 2022, nearly double what was originally planned for. The Army faces the same problem -- and is putting up the same big offers. "We're in a search for talent just like corporate America and other businesses; almost everyone has the same issue the military does right now," Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen, head of U.S. Army Recruiting Command, told Military.com. "We're trying to match incentives for what resonates. For example, financial incentives. Nobody wants to be in debt, so we're offering sign-up bonuses at a historic rate. "We've never offered ,000 to join the Army," he added. In addition to the sign-on bonuses, the Army is also offering new recruits their first duty station of choice -- an unprecedented move as new soldiers are typically placed at random around the world. New recruits can choose locations such as Alaska, Fort Drum in New York, and Fort Carson in Colorado. "Youth today want to make their own decisions. We're letting them do that," Vereen said. The services are also trying to keep troops from leaving, knowing that a raft of employment opportunities are available for them if they get fed up with military life. The Army, Air Force and Navy have all announced reenlistment bonuses for certain career fields and specialties, some of them in the six-figure range. The Air Force is offering up to 0,000 reenlistment bonuses based on experience and career field. The Navy is also offering those incentives, with fields such as network cryptologists and nuclear technicians making anywhere from ,000 to 0,000. The Army is offering a more modest cap of ,000 to reenlist for some jobs. Anecdotally, military families are describing on social media an inability to find open slots for TAP's sessions. Each in-person class is generally limited to 50 people, but Lawrence, the Pentagon spokesperson, denied
