hmmm...those of you think you might like to visit fascinating foreign countries in the company of mostly young men, some of whom are skinheads, gang members, not high school graduates, and form lifelong friendships with some future homeless, amputee or dead folks; and if you want to avoid gays or at least be armed when you do meet them.....you might want to rethink the balance sheet on a
military service career:
... part of what defense officials are calling a package of "urgent wartime support initiatives" sent to Congress
They include raising the maximum re-enlistment bonus to $90,000; maximum hardship duty pay to $750 a month; special pay and incentive bonuses for nuclear qualified officers to $30,000; assignment incentive pay to $3,000; and increasing accession and affiliation bonuses for reservists.
the Bush administration originally asked Congress to increase enlistment bonuses to $30,000, but the Pentagon now wants bonuses of up to $40,000.
The administration also asked for an Army-only test of a $1,000 referral bonus that would be paid to current soldiers if they get someone to enter the Army and make it through basic and advanced training. Now, the Pentagon wants that payment to be $2,500.
The request also includes a new Army initiative that officials are calling the Army Home Ownership program. It would set aside money for new recruits that could be used to buy a home at the end of an enlistment, an idea that Army officials believe will help convince parents and other "adult influencers" of service-age youths about the benefits of joining the military.
"Recruitment is a challenge right now," Snyder said. "Both the military and Congress are working on solutions, but I expect these challenges will be with us for some time. Military service is honorable and can be a real growing opportunity for a young man or woman."
Now remember folks, the civilian job market for these guys sucks...they should be enlisting like crazy...and yet we are still having to ratchet up the sweeteners. I can promise you this, you can't find this kind of money, legal money, for a kid with a liberal arts degree. supporting the troops is one thing, enabling a sick administration is another. If we really want the army to be the highest paying entry level job in the country, we are doing something terribly wrong. But you knew that already, didn't you? Pretty soon we are gonna get to the point where the 101 fighting keyboardists may get kicked out of the basement by mom and dad???? "GET OUT YOU SLIMBAG CHICKENHAWK, JOIN THE ARMY AND MAKE SOME MONEY"
NOTE: not sure about how much the housing bonus is; and of course, homeless people are not homeless because they lack a down payment.