<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr"><span></span></div><div dir="ltr">Courtesy of <i>Military Times</i> at:</div><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/03/army-now-offering-recruits-40000-join-infantry.html?ESRC=eb_190704.nl">https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/03/army-now-offering-recruits-40000-join-infantry.html?ESRC=eb_190704.nl</a><br><div><br></div><div>———————————————</div><div><br></div><div><h1 style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.25em; color: rgb(41, 43, 44); caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span property="schema:name" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Army Now Offering Recruits up to $40,000 to Join the Infantry</span></h1></div><div><br></div><div><div>FORT KNOX, Kentucky -- <a href="https://www.military.com/topics/army" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-skip: objects; color: rgb(0, 82, 155); touch-action: manipulation; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">U.S. Army</a> recruiters are offering bonuses worth up to $40,000 to new recruits who sign up for the infantry by Sept. 30 as part of an effort to reverse a shortage of grunts for fiscal 2019.</div><div><br></div><div>The drastic increase in bonus amounts for recruits in 11X, the infantry military occupational specialty, went into effect in mid-May, according to U.S. Army Recruiting Command officials, who said that the service still needs to fill about 3,300 infantry training seats by Sept. 30.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>We saw this coming in May; we immediately went to the senior leadership and said, 'look, we need to max out the bonuses for 11Xs,'" Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, commander of Army Recruiting Command, told <a href="http://Military.com">Military.com</a> Tuesday.</div><div><br></div><div>"If you sign up to be 11X and you sign a six-year commitment -- $40,000."</div><div><br></div><div>Before May, the maximum bonus amount for infantry recruits was $15,000 for a six-year commitment.</div><div><br></div><div>Last summer, the Army <font color="#000000"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/09/05/army-wants-extended-training-armor-engineers-other-combat-jobs.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-skip: objects; touch-action: manipulation;">ran a pilot at </a><a href="http://www.military.com/base-guide/fort-benning" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-skip: objects; touch-action: manipulation;">Fort Benning</a><a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/09/05/army-wants-extended-training-armor-engineers-other-combat-jobs.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-skip: objects; touch-action: manipulation;">, Georgia that resulted in the service extending infantry one station unit training (OSUT) from 14 weeks to 22 weeks</a>. </span></font>The extended infantry training is designed to give soldiers more time to practice key infantry skills such as land navigation, marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, fire and maneuver and first aid training.</div><div><br></div><div>The bonus increase is just a small step in the Army's effort to meet its recruiting goal for the active force of 68,000 soldiers by Sept. 30. The Army launched a multi-faceted recruiting strategy last October after the service missed its 2018 recruiting goal by 6,500 soldiers.</div><div><br></div><div>New recruits signing up for the infantry can also get $20,000 for a three-year enlistment, $25,000 for a four-year enlistment and $30,000 for a five-year enlistment, Recruiting Command officials said.</div><div><br></div><div>But these new bonuses won't last long, Muth said.</div><div><br></div><div>"You've got to ship in August and September," Muth said, explaining that infantry recruits must enter OSUT at Benning by the end of this fiscal year.</div><div><br></div><div>"If you ship in October, you don't get the bonus.”</div></div><div><br></div><div>———————————————<br><br>Back before I joined the infantry (when I was in admin), I was of the belief that “infantry” was the plural form of “infant”. However, while undergoing infantry training at Fort Benning, my misconception was corrected in a most uncomfortable fashion.</div><div><br></div><div>Ah, well . . .<br><br><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://youtu.be/7mAXpFv_QkM">https://youtu.be/7mAXpFv_QkM</a></span><br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>