More Thoughts on the U.S. Army's $20,000 Quick Ship Bonus
I wrote yesterday about how the U.S. Army, one of the top employers of college students and recent graduates, is using a new $20,000 "quick ship" bonus to greatly reduce the amount of time between the day on which someone enlists and when they actually report for basic training.
In the past, the time between enlistment and the start of basic was measured in weeks and often months. Because of the quick ship bonus, 92 percent of enlistees are now reporting within about a week. The effect has been to greatly increase the current number of enlistees entering basic training because those who enlisted in June and were scheduled to start basic training today still will but those who enlisted a week or so ago are also starting today rather than in two or three months as they would have before the bonus was implemented.
As I thought about the bonus and the huge number of resignations that the Bush Administration has seen over the past few months, I began to see a connection. I'm not saying that Alberto Gonzales resigned because he's planning to sign up with the Army and head to basic training in a week. But I am saying that the so-called surge of troops in recent months has put the Army under a significant strain and greatly increased the need for more boots a/k/a soldiers so that those those boots can be put onto the ground a/k/a into Iraq. But what happens after the surge? By definition a surge increases and then decreases. If the strategy is successful, and I pray that it will be, then the number of U.S. troops in Iraq will diminish and perhaps that withdrawal of troops will be sudden and significant, although I don't think anyone actually believes that the withdrawal will be complete for years and perhaps ever. But when the withdrawal begins, the need for troops will be reduced and therefore so will the need for new graduates from basic training and therefore so will the need for new enlistees.
So it seems to me that the $20,000 quick ship bonus is temporary and a pretty sharp strategy by the Pentagon to ensure an adequate number of enlistees entering the system to support the current surge. The fact that the number of enlistees will significantly drop off when the bonus is withdrawn isn't that big of a deal if the timing of that coincides with the withdrawal of a significant number of troops from Iraq. So even if you oppose the war, the surge, or both, the reality is that the quick ship bonus is needed in order to generate enough candidate flow to support the surge.
Mr. Rothberg
I believe you are forgetting about those soldiers who enlisted as Reservists and National Guardsmen who are being ordered to their third and fourth combat tours. Many of these individuals are almost guaranteed to separate from the military once they return from overseas. For effectiveness, this attrition rate must be compensated for in some way and therefore the quick ship bonus only helps at keeping the ready force at an equilibrium.
I am also not clear on what your concern would be with more enlistees arriving at Basic Combat Training at the same time? Do you not believe the military would have taken this into consideration prior to enacting such a policy and providing for adequate training facilities and personnel? And worst case scenario, if they hadn't, this is the military of the United States of America, we adapt, we improvise, and we overcome!
Respectfully,
Jorge L. Rodriguez
Specialist, United States Army
Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm
It would be great if the quick ship bonus will allow the Reservists and National Guard soldiers from having to spend more time overseas away from their friends and families. One of the tragedies of this war has been the incredible stress imposed on these families, many of whom thought they were signing up for one weekend a month and two weeks a year.
I have no concern about the ability of the Army to handle all of these enlistees arriving at Basic Combat Training at the same time. Our armed forces are the best in the world and I have all the confidence in the world that these logistical issues have been well mapped out.
My concerns were more about the lack of enlistees arriving at BCT three months from now. How will the Army manage without those new soldiers in the pipeline? Again, I'm sure the Army has thought through this and perhaps it is counting on a reduced number of soldiers deployed overseas to offset the reduced number graduating from BCT.
Make no mistake: I am not an Army basher. I have no idea how the men and women in uniform do what they do day after day. The gifts that they provide to our country and the world every day are mostly unknown and most of them wouldn't want to be known. They're doing what they perceive to be their duty. They're doing what I perceive to be the work of heroes.