Keep ’em if you’ve got ’em. Consider it an investment.
The Pentagon has approved an incentives package designed to retain special operations troops in the military, Pentagon officials said Friday.
The package — approved December 22 for $168 million over three years — is aimed at keeping Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets and other troops trained to fight terrorists from taking lucrative positions with security contractors or other government agencies, the officials said.
The incentives are directed at troops with a good deal of wartime experience and highly specialized skills that take considerable time and money to replace.
Only “operators” — troops on the ground conducting missions — are targeted, not everybody in the 49,000-person special ops community, the officials said.
Depending on how long special ops troops commit to stay with the military, they could receive an additional $8,000 to $150,000 beyond their regular salaries.
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“This is not about a need to increase the size of the [special ops] community,” said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Joe Richard.
“It is about keeping the ones we already have and keeping that experience and skill level without having to continually train large numbers to replace the ones that left.”
The package is not that unusual. In the past, the Pentagon has offered incentives to pilots to try to keep them from leaving for higher-paying jobs in the commercial airline business.
I whole-heartedly agree with this. We’re not talking about dumbass tankers (DATs) such as I used to be. We’re talking about elite, skilled and highly-trained troops who offer more value to our defense than we’ve often been willing to compensate financially.