CommunityEditor
09-08-2009, 08:43 PM
Sailors planning to re-enlist — and hoping to get some cash to do it — in the coming fiscal year should pay extra attention to the slective re-enlistment bonus list as the year goes on. That’s because under the Navy’s new SRB system, windows will open and close, and bonuses will grow and shrink as often as once a month.
Personnel officials have announced a slimmed-down and reworked SRB system and a new policy on enlistment extensions with one goal in mind — getting the right sailors to commit quickly and keeping them longer. Both policies are effective Oct. 1.
“It’s about decision-making and not kicking that decision down the road,” said Rear Adm. Dan Holloway, who heads manpower plans for the chief of naval personnel.
As part of the new SRB system, the Navy is rolling out three “tiers” of bonuses, each with attached multiple levels and eligibility dates. The bulk of the bonuses will be available only 90 days within a sailor’s end-of-service date, while in-demand jobs will remain open all year.
The new system is also rewarding those who earn an “early promote” on their evaluations with the ability to re-enlist and get a bonus at any point in the year, even if their bonus is in the restricted 90-day window.
This year 89,703 sailors will be eligible to re-enlist. Of those, roughly 18,000 sailors will be eligible to collect re-enlistment bonuses. However, officials say ideally they want to get 10,600 to collect a bonus this year.
Monthly updates
In this year’s bonus update, officials have shaved the number of sailors eligible to collect a bonus from 38,000 in October 2008 to just 18,000.
Officials also plan to revisit the list of multiples monthly.
“This is a much more agile system,” Holloway said. “If we reach our goal in a given skill, we won’t hesitate to recommend reducing or eliminating that multiple — this way we can look at all our skills, and if we now have a need elsewhere, we can put that money in that direction as well and add new skills or increase the multiple of others.”
Bonus multiples range from 0.5 to 8. You determine your bonus by multiplying that number by your base pay and the number of months you agree to re-enlist.
That’s because for most skills, officials have kept in place the 90-day rule they tested earlier this year. Under this regulation, sailors can re-enlist only within 90 days of their end-of-service date to collect their bonus.
The window applies only to SRBs. Anyone not eligible for a bonus can still re-enlist anytime within 12 months of their end-of-service date, provided they have approval to do so.
As with last year’s test, sailors in the most critical skills will be exempt from this rule and can re-enlist anytime in the fiscal year and get a bonus.
Also carried over from last year is the tax-exclusion zone, either on the ground or afloat, in which a sailor can ship over anytime in the fiscal year and collect his tax-free bonus.
But in a new twist, officials have added to the list of exempt sailors anyone with an early promote on his latest evaluation. Sailors must send a copy of that evaluation once their bonus request is approved. Sailors who have advanced may use their last evaluation in their previous paygrade to qualify, officials say.
“We’re really excited about this new rule,” Holloway said. “We are constantly looking to reward our top performers, and this will give them head-of-the-line privileges in getting SRB.”
In the end, Holloway said, they estimate that about 20 percent — or roughly 4,000 — of the 18,000 eligible for an SRB will be able to re-enlist immediately or at any time during the fiscal year.
But 80 percent — or roughly 14,000 — of those who are eligible for the bonus could cash in, have a smaller bonus or end up with no bonus at all if their multiple has changed before they hit their window.
“If we reach our goal in a skill area and turn off the bonus, we know that [some sailors] may not get the bonus at that point, but they still have world class pay and benefits,” Holloway said.
“But we have to be good stewards of the money we’ve been given, and if we’ve met goal in one area, we can turn it on elsewhere in the middle of the year in an area that may be hurting — helping us with our manning and benefiting other sailors in the process.”
New tier system
Exactly who must wait for their 90-day window and who can take the money immediately are based on a new “tier” system.
The three tiers have their own separate rules, bonus multiple levels and maximum award levels.
Tier 1 has the most critical skills, and those sailors can re-enlist for a bonus at anytime in the fiscal year. Tiers 2 and 3 fall under the 90-day rule and have smaller maximum payouts.
This is a big change over the previous system. Both within and between tiers, multiples and maximum payouts can change depending on which re-enlistment zone a sailor falls into.
For example, in Tier 1, nuclear power sailors with up to six years in uniform — re-enlistment Zone A — rate a maximum payout of $60,000 while those with six to 10 years — re-enlistment Zone B — can get up to $75,000. Both are in Tier 1 and can ship over at any time.
Another example is submarine electronics technicians in the communications and navigation fields. While the maximum payouts for everyone with these skills is $60,000, the Zone A sailors are in Tier 1, while Zone B sailors fall into Tier 2 — affecting when they can re-enlist and get the bonus.
One thing the fleet will not see, for now, is any “pop up” bonuses the service offered as an experiment to nuclear power sailors this spring. Under that plan, officials offered $90,000 to those sailors who re-enlisted within 90 days of the announcement. Once the window closed, that payout dropped back to the $75,000 level. Though Holloway said the program was a success at the time, officials don’t have any plans to do it again.
“If sailors get too used to us doing that kind of bonus,” he said, “it can have the exact opposite effect as we want because they might put off re-enlisting now in anticipation of a pop up later, and that’s not the message we want to send.”
Extension restrictions
Another rule going into effect is the Navy’s policy on short-term extensions. This affects both sailors shipping over for bonus and those who don’t rate any cash to stay in.
Faced with growing numbers of requests for extension, officials last January began clamping down, forbidding those with too many fitness failures or those in overmanned ratings to get extensions without special approval.
To date this fiscal year, 31,029 sailors have extended their enlistments instead of re-enlisting, a number Holloway said is far too many.
As a result, effective Oct. 1, no more long-term or “unconditional” extensions — those over 24 months — will be granted.
Short-term or “conditional” extensions are 24 months and under, and those are still allowed. Sailors are limited to two extensions per enlistment. The length of any single extension can’t be more than 23 months.
The only exception is when a policy is put into place that forces a sailor to extend.
“For example,” Holloway said, “this summer [permanent change of station] was not something that our sailors could control, and many were forced to extend to take orders because of the delay — that will not be counted against them.
“Extensions should be used for short terms and for specific purposes,” Holloway said. “They should not be used simply to put off the decision to re-enlist or not.”
Officials do, however, support sailors extending to go to a school that gets them a special skill, which in turn makes them eligible for an SRB.
They also agree that sailors should be able to extend to take a set of orders, though this new policy does also expand the minimum time sailors must extend to go to sea duty from 12 to 24 months.
This, Holloway said, will help gaining commands with their manning levels should a sailor choose to get out instead of finishing his sea tour.
The SRB pot
The Navy annually changes the amount of money it sets aside for selective re-enlistment bonuses. The amounts:
Fiscal 2005 — $174.55 million
Fiscal 2006 — $167.84 million
Fiscal 2007 — $153.84 million
Fiscal 2008 — $198.94 million
The tier system
Selective re-enlistment bonuses are now classified in tiers, based on how critically undermanned a skill is or is projected to be. Based on monthly evaluations, multiples, maximum payouts and tier placement can change, officials say.
Tier 1: The most critical skills are in this level. Maximum payouts levels are $90,000, $75,000 and $60,000. Multiples vary from 2.5 to 8.0, though no current multiple is over 7. At this level, sailors can re-enlist any time in the fiscal year and receive a bonus.
Tier 2: Here, the maximum payouts are $75,000, $60,000 and $45,000. Payout multiples are 1.5 to 4.0. Sailors must be within 90 days of their end-of-service date in order to re-enlist and get the bonus. Exceptions include those who receive an “early promote” on their last evaluation or are in a tax-free combat exclusion zone. Those sailors should be able to re-enlist at any time during the fiscal year and get a bonus.
Tier 3: This level includes the lowest priority skills and also includes Reserve and full-time support ratings. The maximum payouts are the same as Tier 2. But the payout multiples are so low — 0.5 to 2 — that it’s doubtful they will come close to maxing out their bonus, even with a six-year enlistment. Here, too, sailors must be in their 90-day window to re-enlist and collect. The “early promote” and tax-free zone rules apply.
Article: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/09/navy_srb_090809w/
Personnel officials have announced a slimmed-down and reworked SRB system and a new policy on enlistment extensions with one goal in mind — getting the right sailors to commit quickly and keeping them longer. Both policies are effective Oct. 1.
“It’s about decision-making and not kicking that decision down the road,” said Rear Adm. Dan Holloway, who heads manpower plans for the chief of naval personnel.
As part of the new SRB system, the Navy is rolling out three “tiers” of bonuses, each with attached multiple levels and eligibility dates. The bulk of the bonuses will be available only 90 days within a sailor’s end-of-service date, while in-demand jobs will remain open all year.
The new system is also rewarding those who earn an “early promote” on their evaluations with the ability to re-enlist and get a bonus at any point in the year, even if their bonus is in the restricted 90-day window.
This year 89,703 sailors will be eligible to re-enlist. Of those, roughly 18,000 sailors will be eligible to collect re-enlistment bonuses. However, officials say ideally they want to get 10,600 to collect a bonus this year.
Monthly updates
In this year’s bonus update, officials have shaved the number of sailors eligible to collect a bonus from 38,000 in October 2008 to just 18,000.
Officials also plan to revisit the list of multiples monthly.
“This is a much more agile system,” Holloway said. “If we reach our goal in a given skill, we won’t hesitate to recommend reducing or eliminating that multiple — this way we can look at all our skills, and if we now have a need elsewhere, we can put that money in that direction as well and add new skills or increase the multiple of others.”
Bonus multiples range from 0.5 to 8. You determine your bonus by multiplying that number by your base pay and the number of months you agree to re-enlist.
That’s because for most skills, officials have kept in place the 90-day rule they tested earlier this year. Under this regulation, sailors can re-enlist only within 90 days of their end-of-service date to collect their bonus.
The window applies only to SRBs. Anyone not eligible for a bonus can still re-enlist anytime within 12 months of their end-of-service date, provided they have approval to do so.
As with last year’s test, sailors in the most critical skills will be exempt from this rule and can re-enlist anytime in the fiscal year and get a bonus.
Also carried over from last year is the tax-exclusion zone, either on the ground or afloat, in which a sailor can ship over anytime in the fiscal year and collect his tax-free bonus.
But in a new twist, officials have added to the list of exempt sailors anyone with an early promote on his latest evaluation. Sailors must send a copy of that evaluation once their bonus request is approved. Sailors who have advanced may use their last evaluation in their previous paygrade to qualify, officials say.
“We’re really excited about this new rule,” Holloway said. “We are constantly looking to reward our top performers, and this will give them head-of-the-line privileges in getting SRB.”
In the end, Holloway said, they estimate that about 20 percent — or roughly 4,000 — of the 18,000 eligible for an SRB will be able to re-enlist immediately or at any time during the fiscal year.
But 80 percent — or roughly 14,000 — of those who are eligible for the bonus could cash in, have a smaller bonus or end up with no bonus at all if their multiple has changed before they hit their window.
“If we reach our goal in a skill area and turn off the bonus, we know that [some sailors] may not get the bonus at that point, but they still have world class pay and benefits,” Holloway said.
“But we have to be good stewards of the money we’ve been given, and if we’ve met goal in one area, we can turn it on elsewhere in the middle of the year in an area that may be hurting — helping us with our manning and benefiting other sailors in the process.”
New tier system
Exactly who must wait for their 90-day window and who can take the money immediately are based on a new “tier” system.
The three tiers have their own separate rules, bonus multiple levels and maximum award levels.
Tier 1 has the most critical skills, and those sailors can re-enlist for a bonus at anytime in the fiscal year. Tiers 2 and 3 fall under the 90-day rule and have smaller maximum payouts.
This is a big change over the previous system. Both within and between tiers, multiples and maximum payouts can change depending on which re-enlistment zone a sailor falls into.
For example, in Tier 1, nuclear power sailors with up to six years in uniform — re-enlistment Zone A — rate a maximum payout of $60,000 while those with six to 10 years — re-enlistment Zone B — can get up to $75,000. Both are in Tier 1 and can ship over at any time.
Another example is submarine electronics technicians in the communications and navigation fields. While the maximum payouts for everyone with these skills is $60,000, the Zone A sailors are in Tier 1, while Zone B sailors fall into Tier 2 — affecting when they can re-enlist and get the bonus.
One thing the fleet will not see, for now, is any “pop up” bonuses the service offered as an experiment to nuclear power sailors this spring. Under that plan, officials offered $90,000 to those sailors who re-enlisted within 90 days of the announcement. Once the window closed, that payout dropped back to the $75,000 level. Though Holloway said the program was a success at the time, officials don’t have any plans to do it again.
“If sailors get too used to us doing that kind of bonus,” he said, “it can have the exact opposite effect as we want because they might put off re-enlisting now in anticipation of a pop up later, and that’s not the message we want to send.”
Extension restrictions
Another rule going into effect is the Navy’s policy on short-term extensions. This affects both sailors shipping over for bonus and those who don’t rate any cash to stay in.
Faced with growing numbers of requests for extension, officials last January began clamping down, forbidding those with too many fitness failures or those in overmanned ratings to get extensions without special approval.
To date this fiscal year, 31,029 sailors have extended their enlistments instead of re-enlisting, a number Holloway said is far too many.
As a result, effective Oct. 1, no more long-term or “unconditional” extensions — those over 24 months — will be granted.
Short-term or “conditional” extensions are 24 months and under, and those are still allowed. Sailors are limited to two extensions per enlistment. The length of any single extension can’t be more than 23 months.
The only exception is when a policy is put into place that forces a sailor to extend.
“For example,” Holloway said, “this summer [permanent change of station] was not something that our sailors could control, and many were forced to extend to take orders because of the delay — that will not be counted against them.
“Extensions should be used for short terms and for specific purposes,” Holloway said. “They should not be used simply to put off the decision to re-enlist or not.”
Officials do, however, support sailors extending to go to a school that gets them a special skill, which in turn makes them eligible for an SRB.
They also agree that sailors should be able to extend to take a set of orders, though this new policy does also expand the minimum time sailors must extend to go to sea duty from 12 to 24 months.
This, Holloway said, will help gaining commands with their manning levels should a sailor choose to get out instead of finishing his sea tour.
The SRB pot
The Navy annually changes the amount of money it sets aside for selective re-enlistment bonuses. The amounts:
Fiscal 2005 — $174.55 million
Fiscal 2006 — $167.84 million
Fiscal 2007 — $153.84 million
Fiscal 2008 — $198.94 million
The tier system
Selective re-enlistment bonuses are now classified in tiers, based on how critically undermanned a skill is or is projected to be. Based on monthly evaluations, multiples, maximum payouts and tier placement can change, officials say.
Tier 1: The most critical skills are in this level. Maximum payouts levels are $90,000, $75,000 and $60,000. Multiples vary from 2.5 to 8.0, though no current multiple is over 7. At this level, sailors can re-enlist any time in the fiscal year and receive a bonus.
Tier 2: Here, the maximum payouts are $75,000, $60,000 and $45,000. Payout multiples are 1.5 to 4.0. Sailors must be within 90 days of their end-of-service date in order to re-enlist and get the bonus. Exceptions include those who receive an “early promote” on their last evaluation or are in a tax-free combat exclusion zone. Those sailors should be able to re-enlist at any time during the fiscal year and get a bonus.
Tier 3: This level includes the lowest priority skills and also includes Reserve and full-time support ratings. The maximum payouts are the same as Tier 2. But the payout multiples are so low — 0.5 to 2 — that it’s doubtful they will come close to maxing out their bonus, even with a six-year enlistment. Here, too, sailors must be in their 90-day window to re-enlist and collect. The “early promote” and tax-free zone rules apply.
Article: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/09/navy_srb_090809w/