37 U.S.C. § 323 : US Code - Section 323: Special pay: retention incentives for members qualified in critical military skills or assigned to high priority units

Search 37 U.S.C. § 323 : US Code - Section 323: Special pay: retention incentives for members qualified in critical military skills or assigned to high priority units

(a) Retention Bonus Authorized. - An officer or enlisted member
of the armed forces who is serving on active duty in a regular
component or in an active status in a reserve component and who is
qualified in a critical military skill designated under subsection
(b) or accepts an assignment to a high priority unit designated
under such subsection may be paid a retention bonus as provided in
this section if -
(1) in the case of an officer, the member executes a written
agreement to remain on active duty for at least one year or to
remain in an active status in a reserve component for at least
one year;
(2) in the case of an enlisted member, other than an enlisted
member referred to in paragraph (3), the member reenlists or
voluntarily extends the member's enlistment for a period of at
least one year; or
(3) in the case of an enlisted member serving pursuant to an
indefinite reenlistment, the member executes a written agreement
to remain on active duty for a period of at least one year or to
remain in an active status in a reserve component for a period of
at least one year.
(b) Eligibility Criteria. - (1) A designated critical military
skill referred to in subsection (a) is a military skill designated
as critical by the Secretary of Defense, or by the Secretary of
Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not
operating as a service in the Navy.
(2) The Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland
Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating
as a service in the Navy, may designate a unit as a high priority
unit regarding which a retention bonus will be provided to a member
of the armed forces who agrees to accept an assignment to the unit
under subsection (a).
(c) Payment Methods. - A bonus under this section may be paid in
a single lump sum or in periodic installments.
(d) Maximum Bonus Amount. - (1) A member may enter into an
agreement under this section, or reenlist or voluntarily extend the
member's enlistment, more than once to receive a bonus under this
section. However, a member may not receive a total of more than
$200,000 (or $100,000 in the case of a reserve component member) in
payments under this section.
(2) The limitation in paragraph (1) on the total bonus payments
that a member may receive under this section does not apply with
respect to an officer who is assigned duties as a health care
professional.
(e) Certain Members Ineligible. - (1) A retention bonus may not
be provided under subsection (a) to a member of the armed forces
who -
(A) has completed more than 25 years of active duty or service
in an active status in a reserve component; or
(B) will complete the member's twenty-fifth year of active duty
or service in an active status in a reserve component before the
end of the period of active duty or service in an active status
in a reserve component for which the bonus is being offered.
(2) The limitations in paragraph (1) do not apply with respect to
an officer who, during the period of active duty or service in an
active status in a reserve component for which the bonus is being
offered, is assigned duties as a health care professional.
(3) The limitations in paragraph (1) do not apply with respect to
a member who, during the period of active duty or service in an
active status in a reserve component for which the bonus is being
offered -
(A) is qualified in a skill designated as critical under
subsection (b)(1) related to special operations forces; or
(B) is qualified for duty in connection with the supervision,
operation, and maintenance of naval nuclear propulsion plants.
(f) Relationship to Other Incentives. - A retention bonus paid
under this section is in addition to any other pay and allowances
to which a member is entitled.
(g) Repayment. - A member paid a bonus under this section who
fails, during the period of service covered by the member's
agreement, reenlistment, or voluntary extension of enlistment under
subsection (a), to remain qualified in the critical military skill
or to satisfy the other eligibility criteria for which the bonus
was paid shall be subject to the repayment provisions of section
303a(e) of this title.
(h) Annual Report. - Not later than February 15 of each year, the
Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall
submit to Congress a report -
(1) analyzing the effect, during the preceding fiscal year, of
the provision of bonuses under this section on the retention of
members of the armed forces who were offered a bonus under this
section; and
(2) describing the intentions of the Secretary regarding the
continued use of the bonus authority during the current and next
fiscal years.
(i) Termination of Bonus Authority. - No bonus may be paid under
this section with respect to any reenlistment, or voluntary
extension of an enlistment, in the armed forces entered into after
December 31, 2006, and no agreement under this section may be
entered into after that date.