ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Pentagon has paid more than $100 million in bonuses to veteran Green Berets and Navy SEALs, reversing the flow of top commandos to the corporate world where security companies such as Blackwater USA offer big salaries.
The retention effort, started nearly three years ago and overseen by U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., has helped preserve a small but elite group of enlisted troops with long experience fighting the unconventional wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Defense Department statistics.
More than 1,200 of the military’s most specialized personnel near or already eligible for retirement opted for payments of up to $150,000 in return for staying in uniform for several more years.
The numbers gathered by the Associated Press and other Pentagon research indicate there has not been an extended exodus of commandos to private security companies and other businesses that value their talents.
“Back in 2005, we saw quite a few exits,” said Rear Adm. Michael LeFever, director of the Navy’s military personnel plans and policy division. “What we’re seeing lately is just the opposite. We’ve become very aggressive.”
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates remains so concerned about the lure of high salaries in the private sector that he directed Pentagon lawyers to explore putting no-compete clauses into contracts with security companies that would limit their recruiting abilities.
In addition to retention bonuses, enlisted special-operations personnel, ranging from corporals to sergeant majors, also qualify for a special duty pay of $375 a month above their normal salary.
Within the Army Special Forces, more than 900 people in the largest U.S. commando branch, better known as the Green Berets, have traded time for money. More than a third of these troops agreed to six-year extensions.
Overall, at a cost of $75 million, the Pentagon bought an average of 3.3 additional years from Green Berets possessing nearly two decades of experience in combat engineering, communications, intelligence and field medicine, figures show.
Just more than 300 Navy SEALs signed up for longer tours at a cost of $27.6 million. More than half agreed to six additional years.
The Air Force pool of combat controllers and pararescuemen with at least 19 years of service is the smallest; 32 of these troops opted for bonuses, costing $3 million. Half took the six-year package.
While Special Operations Command officials view the results as positive, retention figures probably will do little to settle the heated debate over recruiting tactics used by private security companies.
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