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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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For Fast Recruits, a Fast $20K

"Quick Ship" bonus meant to remedy enlistee shortage

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(Newser) – An understaffed Army is testing out a tidy bonus to entice enlistees who agree to ship out to basic training within 30 days of signing up. The Army will be offering the $20K "Quick Ship" bonus until September to try and reach an increasingly ambitious recruiting goal of 80,000.

But the Army isn't advertising the offer—rather, it hopes news will spread by word of mouth among those already considering signing up. "You won't find somebody coming in straight off the street," one recruiter told the Chicago Tribune. "I don't want to put someone in the Army strictly because they hear about the $20,000," he added, "but money talks."

U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, talk during their census operation in the Amariyah neighborhood of west Baghdad, Iraq on Friday, Aug. 3, 2007. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, talk during their census operation in the Amariyah neighborhood of west Baghdad, Iraq on...   (Associated Press)
U.S. Army troops take cover behind sandbags as several mortars hit Camp Rustamiyah in south-east Baghdad, Iraq Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
U.S. Army troops take cover behind sandbags as several mortars hit Camp Rustamiyah in south-east Baghdad, Iraq Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)   (Associated Press)
U.S. Army troops from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division rest prior to a census operation in the Amariyah neighborhood of west Baghdad, Iraq on Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
U.S. Army troops from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division rest prior to a census operation in the Amariyah neighborhood of west Baghdad, Iraq on Saturday,...   (Associated Press)
Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, visits troops from 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment at Patrol Base Murray, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007. Lynch says his troops are making headway in getting cooperation from Sunnis in the...
Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, visits troops from 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment at Patrol Base Murray, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on...   (Associated Press)
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