Air Force dangles big bucks, expands eligibility for retention bonuses

Thinking about reenlisting? Eligible airmen in critical jobs can now nab bonuses of up to $180,000, up from $100,000 in previous years, for agreeing to stay in the service.

Seventy-three career fields are eligible for selective retention bonuses in fiscal year 2024, up from 51 the previous year, the Air Force said in a recent release. The new list adds airmen like air traffic controllers, cyber defense superintendents and aerospace physiologists, and is retroactively effective as of Oct. 1, 2023.

How much money someone can receive depends on how long they opt to stay in uniform and their experience level. Airmen are capped at earning up to $360,000 in selective retention bonuses over the course of their career, and can elect to take the money as a partial payment or up front. They can now opt to reenlist for up to eight years in exchange for the bonus, up from the previous cap of six years.