The Air Force is closing reenlistment bonuses for 89 of the service’s toughest career fields several months earlier than anticipated — and giving airmen who want the financial incentive only days to re-sign for the cash.
The selective retention bonus, or SRB, for fiscal 2025 will end Tuesday, a statement from the service said, citing “high retention rates and projected full execution of the program’s budget.”
Military.com reported in December on the 89 Air Force Specialty Codes, or AFSCs, that are eligible for the bonuses, which range anywhere from $180,000 to $360,000 over the course of an airman’s career.
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“Air Force-wide enlisted retention levels continue to meet and, in some AFSCs, exceed sustainment needs,” the statement said. “These higher retention rates led to more airmen using the SRB program, which is expected to utilize the entire budget for the program for FY25.”
However, the program may be getting more funding for bonuses in the coming year. A May 15 memo, which was leaked online and confirmed as authentic by a Department of the Air Force spokesperson, stated that the service “has requested funding for a Selective Retention Bonus program in Fiscal Year 2026.”
The Air Force will not offer a retroactive 2025 bonus once the program is reinstated, the memo added.
But airmen who wish to take advantage of the financial incentives — which are applicable for a wide range of jobs from pararescue and special reconnaissance to dental hygienists and paralegals — have only until the end of Monday, just three days, to reenlist. The memo added that the suspension of the program this year does not apply to the Space Force, just the Air Force.
Selective retention bonuses are used by the service to keep airmen in those often hard and arduous jobs, as well as maintain experience in more technical career paths.
“Airmen currently receiving a selective retention bonus are not impacted and will receive their remaining installments,” the memo detailed.
The end of the bonus program — put in place just a month prior to the start of President Donald Trump’s second term in January — marks one of the latest positive recruiting and retention trends the Air Force has seen following a pandemic-era slump.
Katherine Kuzminski, the director of studies for the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington, D.C., which specializes in military personnel and family policy, told Military.com in an interview Friday that she can “see why that would be frustrating” for airmen who wanted to take advantage of the bonus before it disappeared.
But Kuzminski added that it’s not “breaking face” if the program accomplished what it set out to do.
“If they have achieved their retention goal that they need to meet, to fill requirements, the purpose is to serve the service as opposed to a gift to a service member,” she said.
Related: Here Are the 89 Highly Skilled Air Force Jobs Eligible for Retention Bonuses in 2025
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