If you are a Army captain that missed out on the last captain retention bonus program, well you are in luck because it is being offered again this year:

Hoping to stanch the flow of young officers leaving active-duty ranks, the Army has renewed its offer of bonuses up to $35,000 to retain its captains.

The 2008-09 incentive program became effective April 7. Captains have until Nov. 30 to apply, according to a new message issued by the Army’s Human Resources Command.

The bonuses remain the same as last year, though the drain on young officers continues.  [Stars & Stripes]

Here is what the Army is offering eligible captains:

The cash, in the form of a critical skills retention bonus, is in return for a three-year commitment, with the amount dependent on the officer’s branch:

• $25,000 bonus: air defense, engineer, finance, quartermaster, and signal corps, and captains in the Army Nurse Corps and Medical Service Corps in certain 70-series areas of concentration (AOCs).
• $30,000: adjutant general, armor, chemical, military police and ordnance.
• $35,000: aviation, field artillery, infantry, military intelligence, and transportation, and Medical Service Corps captains in AOC 67J (health services).

The lump-sum bonus would be paid within 90 days of contract approval date, “barring any Army fiscal constraints,” the message said.

The money is subject to a 25 percent federal tax and will be deducted along with applicable state taxes. Officers who are deployed do not get the bonus tax-free, the message said.

This retention bonus program is a start to properly paying junior officers what they are worth and hopefully the new GI Bill will get passed through Congress to pay junior soldiers what they are worth as well.