Army sweetens deals for recruits

First the Army wanted you to "Be all you can be." Now it wants you to be a homeowner. Or a small-business owner.

The Army is offering recruits up to $40,000 to buy a house or open a small business at the end of their first enlistment term -- one of the most generous incentives it has offered since the creation of the all-volunteer military in 1973.

Since the program known as the Army Advantage Fund launched in five recruiting markets in February, 123 enlistees have opted for the benefit.

One of them, Richard Schutt, 22, of Hewitt, N.J., chose the house. Bored by his job and intrigued by the military, Schutt says he would have joined the Army anyway -- but admits he was overwhelmed by the unexpected windfall.

"I was like, 'You want to give me what?'" Schutt said recently. "I couldn't believe it. Icing on the cake."

Unlike cash bonuses that are paid immediately after the enlistment paperwork is processed, soldiers won't see Advantage Fund money until the end of their three-, four- or five-year enlistment term.

The decision to offer the benefit came from polling that found that people in the prime enlistment age groups said owning a home was as important as a college education or the right job skills, according to Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, the Army's top recruiting officer.

At the same time, more than 60 percent of the young people surveyed said they expected to have trouble affording a home. And more than 80 percent thought launching their own business would be even more difficult.

So far, 117 of the Advantage Fund recipients chose the house. The other six went the small-business route.

"What we are hearing from our young people is that, although it is essential to them to establish homeownership and get started down their chosen career path, many times they question how they will be able to accomplish it," Freakley said in introducing the program.

The Army has set aside $125 million for the pilot program, which is to run for six months in five recruiting areas: Albany, N.Y.; Cleveland; Montgomery, Ala.; San Antonio; and Seattle.

'Not a knee-jerk reaction'

Officials insist the Advantage Fund was not engineered as part of a broad effort to pull the Army out of the severe recruiting slump it suffered in 2005 and 2006 as the casualties in Iraq began to mount.

Andy Entwistle, a spokesman for the Albany Recruiting Battalion, said the program was conceived in 2003, when all branches of the military were still flush with post-9/11 recruits.

"This is not a knee-jerk reaction or a Band-Aid. This was viewed much the way the college fund was as an enticement and, yes, as a recognition of service," Entwistle said. "It was not something developed to combat a shortfall in recruiting."

The Army has made other allowances to bolster its numbers instead. It raised the maximum age of enlistment and began accepting more felons and high school dropouts, as well as more applicants with low scores on aptitude tests.

It also has already thrown a lot of cash at recruits. Last year, the average enlistment bonus was $16,500, up from $12,000 the year before, according to Douglas Smith, a spokesman for Army recruiting headquarters at Fort Knox, Ky.

While some critics say the escalating bonuses smack of desperation, Sgt. 1st Class Otter Coultas, a recruiter in Little Falls, N.J., sees the bonuses and new programs as key to keeping the Army healthy.

Bonuses, he noted, go almost exclusively to the most promising recruits. High school dropouts and those who have had brushes with the law rarely qualify.

So Coultas, 33, said he doesn't expect the Advantage Fund to bring in more recruits, just better ones.

"They're giving them that money as a recognition for the sacrifices they'll make," Coultas said. "You get better soldiers. You get a person who is more easily trained. You end up with somebody you'd want to serve with."

Coultas had that in mind when he recruited Schutt, who scored near the top on aptitude tests and wanted to become a medic.

"He was somebody I wanted on my team," Coultas said. "Plus, I'm accident-prone, so I figured maybe I'll see him again and he'll help me out."

Schutt was eligible for about $15,000 in up-front cash bonuses, but chose the delayed, bigger payday that comes with the Advantage Fund.

In order to receive the full $40,000, Schutt would have had to commit to five years. He opted for four years and will receive $35,000 instead.

The Army, however, hopes Schutt and the others who pick home ownership will re-enlist. Officials concede, however, that the Army will most likely get only one enlistment term from recruits who pick the business option.

Tyler Ritchie, an 18-year-old from Holyoke, Mass., enlisted last week for three years and will get $25,000 to open a business when his term is done. He may become a plumber, like his father.

"I'm a young guy and don't need a house," said Ritchie, who will train as a tank crewman. "But I can take this money and build a future."