The Air Force has quadrupled the number of jobs eligible for initial enlistment bonuses as it seeks to rebuild its ranks in crucial areas.
And — in a sign of where the Air Force is starting to concentrate its recruitment efforts — brand-new maintenance and avionics airmen could be most likely to cash in under this bonus expansion.
The Air Force added 43 new Air Force Specialty Codes to the initial enlistment bonus list as of April 1, according to a memo provided by the Air Force. New airmen signing up for six-year enlistments for those jobs, who entered active duty on or after April 1, could get a $2,000 bonus, the memo said.
The expansion brings the number of jobs now eligible for initial enlistment bonuses to 57. When fiscal 2016 began, 14 jobs such as combat controllers, pararescuemen and Tactical Air Control Party airmen were eligible for bonuses of up to $15,000. There are now no enlistment bonuses for airmen signing up for four years.
Among the newly-added AFSCs are 10 aircraft maintenance and avionics career fields such as 2A333 and 2A337 tactical aircraft maintenance for aircraft such as A-10s, U-2s, F-22s and F-35s, 2A334 A-10, U-2, F-15 and F-16 Avionics, 2A335 advanced fighter aircraft integrated avionics for F-22s, F-35s and remotely-piloted aircraft, and 2A338 RPA maintainers. Other maintainers who take care of missiles and space systems such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, and vehicle maintainers, are also eligible for the bonus.
"One of our particular areas we're trying to grow is in maintenance," Brig. Gen. Brian Kelly, the Air Force's director of military force management policy, said in a Friday interview at the Pentagon. "We increased the number of bonuses that were available to help us on recruiting."
The Air Force has been sounding the alarm over the last year on its shortage of maintainers, particularly seasoned crew chiefs and flightline avionics airmen needed to keep fighters, bombers and RPAs in the air. To help hold on to its veteran maintainers, the service is offering them incentives such as re-enlistment bonuses and high-year tenure extensions.
But the sudden and steep expansion of its initial enlistment bonuses shows the Air Force is also trying to grow its maintenance career fields over the long term, by steering more young airmen toward that work at the beginning of their careers.
Other jobs that are now eligible for bonuses include 2F031 fuels, 2W131 aircraft armament systems, 2W231 nuclear weapons and 2W031 munitions systems.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
