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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 323. Special pay: retention incentives for members qualified in a critical military skill
(a) Retention Bonus Authorized. - An officer or enlisted member
of the armed forces who is serving on active duty and is qualified
in a designated critical military skill may be paid a retention
bonus as provided in this section if -
(1) in the case of an officer, the member executes a written
agreement to remain on active duty for at least one year; or
(2) in the case of an enlisted member, the member reenlists or
voluntarily extends the member's enlistment for a period of at
least one year.
(b) Designation of Critical Skills. - A designated critical
military skill referred to in subsection (a) is a military skill
designated as critical by the Secretary of Defense, or by the
Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when
it is not operating as a service in the Navy.
(c) Payment Methods. - A bonus under this section may be paid in
a single lump sum or in periodic installments.
(d) Maximum Bonus Amount. - (1) A member may enter into an
agreement under this section, or reenlist or voluntarily extend the
member's enlistment, more than once to receive a bonus under this
section. However, a member may not receive a total of more than
$200,000 in payments under this section.
(2) The limitation in paragraph (1) on the total bonus payments
that a member may receive under this section does not apply with
respect to an officer who is assigned duties as a health care
professional.
(e) Certain Members Ineligible. - (1) A retention bonus may not
be provided under subsection (a) to a member of the armed forces
who -
(A) has completed more than 25 years of active duty; or
(B) will complete the member's twenty-fifth year of active duty
before the end of the period of active duty for which the bonus
is being offered.
(2) The limitations in paragraph (1) do not apply with respect to
an officer who is assigned duties as a health care professional
during the period of active duty for which the bonus is being
offered.
(f) Relationship to Other Incentives. - A retention bonus paid
under this section is in addition to any other pay and allowances
to which a member is entitled.
(g) Repayment of Bonus. - (1) If an officer who has entered into
a written agreement under subsection (a) fails to complete the
total period of active duty specified in the agreement, or an
enlisted member who voluntarily or because of misconduct does not
complete the term of enlistment for which a bonus was paid under
this section, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of
Homeland Security with respect to members of the Coast Guard when
it is not operating as a service in the Navy, may require the
member to repay the United States, on a pro rata basis and to the
extent that the Secretary determines conditions and circumstances
warrant, all sums paid under this section.
(2) An obligation to repay the United States imposed under
paragraph (1) is for all purposes a debt owed to the United States.
(3) A discharge in bankruptcy under title 11 that is entered less
than 5 years after the termination of a written agreement entered
into under subsection (a) does not discharge the member from a debt
arising under paragraph (2).
(h) Annual Report. - Not later than February 15 of each year, the
Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Transportation shall
submit to Congress a report -
(1) analyzing the effect, during the preceding fiscal year, of
the provision of bonuses under this section on the retention of
members qualified in the critical military skills for which the
bonuses were offered; and
(2) describing the intentions of the Secretary regarding the
continued use of the bonus authority during the current and next
fiscal years.
(i) Termination of Bonus Authority. - No bonus may be paid under
this section with respect to any reenlistment, or voluntary
extension of an enlistment, in the armed forces entered into after
December 31, 2004, and no agreement under this section may be
entered into after that date.
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