Expert: Rod Powers - 12/6/2007

Question
In the US Navy, I heard it is possible to reduce a 6 year contract to 4 years. If this is so, how much (if not all) of your bonus will you be required to pay back? Is there any other information that should be known before reducing your contract?

Answer
Hi Candis,

To be truthful, I've not heard of any of the service branches being willing to change an initial six-year enlistment contract to a four-year contract, unless there was some reason that was clearly beneficial to the service branch concerned. However, I don't claim to know every single "nook and cranny" about all the branches, so I won't necessarily discount it -- it's just that I've not heard of it before.

In any event, the rules for enlistment bonus recoupment are pretty plain. Members who fail to complete their entire term of enlistment in a rating (job) in which an enlistment bonus was given, are required to reimburse the service for the amount of "unearned" bonus. This is, of course, unless the discharge is at no fault of the member, such as if the member is medically discharged for injuries/illness as a result of military service.

For example, let's assume one received an enlistment bonus of $12,000 for a six year enlistment commitment in a specific job. That amounts to $2,000 per year. So, if the person only spent four years in that rating (job) and then retrained to something else, or was voluntarily discharged, they would "owe" two years of the bonus back, or (in this case), $4,000.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military Information Site at http://usmilitary.about.com Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http:usmilitary.about.com