The Army is halting a popular program that allowed soldiers to extend their enlistments in short increments, a shift that will require troops to commit to longer service terms, according to internal documents and email reviewed by Military.com.
Effective June 1, the Army will in most cases discontinue its service extension policy, which had permitted soldiers to prolong their enlistments by as little as one month and up to 23 months. The option has been widely used by troops weighing a transition to civilian life or those hesitant to commit to longer contracts -- particularly as financial incentives wane for service members in lower-demand career fields or with extended time in service. Soldiers currently deployed, however, will still be eligible for short-term extensions to their contracts.
Meanwhile, the Army is also preparing to reinstate its 90-day reenlistment window in July, a policy that had been paused in recent years. That policy requires soldiers to decide whether to reenlist before the final 90 days of their current term, effectively eliminating any last-minute changes of heart when troops are weighing whether to continue serving.
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It's unclear why the Army moved to take away short-term extension options or reinstate the 90-day policy. The service did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.
The move may have a marginal effect on reenlistments, given it eliminates most short-term reenlistment options and effectively negates a soldier's ability to change their mind weeks ahead of their scheduled separation from the Army.
Army planners are calling for a "leaner" service and the dismantling of several units across the active duty, National Guard and reserve, according to separate internal documents reviewed by Military.com.
In April, this publication was first to report the service was eyeing a cut of between 20,000 and 90,000 active-duty troops from its current size of 450,000.
While the Army has seen recruiting struggles in recent years, it has had no problem retaining soldiers -- often hitting retention goals by the summer. The service's goal this year was to keep 14,800 active-duty troops whose contracts were set to expire and had surpassed that target by an additional 800 as of late April.
"Over the years, we have had the luxury of crossing the 100% finish line and blowing past it without the thought of how we impact end strength," Master Sgt. Kindra Ford, who oversees much of the Army's retention policies, noted in a memo to the force referring to retaining soldiers scheduled to leave the service. "As we move to a more targeted and precise mission, we must be mindful of our impact to the Army's end strength."
The halt of the policy allowing short-term enlistment extensions comes a month after the Army gave soldiers a tight window to reenlist if they wanted bonuses, preferred assignments or other extras associated with continuing service.
Soldiers were given less than a week to decide to reenlist, a complicated decision made all the more difficult if a service member was at a school or training event where they may have missed the notice.
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