Army to downplay bonuses, ramp up job flexibility in retention efforts

Army officials are looking to expand a pilot program allowing young officers to switch to new job fields in what they’re calling a recognition that Gen-Z troops might value flexibility more than dollars.

In November, the service will announce an extension of the Officer Voluntary Transfer Incentive Program (VTIP) to lieutenants in Year Group 23 — a third year of the pilot and one that may see an expansion of the branches and functional areas to which officers looking for a change can transfer.

“I think what we understand the generational difference is, ‘I don’t want to sign up to do a job, the same thing for the rest of my life,’” Rampy said. “And so we do want to show that there’s an opportunity to serve a career in the Army, but not do the same thing for the rest of your life.”

Last year’s VTIP program was open to lieutenants serving in four overstrength Army branches: Infantry, Armor, Field Artillery or Engineer. It offered up to 300 of them the opportunity to transfer into the understrength Adjutant General, Air Defense, Finance, Logistics and Signal Corps, or Functional Areas 26 (Info Technology Engineer), 40 (Space Operations), 46 (Public Affairs) and 57 (Simulations Operations).

Army messaging has in the past emphasized force rebalancing, but Rampy described the program as a way to “get ahead” of a possible indicator of dipping retention.

Historically, she said, about 45% of lieutenant year groups stay in the Army long enough to make major.

“But we saw a couple of year groups that had maybe a dip of 1% or a dip of 2%,” Rampy said. “So I’m not saying there’s an issue, but I’m saying there’s an indicator. The data is indicating that you’re not on a historical trend. So why wait for a problem, and why not get ahead of it?”

In addition, she said, officials were reaching an understanding that financial payouts are no longer the most effective way to attract and keep soldiers.

“We talk a lot about incentives, and everybody jumps to money,” Rampy said. “But I think, really, what we’ve learned the last couple of years is, we were probably paying economic rent that we didn’t need to pay. The bonus rate has gone down as our recruiting numbers went up … Station of choice, training of choice, far outweighed the dollar figure spent on recruiting this last year, and we’re seeing the same thing in retention.”

Some details about the third year of VTIP have yet to be made public.

“We’re still finalizing the structure document, which will outline affected branches and functional areas,” Lt. Col. Heba Bullock, a spokeswoman for Army Human Resources, said in an email to Military Times. “The in/out chart will be released with the 2nd Quarter VTIP message, expected mid-November. Soldiers can submit in January 2026, with selections announced mid to late March.”

Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Atkinson, top enlisted leader at Army Human Resources Command, said the Army could do more to ensure the soldiers they value the most are the ones who stay on.

“We’re … looking at this population and saying ‘Hey, maybe [home] station of choice is what they want — they want optionality. Maybe it’s not all about incentivizing it with monetary issues,’” Atkinson said. “So the feedback that we’re getting is, ‘Hey, If you can get me to Ranger School, I would do an additional six years.’ So we’re looking at some type of initiative to help make sure that we’ve got the right soldiers staying in the Army for the capabilities that we need in the future.”

Flexibility initiatives may begin rolling out as soon as this month to address these goals, he said.