Attrition: <b>December 6, 2004</b>

December 6, 2004

The U.S. Navy has some of the most educated (by the navy) sailors in the world. Among those who undergo the most training are those that run the nuclear power plants on carriers and submarines. These sailors, plus some in electronic specialties, can easily get higher paying jobs as civilians. Thus the navy will go to great lengths to keep these sailors, especially if the are NCOs (especially Chief Petty Officers). One of the most successful methods involves cash. The maximum payment has now been raised to $100,000. The Enlisted Supervisor Retention Pay (ESRP) program will, using a complex formula, pay up to $100,000 to a senior NCO trained in a nuclear propulsion area. The Enlisted Supervisor Retention Pay (ESRP), however, only allows a maximum of $200,000 in payments through the career of a sailor. Often, a senior enlisted sailor has some rank, and ten or more years in uniform. At twenty years they can retire. So a large cash payment is usually enough to convince them, and their families (who dont like the long times away at sea) to stick it out for a while longer.