March 29, 2007: To support war on terror and Information War operations, the
U.S. Navy is expanding its force of intelligence officers. The easiest way to
do that is to offer $40,000 bonuses if intel officers, about to get out,
are convinced to stay in. Currently the
navy has only 1,352 special duty intelligence officers. It's supposed to have
1,447, and wants to expand that force to 1,552. In peacetime, intelligence officers have it pretty easy, but in wartime,
they get their butts worked off. Such has been the case with the war on terror.
The army has asked the navy for help, and so 189 navy special duty intelligence
officers are temporarily serving with the army. More of these intelligence
officers have been assigned to special operations (SEALs, in particular), where
they are needed to make sense out of all the additional information now
available, and to help plan commando operations.
The $40,000 bonus is particularly directed at young officers, whose first or
second contract is up. They get the $40,000 if they sign up for another five
years. At the end of that, these officers will have over ten years in, and be
halfway to a pension. At that point, these officers are more likely to stay in
without a bonus.
