Thats just my luck! Delayed re-enlistment bonus again!

Well it seems that the military has decided to post pone my 3rd term sign up bonus for some weird reason again.  I got half of my 6 year re-enlistment bonus in August 08 when I was suppose to get a lump sum of $15,000.  I talked to my Recruiter (SFC Shields) and he told me that I should have gotten it in September, but when September passed without another payment.  I was told that I should have gotten it in November for sure, but again no payment has been made as of yet.  I am beginning to think my recruiter does not know what he is doing or maybe his is also getting the run around.

It seems that my bonus account is totally messed up. Is the military running out of funds or do some accounts just fall off of someone’s desk into the trash can in this digital age?

To make matters worse,  I had to pay taxes on the $7,500 so I actually got around $4,800.  I managed to put $4,000 into my TSP (Thrift Savings Account) account.   I did manage to pay around $800 off on one credit card.

I remember my first 6 year bonus that I ever got, was suppose to be 10,000 payed in 2 lump sums, but after taxes the first half was $3,500.  Then it took me 7 years to get the other half of $3,500 after taxes.  Actually everyone just forgot about paying me.  They probably thought if I was not complaining about it, then they would not have to pay me.

My second 6 year bonus I was suppose to get 12,000, but 3 months after I signed the contract I was told to either finish my contract or I had the option to get out of the military because my contract was null in void because I missed my bonus window of 3-6 days or at least that was the excuse that I got.

I was thinking that the 3rd time was the charm but my 3rd term sign up bonus for 6 years, is shaping up to be another let down.

Has anyone else had this kind of problem before ?  I like to think I am not in this boat alone.

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  1. Not gotten my enlistment bonus. I have been done with AIT for three months now and have not gotten my enlistment bonus. They say it is because I have a temporary clearance and not a real clearance. They said somebody messed up my paperwork or some crap like that.

  2. [...] fixed but it’s still messed up! My Bonus? May 13th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under Thats just my luck! Delayed re-enlistment bonus again!What should I spend it on ? Filed Under: Money • Personal Tags: Army • enlistment [...]

  3. Hi Jeff, When I first went in around 1994 they had the signup bonus where you had to complete basic and AIT to get half of the bonus then after 2 years I would get the second half.

    Well everyone just forgot about it, It me 7 years to get it because it’s not automatic, you have to contact any recruiter to get it fixed and to get paid.

    On the clearance, you usually get this done in basic. I redone mine because they are only good for 10 years and it took almost 2 years to get it finalised from a interim to a final clearance.

    If you fear that someone has messed your paper work get a second opnion. I hate filling out the clearance stuff, because if you leave something out then you have to redo it. Thank fully my unit helped me by double checking the required data. It would be sad to see that you needed something and nobody told you. You could be waiting forever.

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