Four specialties will be removed from the Critical Skills Retention Bonus program March 13, leaving only a dozen high-priority MOS that qualify career soldiers for service extension incentives of $18,000 to $150,000. Changes to the Critical Skills Retention Bonus program that take effect Friday will update eligibility criteria that has been in effect since December. Soldiers affected by the cuts have until March 13 to re-enlist for the higher rates. Specialties being dropped from the program are 35F intelligence analyst, 35M human intelligence collector, 79R recruiter and 88M motor transport specialist. The newly revised program will include nine special operations MOSes, and one specialty each in the military intelligence, signal and ordnance career management fields.

Great news for some, not so great news for others. As the needs of the military change, so do the critical career paths. It is surprising that they are cutting the recruiter from the critical skills but as more soldiers come home they probably have more people able and willing to be recruiters. Which MOS should be designated as Critical Skills?

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