SCRANTON, Pa. — Navy recruiters at the Armed Forces Career Center in Scranton say it's been slow when it comes to interest in joining the military branch.
The U.S. Navy hopes to attract good candidates to enlist by offering a major bonus.
"There are certain programs you can join that have extremely high incentives, $25,000 for shipping by a certain month and up to $50,000 right now. My message to anyone out there who might be considering it is come to a Navy recruiting office as soon as you can," said Seth DeBoer.
Navy recruiters say they've never seen large bonuses offered like this before.
"It always kind of seems to be surprising and take us by surprise, but there have been different challenges we've faced in years past recruiting, so we just go with the flow and be as accommodating as possible," DeBoer said.
The pandemic slowed down interest, but recruiters hope students coming out of high school or college have an interest in these fields and that the added incentive helps sway them toward the branch.
Currently, the US Navy is the only military branch offering this large of a bonus.
"We're trying to compete with a lot of different markets in the area and try to offer new incentives all the time to try and recruit the highest quality men and women for the United States Naval Service."
You have to take a test to qualify for the programs offering the incentive and must meet all the eligibility requirements for the Navy.
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