by Sara Roger
Picture this: it’s the summer of 2025, and you just finished company command. As you pack up your office, you reflect on the last 18 months: the late-night calls and emails, the last-minute taskings, the oversaturation of training “requirements”, and you wonder if the Army is worth it all. You’re torn between your love of Soldiers and that nagging feeling that the grass might be greener on the other side. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Army offers to pay you tens of thousands of dollars to continue serving for an additional four years.
Would you consider this opportunity? Did you know this offer was even on the table?
When I heard about this offer, I enthusiastically sold my soul to the Army for a whopping $20, 637 (after taxes). I requested this continuation pay this summer, and exactly 5 business days later, the Army deposited the moolah in my bank account for an additional 4 years of my motivated service.
So, what is continuation pay, and how do you get this “free” money? Through my personal anecdote, I hope to inform two groups of service members:
1) Junior to company grade leaders: This continuity pay option is part of the blended retirement system (BRS), which you are automatically enrolled in. I hope you will use the knowledge below when making major life decisions, especially when/if you should separate from the Army. For those of you planning to stay in anyway, this is a benefit you are also already entitled to.
2) Field grade leaders and above: while you may be personally utilizing the legacy retirement system (LRS), many of your Soldiers and subordinate leaders are not. Retention is a commander’s program, and if your unit leaders and career counselors are not advertising this benefit as a retention tool, then your Soldiers/leaders are missing out, and the Army may unintentionally lose a valuable service member. If any general officers happen to read this, specifically those tasked with tackling our human resource challenges, below I offer one consideration to optimize the use of continuation pay as a retention tool.
So, What is Continuation Pay, and How Do You Get It?
“a direct cash payout, like a bonus, available to service members enrolled in the [Blended Retirement System]. It is targeted at the mid-career mark, payable between completion of eight years of service, but before completion of 12 years of service (calculated from a service member’s Pay Entry Base Date). Most service members will be eligible for continuation pay, but the timing and the amount is determined by your service.”
In 2018, the military adopted the Blended Retirement System (BRS). All service members entering the military after January 1st, 2018, were automatically enrolled. Service members with fewer than 12 years of service at that time could opt into the BRS, or otherwise keep the LRS. Given the relative nascency of the BRS, its continuation pay provision is lesser known. Yet now in 2024, six years on from the original full BRS implementation, we are approaching the first major wave where the full range of service members (both old and young) under the BRS are able to cash in on the CP moolah.
Each year, generally around March, the Army publishes a memo stating CP eligibilty, dollar values, and corresponding service obligation. The standing regulation is that “active duty Service members (including Active Guard Reserve (AGR)/Full Time Support) personnel may be eligible for a continuation pay multiplier of 2.5 to 13 times your monthly basic pay. Members of the National Guard or Reserve in a drilling status may be eligible to receive a multiplier of 0.5 to six times their monthly basic pay (as if serving on active duty).” Folks, if you do the math right, this can be a sweet bonus.
Continuation pay is in addition to other career field-specific incentives or retention bonuses. And your additional obligation is concurrent with other service commitments (i.e. Tuition Assistance, PCS incurred service obligations, GRADSO, re-enlistment contracts, etc). For those of you who are aviation or medical officers, this is literally free money, because we know you owe your life to the Army.
Okay, so how do you actually apply for this magic money? It’s probably one of the simplest things to do in the Army, way simpler than trying to get a new tire for your HMMWV. You fill out the “Request for continuation pay” form, sign Box #7, and submit it to your company commander for their approval signature in Box # 9. Once signed, submit the form through your S1 personnel office to your installation finance office. Once the finance office signs Box #11 and submits to the Pentagonand, 5-7 days later you receive your money directly deposited in your bank account!
Why It’s Worth Your Time…Literally:
So, the important question: why should you give another 4 years of your life to the Army, and is tens of thousands of dollars enough to compensate for it? First, I want to remind everyone contemplating this question that you DO have great memories and moments with those you have served with. Think of continuation pay as an incentive bonus to create more memories and change more lives.
Next, think about what a lump sum of this amount could do for you or your family. CP could pay off student loans, make a down payment on a house, pay for a wedding, preparing to grow your own family, or just enjoy a wild “treat yo’self” vacation. I used my CP moolah to pay for the majority of our wedding this year, allowing my husband and I to not only have an open bar at our fiesta, but also avoid dipping into our savings account to pay for the shindig.
I have a couple of recommendations to help you Maximize the Money:
- Time it right after you get an automatic pay raise to your monthly base pay. I applied for my CP right after I promoted to major, after I had received my 10-year automatic pay raise. Had I applied for CP earlier, I would have received thousands less.
- CP still requires federal withholding but is eligible for Combat Zone Tax Exclusion (CZTE). So, if you have a deployment coming up, apply for CP once in the combat zone (note that Social Security and Medicare taxes will still be taken out). If not in a CZTE, a 22% Federal Income tax will be withheld.
- For the majority of us who will not be in a combat zone when we apply for CP, consider how you will use the money. If you don’t need the lump sum for a major purchase, consider investing the money in your TSP.
Leaders, I’m talking to you here!
While this article has informed some junior leaders, I genuinely hope more senior leaders read this and share the opportunities and advantages that CP can offer our service members. The many junior service members I have inquired about CP know nothing about it. It is a great retention tool. Leaders of all grades can ask subordinates during discussions of their professional timeline: “When do you plan to apply for CP, and how does this fit in with YOUR personal and professional goals?”.
For those who can influence the implementation of CP, consider widening the window when service members can apply. I recommend that the Army analyze when soldiers and officers choose to separate from the Army in their careers. I would confidently argue that few voluntarily leave after the 10th year of service, knowing it is the halfway point to potential retirement. Yet the 10-year mark is right in the middle of when CP is offered. If the Army were to open the window to apply for CP at the 6-year mark, for a decreased amount of CP received, some service members would appreciate the incentive and remain serving. Most service members at the 6-year mark are seasoned company grade leaders – the people we want staying in and positively influencing the next generation of service members.
A wise friend of mine (shoutout to Brian Gerardi) commented: “The Army does do regular pay raises, but many of the folks that we are competing to keep in uniform will consider moving on to white collar professions in which bonuses are a pretty regular part of their compensation. The Army should not expect or attempt to compete, but this (CP) could be a way to tip some of those that are on the fence. It’s the contested middle ground where we can make the most progress.”
If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate it. My main purpose is to get the word out that the military values your service – not only figuratively, but also monetarily. Please share the opportunity and benefits of continuation pay with any and every service member you know.
Major Sara Roger is a Field Artillery Officer. She and her husband, Major Sam Balch, are currently attending Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at the Naval War College in Newport, RI.
