Navy Reserve Chief Seeks Bonuses

Vice Adm. John G. Cotton, chief of the Navy Reserve, wants to pay selected reservists bonuses for switching to deployment-intensive skills. Reservists with ratings such as hospital corpsman, intelligence specialist, master-at-arms and Seabee could be drawing the bonuses by the end of the year if a supplemental request comes through, he said. The move would correct a glitch in the system because individuals enlisting into the Navy Reserve can receive bonuses as high as $20,000 and active-duty Sailors who go into a reserve component also qualify for bonuses.