The Navy is offering Seabee underwater construction technician master divers up to $100,000 in retention bonuses.
UCT sailors who have served on active duty for 20 to 27 years, and are at least in paygrade E-7, are eligible for the bonus by signing on for three to five more years of service in a master underwater construction technician diver (B18A) billet.
Eligible sailors can earn $15,000 annually for a three-year contract; $17,000 annually for a four-year contract; and $20,000 annually for a five-year contract. Sailors will receive the bonus annually in a lump sum.
“Reenlistments and extensions may be combined to align service dates for maximum opportunity, up to a reenlistment of 6 years and extension of up to 12 months,” according to a naval administrative message.
Likewise, these sailors may reenlist early to coordinate reenlistment and retention bonus contracts.
E-7s can sign on for a contract lasting until their 24th year of service, while E-8s and E-9s may agree to contracts lasting until their 26th and 30th years of service, respectively. Those with a retention bonus contract may not “submit a request for retirement or tender a resignation with an effective date that is prior to completion of the agreement,” according to the NAVADMIN.
Sailors submit retention bonus requests through the program manager 60 to 180 days prior to entering the contract agreement. Those unable to fulfill the terms of the retention bonus contract will likely have to repay the unearned portion of the bonus.
Those serving under an existing retention bonus are not eligible for this bonus. Sailors cannot receive the bonus past their high-year tenure date.
