Personnel Procurement Army Retention Program

1 army Regulation 601 280 Personnel ProcurementArmyRetentionProgramHeadquart ersDepartment of the ArmyWashington, DC1 April 2016 UNCLASSIFIEDSUMMARY of CHANGEAR 601 280 army Retention ProgramThis major revision, dated 1 April 2016-o Adds responsibilities of the senior army career counselor (para 2-3a(2)).o Adds responsibilities of the command career counselors (para 2-6o).o Updates enlisted Retention control points (table 3-1).o Adds additional waivable disqualifications for immediate reenlistments (para3-9).o Clarifies permanent disqualifications for reenlistment at any time (para 3-9e).o Updates processing channels for waivers of reenlistment criteria (para 3-10).o Authorizes Retention bonuses to be paid for training into critical militaryoccupational specialties (chap 5).o Implements phaseout of the Bonus Extension and Retraining Program (chap 6).

2 O Adds additional criteria for mandatory bars to reenlistment (para 8-4e).o Expands the career counseling system to 11 required interviews (table C-1).o Adds bar to reenlistment procedures (app K).o Adds instructions for completing DD Form 4 (Enlistment/ReenlistmentDocument-Armed Forces of the United States) (app L).o Incorporates army Directive 2012-03, army Retention Initiatives (herebysuperseded), and army Directive 2014-03, Retention Control Points (herebysuperseded) (throughout).HeadquartersDepartment of the ArmyWashington, DC1 April 2016 Personnel ProcurementArmy Retention Program * army Regulation 601 280 Effective 1 May 2016H i s t o r y . T h i s p u b l i c a t i o n i s a m a j o This regulation prescribes thecriteria for the army Retention those Soldiers serving in the ActiveArmy, it outlines procedures for immedi-a t e r e e n l i s t m e n t o r e x t e n s i o n o f e n l i s t -m e n t.

3 F o r S o l d i e r s s e p a r a t i n g f r o m t h eActive army , it prescribes eligibility cri-teria and options for enlistment or transferinto the Reserve Component ( ArmyReserve and army National Guard).Applicability. This regulation applies tot h e A c t i v e A r m y , t h e A r m y N a t i o n a lGuard/ army National Guard of the UnitedStates, and the army Reserve, unlessotherwise stated. It does not apply to per-sonnel of the army National Guard or army Reserve who are not includedin the Active army as it is defined in theglossary. Provisions of this regulation willbe amended in accordance with the au-thorities for suspension of law related tothe separation and retirement of militarypersonnel under the following conditions:(1) Presidential 200K Call-up (Title 10,Section 12304, United States Code), usingT i t l e 1 0 , S e c t i o n 1 2 3 0 5 , U n i t e d S t a t e sCode, to suspend all laws related to theseparation and retirement of all militarypersonnel up to 270 days.

4 (2) PresidentialD e c l a r a t i o n o f N a t i o n a l E m e r g e n c y f o rP a r t i a l M o b i l i z a t i o n ( T i t l e 1 0 , S e c t i o n12302, United States Code) using Section12305 to suspend all laws related to theseparation and retirement of all militarypersonnel up to 24 months; and (3) Con-gressional Declaration of National Emer-g e n c y f o r F u l l M o b i l i z a t i o n ( T i t l e 1 0 ,Section 12301, United States Code) usingSection 12305 to suspend all laws relatedto the separation and retirement of all mil-itary Personnel for the duration of the warplus 6 months. In cases of conflict be-tween this regulation and any other regu-lations setting forth Retention policy forSoldiers serving in the Active army , thisregulation will take and exception proponent of this regulation is theDeputy Chief of Staff, G 1.

5 The propo-nent has the authority to approve excep-tions or waivers to this regulation that areconsistent with controlling law and regu-lations. The proponent may delegate thisapproval authority, in writing, to a divi-sion chief within the proponent agency orits direct reporting unit or field operatingagency, in the grade of colonel or thecivilian equivalent. Activities may requesta waiver to this regulation by providingjustification that includes a full analysis oft h e e x p e c t e d b e n e f i t s a n d m u s t i n c l u d ef o r m a l r e v i e w b y t h e a c t i v i t y s s e n i o rlegal officer. All waiver requests will bee n d o r s e d b y t h e c o m m a n d e r o r s e n i o rleader of the requesting activity and for-warded through their higher headquarterst o t h e p o l i c y p r o p o n e n t.

6 R e f e r t o A R25 30 for specific internal control process. Thisregulation contains internal control provi-sions in accordance with AR 11 2 andidentifies key internal controls that mustbe evaluated (see appendix M).S u p p l e m e n t a t i o n . S u p p l e m e n t a t i o n o fthis regulation and establishment of com-mand and local forms are prohibited with-out prior approval from the Deputy Chiefo f S t a f f , G 1 ( D A P E M P E P D ) , 3 0 0 army Pentagon, Washington, DC improvements. Users arei n v i t e d t o s e n d c o m m e n t s o r s u g g e s t e dimprovements on DA Form 2028 (Recom-m e n d e d C h a n g e s t o P u b l i c a t i o n s a n dBlank Forms) directly to Deputy Chief ofStaff, G 1 (DAPE MPE- PD), 300 ArmyPentagon, Washington, DC 20310 management.

7 AR 15 1 re-quires the proponent to justify establish-i n g / c o n t i n u i n g c o m m i t t e e ( s ) , c o o r d i n a t edraft publications, and coordinate changesin committee status with the Office of theAdministrative Assistant to the Secretaryof the army , Department of the ArmyC o m m i t t e e M a n a g e m e n t O f f i c e(AARP ZA), 9301 Chapek Road, Build-ing 1458, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060 , if it is determined that an estab-lished "group" identified within this regu-lation, later takes on the characteristics ofa committee, as found in the AR 15 1,t h e n t h e p r o p o n e n t w i l l f o l l o w a l l A R1 5 1 r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r e s t a b l i s h i n g a n dcontinuing the group as a This publication is availa-ble in electronic media only and is in-tended for command levels C, D, and Efor the Active army , the army NationalGuard/ army National Guard of the UnitedStates, and the army Reserve.

8 *This regulation supersedes AR 601 280, dated 31 January 2006; AD 2012 03, dated 2 February 2012; and AD 2014 03, dated 28 January 601 280 1 April 2016iUNCLASSIFIEDC ontents (Listed by paragraph and page number)Chapter 1 General, page 1 Purpose 1 1, page 1 References 1 2, page 1 Explanation of abbreviations and terms 1 3, page 1 Responsibilities 1 4, page 1 Goals and mission 1 5, page 1 Accomplishments, recognition, and incentive programs 1 6, page 1 Secretarial authority and statutory entitlement 1 7, page 2 Policy 1 8, page 3 Authority to act on Retention actions 1 9, page 3 Communication with Headquarters Department of the army and other Government agency channels 1 10, page 4 Chapter 2 Responsibilities, page 4 Objective and overview 2 1, page 4 Chief, National Guard Bureau 2 2, page 4 Deputy Chief of Staff, G 1 2 3, page 4 Chief, army Reserve 2 4, page 5 Command General.

9 army Training and Doctrine Command 2 5, page 6 Commanders, army commands, army service component commands, direct reporting units, and army Staff agencies 2 6, page 6 Chapter 3 Qualifications for Immediate Reenlistment and Command Sergeant Major Retention Program , page 11 Soldier processing 3 1, page 11 Determination of qualifications 3 2, page 11 Article 84, Uniform Code of Military Justice 3 3, page 11 Reenlistment qualification steps 3 4, page 11 Qualification of a Soldier for discharge 3 5, page 11 Exceptions to qualifications for discharge 3 6, page 12 Commander s evaluation of Soldier for continued service 3 7, page 12 Qualification of a Soldier for reenlistment 3 8, page 12 Moral and administrative disqualifications 3 9, page 14 Waivers and exceptions to policy 3 10, page 16 Questions and qualifications 3 11, page 17 Reenlistment ranks and periods 3 12, page 17 Reenlistment and enlistment processing of officers and warrant officers 3 13, page 17 Regular army enlistment ranks and military occupational specialties for the army National Guard of the UnitedStates or army Reserve Soldiers 3 14, page 18 Command Sergeant Major Retention Program 3 15, page 18 Indefinite Reenlistment Program 3 16, page 19 Chapter 4 Reenlistment, Extensions of Enlistment, and Declination of Continued Service Statements, page 19 Reenlistment options 4 1, page 19 Restrictions 4 2.

10 Page 20 Stabilized assignments 4 3, page 20 Waiving reenlistment commitments 4 4, page 21 Service remaining requirements 4 5, page 21 Extensions 4 6, page 22 Periods of extension of enlistment 4 7, page 22 Cancellation of extension 4 8, page 22iiAR 601 280 1 April 2016 Contents ContinuedReasons for extensions of enlistment 4 9, page 22 Use of DA Form 4991 4 10, page 24 Execution and processing of DA Form 4991 4 11, page 24 Disposition of DA Form 4991 4 12, page 25 Requests for withdrawal of DA Form 4991 4 13, page 25 Chapter 5 Retention Bonuses for Enlisted Personnel , page 25 Section IPrograms, Program Responsibilities, Qualification, and Bonus Amounts, page 25 Selective Retention Bonus Program 5 1, page 25 Program responsibilities 5 2, page 25 Selective Retention bonus 5 3, page 26 Individual qualifications for a selective Retention bonus 5 4, page 26 Amount of payment 5 5, page 27 Section IIAdministrative Instructions, Use, and Recoupment of Bonus Recipients, page 28 General 5 6, page 28 Records, reports, and orders 5 7, page 28 Written agreement 5 8, page 28 Financial administration 5 9, page 28 Use of bonus recipients 5 10, page 28 Recoupment from Soldiers who fail to complete obligated service and correction of erroneous selective retentionbonus cases 5 11, page 29 Recoupment from Soldiers who are not technically qualified 5 12.