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The U.S. is looking to transform its infantry into a higher-caliber fighting machine – and one that takes home a significantly bigger paycheck, too.
Officials in the Pentagon's Close Combat Lethality Task Force are considering recommending that those recruited for the infantry should be no younger than 26 – so they can gather more life experience before enlisting – and that they should be offered a $60,000 annual salary with $250,000 bonuses, according to Military.com.
"There is truth in this fact that we have not paid great attention to this idea of specially selecting people and incentivizing infantrymen and giving them the right skills," retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr told the website. "I think we can do a lot better in the Army... about getting the right people into these positions.”
Recruits also could be specially tested for their ability “to do well in infantry-specific skills”, added Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, one of the task force’s advisers.
The reported considerations come as the Army recently raised its maximum bonus for infantry recruits who enlist for a 6-year term to $40,000.
They are part of the task force’s larger vision to train the next generation of the infantry to be more like the 75th Ranger Regiment, which the Army calls its “premier large-scale special operations force”, made up of “some of the most elite soldiers in the world.”
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Scales told Military.com that infantry units should be cleared from having to do “all the boring, routine… tasks” so they can be given more time to hone their marksmanship and close-quarter battle skills.
The belief is that infantry with a more specialized training path would be tougher to face in combat.
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