The Air Force is giving more bonuses. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Alright, so I’m going to highlight my favorite one first.
Quick Ship Bonus: $8,000
So the Air Force is giving a quick ship bonus of $8,000. That means if you tell your recruiter that you want a quick ship, they can put you on a quick ship list. And when the job comes available, you can potentially get an $8,000 bonus for shipping.
But the quick ship bonus is available for anybody and for any AFSC. It’s dope. You all need to take advantage of that one.
Special Warfare and EOD Bonuses: $50,000
Now, I want to discuss some of the biggest bonuses they’re offering for the enlistment bonuses.
So special warfare, of course, they’re giving some really big bonuses. They’re giving $50,000 for an enlistment bonus when you join in a special warfare career.
(→ Air Force Special Warfare Careers)
And that also applies to EOD. I know that ain’t the bottom. So EOD and special warfare, like your combat controllers, your PJs, your TACP, your special reconnaissance, those guys are getting $50,000 for an enlistment bonus when they join.
(→ Air Force EOD Career)
SERE Enlistment Bonus: $40,000
Take advantage, and then you have your SERE enlistment bonus. They are giving them $40,000 for SERE.
(→ Air Force SERE Specialist)
That’s the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape career, they are giving $40,000 for you to join SERE. So take advantage of it if you’re interested.
Airborne Linguist & Cryptolinguist Bonuses: $20,000 & $18,000
You got a good ASVAB, a 72 on the ASVAB, and you got a good DLAB score. And you want to practice a language. They’re giving $20,000 to airborne linguists. Basically means you’re a linguist in the air, you’re very smart.
And then they’re also giving $18,000 bonuses to cryptolinguists. Basically means you’re on the ground practicing language.
So if you got a good ASVAB, good DLAB, take advantage of that.
Oh, I forgot to mention, you can’t get those bonuses for the special warfare career fields. And you can’t get those linguist bonuses unless you do a six-year contract.
For the quick ship, you can do a four or a six-year contract to get that $8,000 but for the other ones, you got to do a six-year.
Computer and Cyber Bonuses: $12,000–$20,000
The next one is for people who have some type of background in computers.
The Air Force is giving bonuses anywhere from $12,000 to $20,000, and that’s depending on your highest certification level. So, like, if you have your CISSP, A+, things like that, that’s going to determine how much you get paid for your bonus.
(→ Cyber Systems Operations (3D0X2))
And I got the different rules on the screen right now, so you can screen through those. And once again, those are for six-year contracts.
Maintenance Jobs Bonuses
Then there’s some maintenance jobs which are giving out bonuses as well.
- Radio frequency transmission systems
- Refuel and bomber aircraft maintenance
- Aerospace ground equipment
- Munition systems
- Any mechanical aptitude area
Basically meaning if you go to basic training with an open mechanical contract, if you do a six-year contract, you can get $6,000. And if you do a four-year contract, you can get $3,000 for any one of those mechanical career fields.
(→ → Air Force Mechanical Jobs)
How Does The Bonus Work?
So how does the bonus work, you ask?
You don’t just get the bonus when you join. You first have to complete whatever technical training school you have to go to. You have to complete that, and then you have to file for it within 30 days.
When you get to your base, you basically go to finance and you say, hey, I want my bonus. And then it’ll take probably anywhere from about 60 to 90 days before you get that money. But you’re going to get it all in a lump sum.
(→ Air Force Technical Training Explained)
Final Thoughts: Take Advantage Now
So you need to contact your recruiter right now and try to figure out which one of those bonuses you’re going to take advantage of.
I also have an article on new pay raises for 2025. So if you’re interested in learning more about that, I will link it below