Where does the Army get all this money?

Question

Alright to be honest it wasnt money that was ever a big deal for me. So I enlisted in the Marines and leave on sunday. But Im starting to wonder where the h**l the Army gets all this money they seem to throw around. Back in 07 when I was graduating High School the Army came in during a graduation practice and presented a kid with $75,000's worth of GIANT checks for enlisting. While at MEPs awhile back all these kids were talking about all these $20,000 bonuses they are getting yada yada. Well I only get a $3,000 bonus but thats good enough for me. But where is this money coming from? I know our paychecks come from the government but these bonuses just seem real high for the government to keep tossing around. Are they trying to hook some of the people just for the money? Im in no way talking down to, or disrespecting the Army and if you get that impression your just jumping the gun.

Answer 1

They have to offer things that people want in order to get them. The idea of doing it just because your country needs you isn't good enough anymore it seems.

Answer 2

Congress has been granting larger and larger Defense budgets since the GWOT kicked off.  It was about 300 billion in 2001 and now Bush is asking for 500 billion for 2009.  Somehwere in that 200 billion are all these bonuses.

Answer 3

The Army has the ability to offer such large signing bonuses because they do Not offer reenlistment bonuses. One reason I like the Marines is because they don't "bribe" kids with signing money... But they do reward those who choose to reenlist with very large reenlistment bonuses.

Answer 4

They have been offering bonuses like that for years and years and year.