NPS NRP Project PosterRetaining top-quality nuclear officers is critical to mission readiness. To facilitate officer retention, the Navy offers a bonus, the Nuclear Officer Continuation Bonus (COBO), to officers who have fulfilled the minimum service requirement (MSR). The Navy recently raised the amount of the bonus in the hope of increasing retention. It is mission-critical to understand how responsive retention rates have been to COBO, particularly in light of the recent changes. This study examines the efficacy of the most recent bonus policy for nuclear officers, NAVPOL 20241 and its immediate predecessor. Specifically, we used sponsor-provided data on 2,058 nuclear officers across seven year groups to assess the impact of the latest NAVPOL on nuclear officer retention relative to the immediately prior policy. Statistical analyses using survivorship modeling revealed that individual characteristics, such as the overall unemployment rate, marital status, presence of dependents, length of military tenure, and membership in certain racial/ethnic groups are all positively and statistically significantly associated with nuclear officer retention. We recommend the Navy commission additional studies to obtain a deeper understanding of the non-monetary factors influencing nuclear officer retention, rather than a simple increase in the dollar amount of the COBO.N1 - Manpower, Personnel, Training & EducationThis research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.