The U.S. Army is offering its largest enlisting bonus ever to entice recruits to join for six years, as the service struggles to hire skilled recruits amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Army Recruiting Command announced in a press release on Wednesday that a bonus of up to $50,000 will be given to qualified individuals who sign on for a six-year active-duty enlistment. Previously, the maximum bonus for new full-time recruits was capped at $40,000, it said. Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen, head of Army Recruiting Command, said that due to significant challenges faced by recruiters during the pandemic, the Army is hoping that the service’s largest ever bonus will entice qualified recruits to sign up long-term. “We are still living the implications of 2020 and the onset of COVID, when the school systems basically shut down,” Vereen said. “We lost a full class of young men and women that we …