U.S. Army Offering Soldiers Time Off to Play 'GTA 6' if They Enlist for 2 More Years

The U.S. Army is preparing to invade Vice City, apparently ... promising soldiers who re-enlist multiple days off to play "Grand Theft Auto 6."

The Army's 3rd Infantry Division -- based out of Fort Stewart, Georgia -- has offered current active-duty service members a four-day pass to steal, kill, and run from the cops in the game after it comes out on November 19 ... but there's a catch.

Soldiers only get the time off to play the video game if they agree to tack on at least two years to their service contracts, TMZ has learned.

According to U.S. Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Angel Tomko ... a new career counselor working for the unit suggested the program, which was implemented because the service branch is trying to use incentives soldiers actually care about to keep them around.

Whatever happened to a traditional signing bonus?!?

Lt. Col. Tomko says the program's already proved to be a success -- because 20 of the 130 eligible members in Fort Stewart's 9th Brigade Engineering Battalion have re-upped their Army contracts.

'GTA 6' is the most-anticipated video game release of the year ... and its debut has been pushed back several times by Rockstar Games ... so it makes sense young people would be excited to play.

Worth noting ... the U.S. is still actively engaged in military operations in the Middle East -- so it might not be the best time for the Army to take a few days off to run virtual ops in the game.