If Congress Doesn't

[KeNnETT]

Find a way to get to 1.2 Trillion in spending cuts and the automatic cuts come in (½ Defense and ½ Non-Defense) what does that mean for the Poolee's now?

Would we be the most likely cut from joining? I know Marines leave and retire but if they are cutting people wouldn't they start with the people who haven't entered first?

I talked to my recruiter and he said it wasn't going to happen due to the fact we signed a contract but as I'm aware, we signed a DEP contract and not a Marine Corps Contract.

What ever help would be great and thank you.

[ammermda]

Odds are, you're safe if you have a contract; so I wouldn't worry if I were you.

The Defense Authorization Act and the Defense Appropriations Act are somewhat linked together -- the authorization act dictates the end strength for active duty and reserves for each branch. But in reality, Marines are enlisting, EASing, retiring, being administratively separated, etc. each day. So the Marine Corps may not be at its actual authorized limit each day -- it may, in reality, be above or below that mark. What that means for you is that since you have a contract already, assuming the Corps does get hit with massive cuts in authorized end strength, you will likely be one of those Marines that puts the Corps over its limit.

At this point, to continue answering your question, you are probably wondering how will the Corps meets its end authorized end strength if its is over its limit and new people are coming in each day? Some Marines who were in during the 90s might be able to answer that better than me. But basically it will come down to fewer promotions, fewer re-enlistment 'boat spaces', early retirement, slower recruiting, etc. So again, what that means for you is that, since you already have a contract, what you have to worry about at this point is staying competitive during your first enlistment so you can get one of those few boat spaces when it is time to re-enlist.

Hope that puts your mind at ease a bit.

[Zulu 36]

There is already noise being made about modifying that $1.2T in "automatic" cuts.