thedrifter
01-09-07, 02:21 PM
January 15, 2007
Cash to re-enlist
Corps wants prior-service Marines, even if they left active duty four years ago
By John Hoellwarth
Staff writer
Former Marines who hung up their boots as long as four years ago can rejoin the ranks and cash in, according to a Dec. 30 Corps-wide message.
At the same time, the Corps has boosted its broken-services bonuses across the board.
Under the old policy, only first-term Marines who left the Corps less than a year ago could return. If no more than 90 days had passed since their end of active service, it was as though they never left.
But the policy change, announced in MarAdmin message 632/06, means the door is wide open for former Marines who did as many as 14 years on active duty before getting out within the last four.
It’s all a part of meeting Commandant Gen. James Conway’s goal to give Marines more time at home between deployments, enlisted retention specialist Maj. Trevor Hall said.
When Conway took over in November, he pledged to “right-size” the Corps and give Marines twice as much time at home as on deployment. Right now, most units deploy for seven months and stay home for seven months before going back to war. Conway’s goal is to double that time at home to 14 months.
If the Corps is to meet that goal, “obviously, we need more Marines,” Hall said.
Everyone who comes back is eligible to cash in on their military occupational specialty’s Selective Re-enlistment Bonus, but they can get the full amount only if they have been gone for fewer than 90 days, according to the message. The re-enlistments are tied to active-duty SRB rates, which is good news for former Marines, since those rates were boosted in October to as high as $60,000 for certain specialties.
Marines gone for more than 90 days but less than one year rate 80 percent of their bonus. Those gone longer can get 60 percent of their bonus.
Bonuses for first-time re-enlistments are capped at $40,000 for those who rate a 100 percent bonus, $32,000 for those rating 80 percent and $24,000 for those rating 60 percent.
Broken-service Marines who served two or three contracts before getting out are eligible for 100 percent bonuses capped at $45,000, 80 percent bonuses capped at $36,000 and 60 percent capped at $27,000, according to the message.
But intelligence specialists, reconnaissance men, explosive ordnance disposal technicians and Middle East cryptologic linguists returning for a third or fourth contract are eligible for 100, 80 and 60 percent bonuses that cap out at $60,000, $48,000 and $36,000 respectively, according to the message.
Hall said former Marines in these specialties are eligible for higher bonuses because the Corps wants to target “high-demand, low-density MOSs,” but that there is no “real goal for how many” former Marines the Corps wants to attract in each MOS or in total.
Marines who have been out longer than four years can come back too, although Defense Department regulations prevent the Corps from offering them a cash incentive to re-enlist.
The four-year clock starts ticking the day a Marine leaves active duty, and any time spent as a mobilized reservist afterward doesn’t reset it, career force planner Maj. Jerry Morgan said. But if a Marine is promoted in the Reserve after his end of active service, he keeps his rank when returning, and his re-enlistment bonus will be based on that higher pay grade.
During fiscal 2006, the Marine Corps approved more than 600 broken service re-enlistment requests from applicants who left active duty within the previous year, Hall said.
The Corps has accepted 132 broken service re-enlistments since Oct. 1 without the help of the extended bonus eligibility policy. With it, “we certainly hope to eclipse last year’s numbers,” Morgan said.
But even though the Corps has increased the pool of eligible Marines to four times last year’s size, it doesn’t expect to get four times as many applicants because “the longer they’ve been out, the more they have invested” in the life and careers they’ve built in the civilian world, Morgan said.
Plus, there’s the issue of getting the word out. Former Marines who served only one contract are still on the books for another four years in the Individual Ready Reserve and assigned to Marine Corps Mobilization Command, which is tasked with telling the former Marines about the policy, Morgan said.
But those who ended their active service after eight or more years exit the Corps with no obligation to leave so much as a mailing address.
Reaching these Marines will fall to Marine Corps Recruiting Command’s prior-service recruiters across the country, Morgan said.
Morgan said Recruiting Command is calling prior-service recruiters in each district to inform them about the MarAdmin message and how to hook applicants up with the bonuses it says they now rate.
Ellie
Cash to re-enlist
Corps wants prior-service Marines, even if they left active duty four years ago
By John Hoellwarth
Staff writer
Former Marines who hung up their boots as long as four years ago can rejoin the ranks and cash in, according to a Dec. 30 Corps-wide message.
At the same time, the Corps has boosted its broken-services bonuses across the board.
Under the old policy, only first-term Marines who left the Corps less than a year ago could return. If no more than 90 days had passed since their end of active service, it was as though they never left.
But the policy change, announced in MarAdmin message 632/06, means the door is wide open for former Marines who did as many as 14 years on active duty before getting out within the last four.
It’s all a part of meeting Commandant Gen. James Conway’s goal to give Marines more time at home between deployments, enlisted retention specialist Maj. Trevor Hall said.
When Conway took over in November, he pledged to “right-size” the Corps and give Marines twice as much time at home as on deployment. Right now, most units deploy for seven months and stay home for seven months before going back to war. Conway’s goal is to double that time at home to 14 months.
If the Corps is to meet that goal, “obviously, we need more Marines,” Hall said.
Everyone who comes back is eligible to cash in on their military occupational specialty’s Selective Re-enlistment Bonus, but they can get the full amount only if they have been gone for fewer than 90 days, according to the message. The re-enlistments are tied to active-duty SRB rates, which is good news for former Marines, since those rates were boosted in October to as high as $60,000 for certain specialties.
Marines gone for more than 90 days but less than one year rate 80 percent of their bonus. Those gone longer can get 60 percent of their bonus.
Bonuses for first-time re-enlistments are capped at $40,000 for those who rate a 100 percent bonus, $32,000 for those rating 80 percent and $24,000 for those rating 60 percent.
Broken-service Marines who served two or three contracts before getting out are eligible for 100 percent bonuses capped at $45,000, 80 percent bonuses capped at $36,000 and 60 percent capped at $27,000, according to the message.
But intelligence specialists, reconnaissance men, explosive ordnance disposal technicians and Middle East cryptologic linguists returning for a third or fourth contract are eligible for 100, 80 and 60 percent bonuses that cap out at $60,000, $48,000 and $36,000 respectively, according to the message.
Hall said former Marines in these specialties are eligible for higher bonuses because the Corps wants to target “high-demand, low-density MOSs,” but that there is no “real goal for how many” former Marines the Corps wants to attract in each MOS or in total.
Marines who have been out longer than four years can come back too, although Defense Department regulations prevent the Corps from offering them a cash incentive to re-enlist.
The four-year clock starts ticking the day a Marine leaves active duty, and any time spent as a mobilized reservist afterward doesn’t reset it, career force planner Maj. Jerry Morgan said. But if a Marine is promoted in the Reserve after his end of active service, he keeps his rank when returning, and his re-enlistment bonus will be based on that higher pay grade.
During fiscal 2006, the Marine Corps approved more than 600 broken service re-enlistment requests from applicants who left active duty within the previous year, Hall said.
The Corps has accepted 132 broken service re-enlistments since Oct. 1 without the help of the extended bonus eligibility policy. With it, “we certainly hope to eclipse last year’s numbers,” Morgan said.
But even though the Corps has increased the pool of eligible Marines to four times last year’s size, it doesn’t expect to get four times as many applicants because “the longer they’ve been out, the more they have invested” in the life and careers they’ve built in the civilian world, Morgan said.
Plus, there’s the issue of getting the word out. Former Marines who served only one contract are still on the books for another four years in the Individual Ready Reserve and assigned to Marine Corps Mobilization Command, which is tasked with telling the former Marines about the policy, Morgan said.
But those who ended their active service after eight or more years exit the Corps with no obligation to leave so much as a mailing address.
Reaching these Marines will fall to Marine Corps Recruiting Command’s prior-service recruiters across the country, Morgan said.
Morgan said Recruiting Command is calling prior-service recruiters in each district to inform them about the MarAdmin message and how to hook applicants up with the bonuses it says they now rate.
Ellie