thedrifter
02-20-07, 08:06 AM
You could be reassigned to a deploying unit after one year on station
By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 19, 2007 20:35:09 EST
Marines who haven’t been to Iraq yet can be reassigned to deploying units with as little as one year of time spent at their current station, as part of the commandant’s plan to send every Marine to war, according to a Corps-wide message released Saturday.
The time-on-station waiver, as spelled out in MarAdmin 115/07, means leathernecks can be reassigned to an operational unit “after completing 12 months time on station vice the standard 36-month tour.
“Reducing the [time on station] requirement increases the number of Marines eligible for reassignment to deploying units,” the message said.
The announcement comes less than one month after Commandant Gen. James Conway sent a message — titled “Every Marine Into the Fight” — to all Marines saying those who had not yet deployed to Iraq were going to go. His plan targets 66,000 Marines, or more than one-third the active-duty force that had not deployed.
Read the message here
The Corps will try to limit its reassignment expenses by transferring Marines with permanent-change-of-assignment orders, which keep them in the same geographical area, instead of permanent-change-of-station orders that could send them anywhere, according to the message.
For instance, a Marine assigned to the base command at Camp Pendleton, Calif., could be reassigned to 1st Marine Division, based at Pendleton, without having to actually move himself or his family.
Marines serving in special duty assignments — recruiters, drill instructors, Marine security guards and combat instructors at the Corps’ Schools of Infantry — are ineligible for waivers, according to the message.
The message also denies time-on-station waivers for Marines in joint-service billets, special education program “payback tours” and those already tapped by Marine Corps headquarters for individual augmentee orders.
Active Reserve Marines can apply for time-on-station waivers and orders to an operational unit as well, but unlike active-duty Marines who can coordinate reassignment through their monitor and occupational field sponsor, Active Reserve Marines must submit their request with an administrative action form routed through their chain of command, the message said.
After the Corps was granted an exception to Defense Department assignment policy in 1987, one-year tours were the norm for single Marines on installations in Japan. Then in 2004, the Corps instituted a III Marine Expeditionary Force assignment policy that went back to the DoD standards used by the other services: two years for unaccompanied Marines and three years for those with families.
The Corps planned to phase in the policy shift over five years, assigning senior single officers and enlisted Marines to Japan on two-year orders first, then junior officers, followed by all enlisted Marines by 2008, according to MarAdmin 529/03.
The intent at the time was to foster “greater operational stability and continuity” by keeping Marines in Japan longer, according to the message.
But Conway’s Jan. 23 message to all hands reprioritized the Corps’ assignment policies, mandating change to Japan assignments specifically, “to ensure all Marines, first-termers and career Marines alike, are provided the ability to deploy to a combat zone.”
The new message states that on a “case-by-case” basis, Marines may be issued 12-month unaccompanied tours to Japan, instead of sending them there for two years. This will “increase the percentage of available Marines across the Corps eligible for assignment to deploying commands,” the message said.
Ellie
By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 19, 2007 20:35:09 EST
Marines who haven’t been to Iraq yet can be reassigned to deploying units with as little as one year of time spent at their current station, as part of the commandant’s plan to send every Marine to war, according to a Corps-wide message released Saturday.
The time-on-station waiver, as spelled out in MarAdmin 115/07, means leathernecks can be reassigned to an operational unit “after completing 12 months time on station vice the standard 36-month tour.
“Reducing the [time on station] requirement increases the number of Marines eligible for reassignment to deploying units,” the message said.
The announcement comes less than one month after Commandant Gen. James Conway sent a message — titled “Every Marine Into the Fight” — to all Marines saying those who had not yet deployed to Iraq were going to go. His plan targets 66,000 Marines, or more than one-third the active-duty force that had not deployed.
Read the message here
The Corps will try to limit its reassignment expenses by transferring Marines with permanent-change-of-assignment orders, which keep them in the same geographical area, instead of permanent-change-of-station orders that could send them anywhere, according to the message.
For instance, a Marine assigned to the base command at Camp Pendleton, Calif., could be reassigned to 1st Marine Division, based at Pendleton, without having to actually move himself or his family.
Marines serving in special duty assignments — recruiters, drill instructors, Marine security guards and combat instructors at the Corps’ Schools of Infantry — are ineligible for waivers, according to the message.
The message also denies time-on-station waivers for Marines in joint-service billets, special education program “payback tours” and those already tapped by Marine Corps headquarters for individual augmentee orders.
Active Reserve Marines can apply for time-on-station waivers and orders to an operational unit as well, but unlike active-duty Marines who can coordinate reassignment through their monitor and occupational field sponsor, Active Reserve Marines must submit their request with an administrative action form routed through their chain of command, the message said.
After the Corps was granted an exception to Defense Department assignment policy in 1987, one-year tours were the norm for single Marines on installations in Japan. Then in 2004, the Corps instituted a III Marine Expeditionary Force assignment policy that went back to the DoD standards used by the other services: two years for unaccompanied Marines and three years for those with families.
The Corps planned to phase in the policy shift over five years, assigning senior single officers and enlisted Marines to Japan on two-year orders first, then junior officers, followed by all enlisted Marines by 2008, according to MarAdmin 529/03.
The intent at the time was to foster “greater operational stability and continuity” by keeping Marines in Japan longer, according to the message.
But Conway’s Jan. 23 message to all hands reprioritized the Corps’ assignment policies, mandating change to Japan assignments specifically, “to ensure all Marines, first-termers and career Marines alike, are provided the ability to deploy to a combat zone.”
The new message states that on a “case-by-case” basis, Marines may be issued 12-month unaccompanied tours to Japan, instead of sending them there for two years. This will “increase the percentage of available Marines across the Corps eligible for assignment to deploying commands,” the message said.
Ellie