thedrifter
02-27-07, 07:46 AM
More Marines to battle
Time-on-station waivers will free up added forces
By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer
Posted : March 05, 2007
One month ago, the commandant had a message for every Marine who hasn’t gone to war yet: You’re next.
Now, we know how he plans to do it.
To free up Marines who are serving their standard 36-month tours in support billets, officials with Manpower and Reserve Affairs are now allowing time-on-station waivers, so a Marine with as little as 12 months notched in his current billet can be reassigned to a unit going to war.
Reducing that requirement means roughly two-thirds of the officer and enlisted ranks now rate reassignment, and only those who’ve moved to their current billet within the last year are guaranteed to stay in place for now, according to officials at Manpower’s officer and enlisted assignments branches.
The announcement — through MarAdmin 115/07, signed Feb. 17 — 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 of the active-duty force.
Lt. Col. Kevin Schmiegel, head of the Corps’ enlisted monitors, said combat-hardened Marines typically receive duty-station preferences in the supporting establishment as a re-enlistment incentive, which frees up billet vacancies at deployable units for Marines who haven’t yet gone to war. These billet openings in the operating forces will be increased by also transferring Marines to the supporting establishment after 24 months in those deploying units, instead of the usual 36, Schmiegel said.
Manpower has been trying to maximize the number of Marines who rotate in and out of deployable units for years under the 36-month limitation. But moving everyone around to ensure trigger time for all just got a lot easier under the commandant’s guidance, Schmiegel said.
Though shorter tours at operational units are necessary to keep billets there available, the Corps doesn’t foresee a need to reduce them to a single year as the commandant has authorized, Schmiegel said.
When it comes to moving Marines who have been to war to the supporting establishment, “We’re starting with the 36-month guys and working backward,” Schmiegel said. “We don’t envision going beyond the 24-month point to meet the commandant’s intent.”
Officer distribution head Lt. Col. Mike Strobl said that unit cohesion will be the determining factor in how many Marines each unit gains or loses and that commanders on each side of a Marine’s reassignment will have discretion over how many Marines they can afford to receive or give up.
When it comes to the operational forces, the Corps would like to staff a unit far enough in advance of a deployment that its Marines can train together, but “unit cohesion is a two-way street,” Strobl said. “We can’t decimate a supporting establishment command to achieve unit cohesion in the operational forces.”
The commandant’s intent is not to force Marines with only a year on station to move, but rather to enable those who want to, Strobl said.
“If they’re looking to short tour, it’s more on their initiative to seek out their monitor,” he said.
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, also 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.
Japan tours
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 reverted 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 going 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
Time-on-station waivers will free up added forces
By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer
Posted : March 05, 2007
One month ago, the commandant had a message for every Marine who hasn’t gone to war yet: You’re next.
Now, we know how he plans to do it.
To free up Marines who are serving their standard 36-month tours in support billets, officials with Manpower and Reserve Affairs are now allowing time-on-station waivers, so a Marine with as little as 12 months notched in his current billet can be reassigned to a unit going to war.
Reducing that requirement means roughly two-thirds of the officer and enlisted ranks now rate reassignment, and only those who’ve moved to their current billet within the last year are guaranteed to stay in place for now, according to officials at Manpower’s officer and enlisted assignments branches.
The announcement — through MarAdmin 115/07, signed Feb. 17 — 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 of the active-duty force.
Lt. Col. Kevin Schmiegel, head of the Corps’ enlisted monitors, said combat-hardened Marines typically receive duty-station preferences in the supporting establishment as a re-enlistment incentive, which frees up billet vacancies at deployable units for Marines who haven’t yet gone to war. These billet openings in the operating forces will be increased by also transferring Marines to the supporting establishment after 24 months in those deploying units, instead of the usual 36, Schmiegel said.
Manpower has been trying to maximize the number of Marines who rotate in and out of deployable units for years under the 36-month limitation. But moving everyone around to ensure trigger time for all just got a lot easier under the commandant’s guidance, Schmiegel said.
Though shorter tours at operational units are necessary to keep billets there available, the Corps doesn’t foresee a need to reduce them to a single year as the commandant has authorized, Schmiegel said.
When it comes to moving Marines who have been to war to the supporting establishment, “We’re starting with the 36-month guys and working backward,” Schmiegel said. “We don’t envision going beyond the 24-month point to meet the commandant’s intent.”
Officer distribution head Lt. Col. Mike Strobl said that unit cohesion will be the determining factor in how many Marines each unit gains or loses and that commanders on each side of a Marine’s reassignment will have discretion over how many Marines they can afford to receive or give up.
When it comes to the operational forces, the Corps would like to staff a unit far enough in advance of a deployment that its Marines can train together, but “unit cohesion is a two-way street,” Strobl said. “We can’t decimate a supporting establishment command to achieve unit cohesion in the operational forces.”
The commandant’s intent is not to force Marines with only a year on station to move, but rather to enable those who want to, Strobl said.
“If they’re looking to short tour, it’s more on their initiative to seek out their monitor,” he said.
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, also 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.
Japan tours
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 reverted 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 going 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