thedrifter
03-06-07, 06:44 AM
Corps seeks more LAV leaders with policy change
By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer
Posted : March 12, 2007
The light armored vehicle crewman community won’t lose its enlisted leadership to the grunt community anymore, now that its staff sergeants retain their military occupational specialty when promoted, according to a March 1 Corps-wide message.
If all goes according to plan, the change will mean more seasoned leadership and faster promotions in the LAV community.
The MOS for LAV crewman, 0313, is no longer one of the six infantry MOSs that assign Marines the same general “infantry unit leader” MOS when they’re promoted to staff sergeant, according to MarAdmin 137/07.
Under the old policy that consolidated each infantry specialty into one MOS for staff NCOs, any staff sergeant or above from any of the feeder MOSs could be assigned to any infantry unit as a leader of any flavor of infantry Marine.
That’s not a problem for a rifle platoon sergeant who ends up leading a mortar platoon instead because both are general infantry assignments. But LAV crewmen require more than general infantry experience because maintaining the vehicles requires job-specific expertise, said Capt. Paul Gillikin, a manpower analyst with Marine Corps headquarters.
Gillikin crunched the numbers and said that as a feeder MOS, LAV crewmen supplied 5 percent of the Corps’ infantry staff sergeants. The other 95 percent came from other infantry specialties.
The result was a lack of knowledge and experience among enlisted leaders in the Corps’ light armored reconnaissance units — which were being filled by Marines with general grunt experience — that the Corps has tried to “mitigate with training,” Gillikin said.
The new policy makes LAV crewman a “cradle-to-grave” MOS, meaning its Marines can go from private to master gunnery sergeant without leaving the LAV community, he said.
The change in policy means the LAV community is now looking to pluck its homegrown staff NCOs back from the general infantry population because the highest-ranking Marine with LAV crewman as his primary MOS is a sergeant, according to the message.
Gillikin said he needs to identify about 230 infantry staff NCOs with LAV backgrounds to staff the new MOS structure.
He said he’s searched the manpower information systems for these Marines and was able to publish a partial list of identified Marines in the MarAdmin, which said, “this list is not considered exclusive and other volunteers are highly encouraged to apply.”
Gillikin said he’d also consider Marines from other infantry backgrounds who have served as staff NCOs at LAR units for entrance into the enlisted leader ranks he’s structured for the MOS.
Under the new organization, each LAR battalion will rate two “LAV crewman” master gunnery sergeants, one in logistics and one in operations, Gillikin said. This means more master sergeants, more gunnys and more staff sergeants per capita than the general infantry unit leader MOS, Gillikin said.
In comparison to Marines in other infantry specialties, an LAV crewman can expect to make sergeant about three months faster and staff sergeant about two months faster, and the pace quickens after that. Staff NCOs with the LAV crewman MOS will see gunny a year and a half before their infantry counterparts, master sergeant will come two years earlier, and master gunnery sergeant a year and a half earlier.
By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer
Posted : March 12, 2007
The light armored vehicle crewman community won’t lose its enlisted leadership to the grunt community anymore, now that its staff sergeants retain their military occupational specialty when promoted, according to a March 1 Corps-wide message.
If all goes according to plan, the change will mean more seasoned leadership and faster promotions in the LAV community.
The MOS for LAV crewman, 0313, is no longer one of the six infantry MOSs that assign Marines the same general “infantry unit leader” MOS when they’re promoted to staff sergeant, according to MarAdmin 137/07.
Under the old policy that consolidated each infantry specialty into one MOS for staff NCOs, any staff sergeant or above from any of the feeder MOSs could be assigned to any infantry unit as a leader of any flavor of infantry Marine.
That’s not a problem for a rifle platoon sergeant who ends up leading a mortar platoon instead because both are general infantry assignments. But LAV crewmen require more than general infantry experience because maintaining the vehicles requires job-specific expertise, said Capt. Paul Gillikin, a manpower analyst with Marine Corps headquarters.
Gillikin crunched the numbers and said that as a feeder MOS, LAV crewmen supplied 5 percent of the Corps’ infantry staff sergeants. The other 95 percent came from other infantry specialties.
The result was a lack of knowledge and experience among enlisted leaders in the Corps’ light armored reconnaissance units — which were being filled by Marines with general grunt experience — that the Corps has tried to “mitigate with training,” Gillikin said.
The new policy makes LAV crewman a “cradle-to-grave” MOS, meaning its Marines can go from private to master gunnery sergeant without leaving the LAV community, he said.
The change in policy means the LAV community is now looking to pluck its homegrown staff NCOs back from the general infantry population because the highest-ranking Marine with LAV crewman as his primary MOS is a sergeant, according to the message.
Gillikin said he needs to identify about 230 infantry staff NCOs with LAV backgrounds to staff the new MOS structure.
He said he’s searched the manpower information systems for these Marines and was able to publish a partial list of identified Marines in the MarAdmin, which said, “this list is not considered exclusive and other volunteers are highly encouraged to apply.”
Gillikin said he’d also consider Marines from other infantry backgrounds who have served as staff NCOs at LAR units for entrance into the enlisted leader ranks he’s structured for the MOS.
Under the new organization, each LAR battalion will rate two “LAV crewman” master gunnery sergeants, one in logistics and one in operations, Gillikin said. This means more master sergeants, more gunnys and more staff sergeants per capita than the general infantry unit leader MOS, Gillikin said.
In comparison to Marines in other infantry specialties, an LAV crewman can expect to make sergeant about three months faster and staff sergeant about two months faster, and the pace quickens after that. Staff NCOs with the LAV crewman MOS will see gunny a year and a half before their infantry counterparts, master sergeant will come two years earlier, and master gunnery sergeant a year and a half earlier.