PDA

View Full Version : Marine Forces Reserve Ups Bonuses To $15,000



Rocky C
07-04-10, 04:27 PM
By James K. Sanborn - jsanborn@militarytimes.com
Posted : Sunday Jul 4, 2010 11:21:13 EDT
<FORM id=hidden></FORM>
Marine Forces Reserve is now offering $15,000 re-enlistment and affiliation bonuses for Marines in selected, in-demand fields who are willing to sign a three year contract with the Selected Marine Corps Reserve.

Bonuses are available to active-duty or Individual Ready Reserve corporals, sergeants, and staff sergeants in more than 125 military occupational specialties and current Reserve sergeants and staff sergeants in more than 102 MOSs, according to MarAdmins 347/10 and 351/10, released in late June.

The Reserve is desperate for hundreds of noncommissioned and staff noncommissioned officers after chronic shortages in those ranks.

“The No. 1 motivation behind these bonuses is to make sure we are retaining the right kind of Marines,” said Maj. Jon Price, a Reserve Affairs Personnel, Plans and Policy official in Quantico, Va. “We are at the point now where we feel fairly comfortable we are going to hit our [manpower] target. Now we are shaping the force.”

After about four years of manpower shortfalls, driven by high operational tempos in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Reserve is finally approaching its manpower ceiling of 39,600. These new bonuses aren’t meant to increase raw manpower numbers, but to make sure units fill critical vacancies, Price said.

There has been a shortage of sergeants and staff sergeants in fields including intelligence, logistics, explosive ordnance disposal, aircraft maintenance and public affairs. But bonuses are also being used to fill infantry, communications and artillery spots in specific soon-to-deploy units.

Bonuses are on a first-come, first-served basis, and Marines must re-enlist before Sept. 30. In all, there are funds sufficient for about 300 Marines, although exact numbers could fluctuate, a Manpower and Reserve Affairs official said.

The $15,000 bonus isn’t without conditions. Accepting it could limit your short-term career options because you would have to repay the money if you: execute a lateral move to another MOS; transfer to another unit without pre-approval; support a unit other than your own on active duty for more than 90 days in a year; augment an active-duty, nonreserve unit; or become an Individual Mobilization Augmentee. The penalties are designed to discourage moving from unit to unit, which hinders force-shaping efforts.

Enlisted active-duty and IRR Marines entering the SMCR who retrain for a new MOS are ineligible for the $15,000 bonus. However, you may still be eligible for a $10,000 bonus, outlined in MarAdmin 270/10, which requires a three-year commitment and also has a Sept. 30 deadline.