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thedrifter
09-13-07, 06:34 AM
Marines offered promotion points for re-enlisting
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, September 13, 2007


ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corps is offering some Marines bonus points for promotion simply for re-enlisting.

The points will be added to Marines’ composite scores, which are a way of evaluating whether a Marine can advance from E-3 to E-4 or E-4 to E-5. Enlisted troops may need up to 1,800 points for promotion, depending on their military occupational specialty.

The incentive targets active-duty Marines approaching their first re-enlistment opportunity. Those Marines who re-enlist for four years in fiscal 2008 will get 60 points toward their composite score, a recent Corps-wide message said.

Marines earn points for time in grade, rifle marksmanship, Physical Fitness Test scores and other factors. For example, Marines can earn up to five points for rifle marksmanship and 10 points for every month in grade.

The Corps hopes the bonus points will provide an incentive for 9,500 first-term Marines to re-enlist by giving them a better chance of being promoted, according to Corps officials from Manpower and Policy.

The roughly 1,400 first-term Marines who re-enlisted this fiscal year ahead of their fiscal 2008 eligibility are also eligible for the bonus points, the officials said in an e-mail.

Marines will not be able to apply the bonus points toward their composite score until the January to March promotion quarter next year, because the incentive was announced after the cutoff date for the last promotion quarter this year, the message said.

Corps officials considered giving first-term Marines between 100 and 200 bonus points to re-enlist, but settled on 60 as a fair number that wouldn’t leave other Marines with high composite scores at a disadvantage, officials said.

For more information, go to MARADMIN 529/07 at www.usmc.mil.

Ellie