Too Few Good Men

[Valin]

Strategy Page:

December 8, 2012:

 

The U.S. Marine Corps is having a hard time reducing its strength from 202,000 to 182,000. At first recruiting efforts were cut, reenlistment bonuses were eliminated and standards for reenlisting were increased. This did not get the job done. With a recession on too many first term marines wanted to stay in and too many well qualified, but unemployed, people wanted to get in.

 

So now the marines are using some more painful methods. For example, marine sergeants (E-5) now have to get promoted to E-6 before their tenth year of service. Previously it had been 13 years. This hurts, because several hundred good marine NCOs are liable to be lost. The marines, like the other services, has long applied the “up or out” policy (if you are not promoted within so many years, you cannot stay in.) The marines are also offering early retirement to officers with less than 20 years. *Again, this gets rid of people the marines would sorely need if there were another war. But now the battle the marines must win is getting strength down by 20,000.

 

This order to shed good people was pretty sudden. Last year, just as the marines were completing their expansion (ordered by Congress) from 180,000 to 202,000, they were to that the expansion must be reversed. The size of their reserve force (39,600) remains the same. Since the marines have, for the past few years, suffered shortages of NCOs and junior officers, there would be continued efforts to keep all these experienced leaders in service. But with fewer combat tours, and combat losses, the NCO and junior officer shortages ebbed. Being away from the family was no longer such a big problem, nor was coming home crippled or dead.

 

(Snip)

 

* Of course we all know there will never be another war.