Manpower

Army 3-star general: Army should be more like Marines

By James Sanborn on January 31, 2012 Afghanistan, Manpower, Reserve

The head of the Army Reserve said Tuesday that the Army should be more like the Marine Corps — at least in the way the Marine Corps cultivates a strong life-long brotherhood. Although Marines and soldiers usually boast about being better than the other, Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, head of the Army Reserve, said at this year’s Reserve Officers Association symposium in Washington, D.C., that the Marine Corps does a good job inculcating the idea of “once a Marine, always a Marine.” That helps them pull active duty Marines into the Reserve at the end of their service. The…

Behind the Cover: The plan to cut the Marine Corps

By Dan Lamothe on August 15, 2011 Behind the Cover, Capitol Hill, Leadership, Manpower, The CMC, The Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps

For nearly a year, the Marine Corps’ top officials have stayed on message with two main points regarding manpower: A drawdown wouldn’t begin until after the war in Afghanistan, and it would reduce the service to 186,800 Marines. Those points were reinforced early this year with the release of the Corps’ force-structure review recommendations. It called for a 13 percent reduction in ground combat forces, but stuck with that 186,800 end-strength figure. It’s time for a reality check. In light of the nation’s financial trouble, that plan may not be feasible. In this week’s Marine Corps Times cover story, we…

Behind the Cover: The plan to overhaul military retirement

By on August 1, 2011 Behind the Cover, budget, Manpower

Listen up, Marines! This week’s cover story is a must-read for all — from the lowliest privates to tomorrow’s general officers. Marine Corps Times Pentagon correspondent Andrew Tilghman lays out in stark detail an aggressive new plan to revamp the military retirement system, one that would dump today’s 20-year model in favor of something akin to a corporate 401(k). The proposal, pitched by an influential Pentagon advisory board, calls for everyone to receive at least some retirement cash when they leave the service. Even Marines who complete just one enlistment and get out as lance corporals would clear about $20,000.…

Behind the Cover: Big changes for Marine NCOs

By Dan Lamothe on July 19, 2011 Behind the Cover, Infantry, Leadership, Manpower, Sangin

This week’s Marine Corps Times cover story gets to the heart of the newspaper’s audience: It focuses on changes coming for non-commissioned officers, and the junior enlisted Marines they lead. The lengthy story outlines plans that are underway this summer to reconsider the NCO’s role in the Corps. Of course, they’ll still serve as the backbone of the service, but top leadership has moved to sharpen it. That could mean big changes for infantry NCOs, in particular, but changes to training and education could stretch well beyond that. Th new edition also includes an account from Sangin, Afghanistan, where senior…

Behind the Cover: 2012 re-enlistment outlook

By Dan Lamothe on June 27, 2011 Behind the Cover, Manpower

This week’s Marine Corps Times cover story zeroes in on a perennial issue of concern for Marines: re-enlistment bonuses. The new rates, effective July 1, go a long way toward showing what the Corps is prioritizing in its fight to retain good Marines. Even with a tightening fiscal outlook, the service will shell out tens of thousands of dollars to keep Marines in high-demand fields such as intelligence and special operations. Other fields will feel the pinch, but there are still dozens of specialties open to lateral moves that offer large sums of cash to Marines willing to do something…

Behind the Cover: Four big re-enlistment changes

By Dan Lamothe on May 9, 2011 Behind the Cover, Manpower

This week’s Marine Corps Times cover story should strike close to home for tens of thousands of Marines preparing for that big decision: To re-enlist, or not? Effectively immediately, the service has unveiled four big changes that will affect how the Corps’ re-enlistment process works. They’ll play a big role in retention decisions made this summer, when most Marines submit re-up packages. The Corps’ selective re-enlistment bonus rates for fiscal 2012 will be released by July 1. I traveled to the 2011 Career Planners Conference in Tampa, Fla., last week to get the scoop, sitting through several briefs and interviewing…

Behind the Cover: The push for sniper changes

By Dan Lamothe on February 28, 2011 Afghanistan, Behind the Cover, Infantry, Manpower

Few jobs in the military have as much mystique as Marine scout sniper. Army Ranger? Sure. Navy SEAL? Fair enough. The scout sniper has his own special reputation, though, and its one that’s earned the hard way. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement, say many Marines who know the community. Scout snipers have no primary military occupational specialty, have limited career options and cannot compete for big bonuses unless they leave their conventional infantry battalions for the bright lights of a job in the reconnaissance field or Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. And it’s hurting the scout sniper community…

Expect new details about the future Marine Corps tonight

By Dan Lamothe on February 8, 2011 General officers, Leadership, Manpower, MARSOC, MEU operations, The CMC

Commandant Gen. Jim Amos is expected to make a major speech tonight in San Francisco that could provide significant new details about what the future Marine Corps looks like. Marine officials obviously don’t want to get out front of their commandant, but the speech has been teased to media as focusing on “his vision” for what the service should do next. It will take place at the Marines’ Memorial Club, where Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last August that he was ordering a broad-based review of the Corps’ mission and purpose. The setting of Amos’ speech is significant. In many…

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