Marine Corps treating people like human beings instead of Inventory?

Kind of a surprising take on a potentially new Corps being touted in “The Hill” article. The Corps announces a new plan signaling changes to recruitment and retention by targeting individual talents rather than gathering volumes of younger personnel, who are very trainable, training them in an MOS, and making them fit the model of a Marine.

I had a promise of a pretty good career if I stayed and re-enlisted. College, OCS, a good MOS, and a chance of eventually being a field grade officer (a good ways out).

“Marines shifting away from ‘replaceable force,‘ general says”

And announcing the plan being 1 week before USMC birthday on November 10 and Veterans Day November 11? USMC Commandant General David H. Bergers discussing:

The most important element of this report is the individual Marine. Transitioning to a talent management system will enable us to better harness and develop the unique skills and strengths of our Marines, improve the performance of our units in competition and combat, and ensure that we remain ‘most ready when the Nation is least ready,’ today and into the future. 

This appears to be a departure from acting as a unit and more as an individual. I believe there is going to be some serious drinking going USMC Birthday. Anyway, there always is . . .

What the Commandants plan details beyond his preamble is:

• Recalibrating our enlisted personnel model to better balance recruiting and retention, in order to mature the force; 

• Retooling how enlisted Marines are assigned to military occupational specialties (MOS) aligning talents and potential with the needs of the Marine Corps; 

• Developing return-to-service options for Marines who have left active duty and offering lateral entry opportunities for highly qualified candidates; 

• Incorporating a talent marketplace to give individual Marines a say in the trajectory of their careers and commanders a voice in who join their staffs; 

• Incorporating 360-degree feedback for those in leadership roles; 

• Creating a board-selected staff officer track modeled after the acquisition officer pipeline; 

• Digitizing the re-enlistment process to reduce obstacles to re-enlistment; and 

• Adopting modern digital tools, analytics, and processes to improve the efficiency of the talent management system. 

My one Korea veteran cousin was a Master Gunnery Sergeant and a lifer. Although offered college and OCS, I left in the seventies as a Sergeant and an MOS as a 2881. Another cousin flew F4s as a Major. My nephew got out in the last few years after nine years and at the same rank I achieved in a lesser amount of time. Perhaps, he might have stayed with this plan in place. He had a pretty good MOS.

This is a departure from the past and I am curious as to how it will work out as it appears some may not require Boot Camp. In the past the every Marine was also required to qualify on the rifle range regardless of whatever MOS they were assigned. The lack of qualification was one problem the Army ran into in the past.

We were always a proud group. Maybe a smarter proud group this time around?

Marines shifting away from ‘replaceable force,’ general says (msn.com)