Author Topic: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers  (Read 1447 times)

Dos Equis

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Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« on: December 30, 2008, 10:53:53 AM »
Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Buoyed by more recruiters, bigger bonuses and an elite reputation, the Marine Corps has grown by nearly 27,000 members in a little more than two years — half the time that military officials believed it would take.

While the rapid expansion has stretched the Marine budget and put some recruits in temporary or quickly refurbished barracks, it is also easing the strain on Marine forces tapped for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In early 2007, the Marine Corps launched a program to expand its ranks — planning to add about 5,000 Marines a year for five years, and reaching a total of 202,000 by 2012. But this month the Marines already hit 200,000, and Gen. James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, said they will meet their 202,000 goal in early 2009.

According to Brig. Gen. Robert Milstead Jr., commander of Marine Corps Recruiting Command, the Marines brought on more than 500 additional recruiters and increased the budget for recruiting bonuses from $66 million in fiscal year 2007 to $89 million in 2008.

At the same time, as more recruits were coming in the doors, military leaders also launched a campaign to get more current Marines to stay on and re-enlist for another tour. In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the budget for retention bonuses was $464 million, and that amount was boosted to $469.5 million for the current fiscal year.

The bonuses made their mark. In fiscal 2008, 35 percent of active duty Marines re-enlisted, compared with 24 percent two years ago.

As the size of the Marine Corps grew, officials increased the number of battalions from 24 to 27, and bolstered the ranks of critically needed specialties, including linguists, cryptologists and intelligence officers.

By 2007, Pentagon leaders approved plans to grow the Marines and the Army, the two services that have borne the brunt of combat duties for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, serving long and multiple tours in both countries.

Plans are to increase the numbers of active-duty Army, Army Guard and Army Reserve troops by 74,000 overall, with the active-duty force growing by 65,000 to a total of 547,000. A year ago, top Army leaders projected that they could accomplish their goal by 2010 — also earlier than initially thought.

Lt. Col. Mike Moose, an Army spokesman, said the Army had grown to nearly 541,900 soldiers by the end of October. The active-duty troop increase will boost the number of Army combat brigades from the 2006 level of 42 to 48.

The Marine increase is already paying off.

"We're already starting to see the injection of those units into the rotation schemes," said Conway, adding that putting just one more infantry battalion into the mix helps to extend the time other units get to spend at home between deployments.

It used to be that Marines would spend seven months at war and seven months at home before turning around and deploying again. Now, said Conway, they are getting nine or 10 months at home.

He said the top priority was to get more people into high stress units, including intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance jobs.

"We went early and often to those people and they were being ridden hard," said Conway. He said it's taken longer to fill out gaps in aviation units, because of the extra time it takes to get the aircraft and other equipment to them.

Marine leaders said retention rates may be benefiting a bit from the economic meltdown. Marines and their families may be deciding that now is a good time to stay on and wait out the plunging job market, said Milstead.

But while bonuses may lure recruits, a more lucrative enticement for first-time recruits may be the Marines' legacy and identity, Corps officials said. "Kids join the Marines because they want to join the Marines, not because they're tired of flipping burgers," Milstead said.

With the expansion all but over, Milstead said he has already told Conway he can reduce the pool of roughly 4,000 recruiters by more than 130 over the next two years — shifting those Marines back into other jobs. And the retention pressure will also ease.

"We opened the aperture on the retention side," Milstead said. But now that the Corps is about to meet its 202,000 goal, he added, "we're going to have to close it. We're going to have to reduce the number we allow to hang around the Marine Corps."

That will be accomplished, Milstead said, by cutting reenlistment opportunities.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081230/BREAKING/81230013

Dos Equis

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2009, 10:04:07 AM »
Army numbers up too. 

Army re-enlistments high
With tough economy, many soldiers are coming back for more

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

Repeat deployments and a healthier economy made it more difficult in recent years for the Army to retain quality soldiers. The recession may be changing that.

Hawai'i's Stryker brigade of about 4,300 soldiers is at almost 100 percent re-enlistment for two of its battalions in Iraq, with the other four at between 70 percent and 75 percent, said spokesman Maj. Al Hing.

Hing said re-enlistments are at record rates.

The brigade commander's goal was 80 percent before the unit returns to Hawai'i in February and March. Hing said there is a "very strong retention rate for the young company grade officers" at 94 percent.

Even as the huge re-enlistment bonuses of years past dwindle, soldiers and officers are finding reason to stay in — or return.

Lindsey Rowland made a deal with her parents: They would approve of her going into the Army — which she wanted to do — if she went to college first.

Rowland went to Hawai'i Pacific University on an ROTC scholarship, was commissioned a second lieutenant in 2005, received an assignment to Germany, and in October returned from 15 months in Kuwait and Iraq.

Now a first lieutenant, Rowland, who is not exactly warriorlike at 5 feet 2 and 120 pounds, has experienced the rigors of combat. But like an increasing number of enlisted soldiers and officers who see what shape the economy is in, she's pretty much made the decision to re-up for at least three more years after her first four.

The truth is, she doesn't want to get out — at least not yet.

It doesn't matter that Rowland probably won't receive the $35,000 bonus that was offered for her specialty in each of the last two years, but may be gone now.

The huge re-enlistment bonuses that the Army needed to dole out to keep up its numbers now are dropping as the economy worsens and more soldiers are staying in with fewer bonuses.

A reduction of the violence in Iraq and a drawdown of the mission there also have led to optimism that soldiers can spend more time at home between deployments.

Although the 27-year-old Rowland was based in Kuwait, she spent more time in Iraq, providing security escort for convoys in a Humvee gun truck with a transportation company.

The more soldiers are on the road, the more danger they face.

But as a single soldier without kids to worry about back home, she didn't mind being deployed, misses being in command of four Humvees and 11 other soldiers, and expects to be back in Iraq or Afghanistan in the future.

"We had a really cool mission," Rowland said by phone from Germany. "For females and for transportation, doing gun truck missions on the road was really cool."

personal benefits
For reasons that are different for each soldier, Rowland may be representative of a bit of a reversal of fortune for the Army and its retention of soldiers.

Eventually, she said she'd like to be a journalist outside the Army, "but I'm not quite ready to do that yet — especially with the economy."

The Army has seen the return of nearly 500 Army officers who left the service during the past year, Army Times reported.

Not all were eligible for retention incentives, so career security and military benefits are seen as possible factors.

Recruiting also is up. The Army for fiscal 2008 exceeded its recruiting goal, signing up more than 169,500 men and women, and the Army and the Marines — which do the bulk of the ground fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan — surpassed recruitment goals early in fiscal 2009, which began in October.

The Army has in the past worried about the quality of its recruits and an exodus of midlevel officers.

"I have a really optimistic look about it. I think the Army is changing for real this time, and I think a lot of the officers are staying in and I think leadership is improving," Rowland said. "The Army has adapted to the idea that they can offer the people that work in the Army the things they want — as in duty locations, money, schools."

bonuses dropping
However, Army Times said re-enlistment bonuses are dropping sharply in 2009 as retention programs enjoy unprecedented success and fewer specialties are being targeted with the extra payments.

Rowland doesn't think the $35,000 bonus will be available to her that had been offered in the past to transportation officers being promoted to captain, a rank she soon expects to make.

Rowland figures she spent more time in Iraq than in Kuwait where she was based because of the convoy security missions — the same mission that many Hawai'i National Guard soldiers have now.

A soldier in her unit was killed when a shaped charge hit his Humvee, and Rowland separately experienced a small roadside bomb that went off near her Humvee. "It really wasn't that exciting," she said. "Blew up smoke. That was it."

Mostly, the security missions did not encounter enemy fire, she said, and the only time the turret gunner's .50-caliber machine gun was fired was when an oncoming bus wouldn't stop. Warning shots were fired near the bus.

Rowland, who is from Ohio, wants to go to an Army language school to learn Turkish. She expects she'll be deployed several more times to a combat zone if she stays in.

That's OK with her.

"I would hope I'd get to go to Afghanistan," she said, "just because I spent 15 months in Iraq, and I already know that."

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090106/NEWS01/901060345

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2009, 12:41:04 PM »
One way to save money in the military budget could be to cut down in the regular troops.

At the same time, increase the budget for the elite troops somewhat.
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headhuntersix

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2009, 01:19:33 PM »
Thats ridiculous...but keep trying. We are a growth industry, the rest of it can all go but with 2 major wars and enemies everywhere...we're not cutting anything. Both the army and the marines are going to get bigger.
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MuscleMcMannus

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2009, 02:40:35 PM »
Thats ridiculous...but keep trying. We are a growth industry, the rest of it can all go but with 2 major wars and enemies everywhere...we're not cutting anything. Both the army and the marines are going to get bigger.

LMAO! ::)  While your dumbass is over fighting those big bad terrorists and evil muslims the Mexicans are selling drugs to your family and kidnapping your fellow Americans all the while they thumb their nose at your government.  You and your ilk are some hypocrites that's for sure. 

There are brainwashed suckers born every minute.  The military is not immune! 

Hereford

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2009, 02:46:07 PM »
LMAO! ::)  While your dumbass is over fighting those big bad terrorists and evil muslims the Mexicans are selling drugs to your family and kidnapping your fellow Americans all the while they thumb their nose at your government.  You and your ilk are some hypocrites that's for sure. 

There are brainwashed suckers born every minute.  The military is not immune! 

Disagree with the tone of this .... But yes, the millions of illegals are doing infinitely more damage to this country in numerous different ways than the scumbag muslims.

If only the US protected its own as it protects Israels.....

MuscleMcMannus

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2009, 02:52:51 PM »
Disagree with the tone of this .... But yes, the millions of illegals are doing infinitely more damage to this country in numerous different ways than the scumbag muslims.

If only the US protected its own as it protects Israels.....

We are rotting from the inside.  This was all planned a long time ago.  People like HH6 are just cogs in the wheel.....obedient children doing what their parents tell them without question. 

Hereford

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2009, 03:01:59 PM »
A little like the Roman Empire, eh?

The political defense to the fire-sale of America to the national-barrio to the south is a joke.... Yet people still eat it up... or at the least ignore the issue and practice appeasement.

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2009, 06:19:41 PM »
One way to save money in the military budget could be to cut down in the regular troops.

At the same time, increase the budget for the elite troops somewhat.
The problem is that a SOF soldier cannot be massed produced, a regular soldier can.  You can always train regular soldiers to go into SOF units.  It's easier that way.
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Hereford

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #9 on: January 07, 2009, 03:10:14 PM »
So lets take a poll...

Who here is OK with using the US Military to protect the US?


MuscleMcMannus

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #10 on: January 07, 2009, 03:19:21 PM »
So lets take a poll...

Who here is OK with using the US Military to protect the US?



Protecting our borders is one thing......patrolling American neighborhoods is another.  The US military is no longer in the business of protecting American people.  They are in the business of building an empire and propping up the deep state. 

headhuntersix

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #11 on: January 07, 2009, 03:21:06 PM »
We are rotting from the inside.  This was all planned a long time ago.  People like HH6 are just cogs in the wheel.....obedient children doing what their parents tell them without question. 

See thats were ur wrong. I love getting up every morning, throwing on a uniform and knowing I'm better then u are idiot. Or that I get to protect the lives of good decent Americans like Hereford or Cap or Beachbum. U've been nowhere, seen and done nothing and can't understand what service to the nation is all about. What exactly should I be questioning dumbass? What do u do that is so special. Whoever u work for considers u a cog as well....atleast I ensure u get to be that cog. So my advice would be to continue to pay ur taxes and shut up...hope this helps.
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headhuntersix

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #12 on: January 07, 2009, 03:22:38 PM »
Protecting our borders is one thing......patrolling American neighborhoods is another.  The US military is no longer in the business of protecting American people.  They are in the business of building an empire and propping up the deep state. 

Did a Marine take ur girl. U anti-military types are all the same....deep seated mommy issues or a severe lack of testosterone.
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Eyeball Chambers

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #13 on: January 07, 2009, 03:26:37 PM »
So lets take a poll...

Who here is OK with using the US Military to protect the US?

You mean sealing the southern boarder and deporting illegals?

I am.
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MuscleMcMannus

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #14 on: January 07, 2009, 03:28:08 PM »
See thats were ur wrong. I love getting up every morning, throwing on a uniform and knowing I'm better then u are idiot. Or that I get to protect the lives of good decent Americans like Hereford or Cap or Beachbum. U've been nowhere, seen and done nothing and can't understand what service to the nation is all about. What exactly should I be questioning dumbass? What do u do that is so special. Whoever u work for considers u a cog as well....atleast I ensure u get to be that cog. So my advice would be to continue to pay ur taxes and shut up...hope this helps.

Haha you ensure I get to be that cog?  The Constitution assures me those rights dipshit not some blockhead yielding an M16.  You have a job because we the people say you do.  You can glorify your service all you want........you'll always be a government employee.  LOL.  

Hereford

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #15 on: January 07, 2009, 03:30:26 PM »
Haha you ensure I get to be that cog?  The Constitution assures me those rights dipshit not some blockhead yielding an M16.  You have a job because we the people say you do.  You can glorify your service all you want........you'll always be a government employee.  LOL.  

Yeeeeaaaaaa I'm gonna have to disagree with you there MM. That constitution wouldn't be worth the paper it's printed on without blockheads with m-16s, or M-14s, or M-1s or Springfields, or ...

headhuntersix

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #16 on: January 07, 2009, 03:32:44 PM »
I don't understand why this is such a big deal. Build the damm wall....a real wall. Enlarge the border patrol to guard it. While thats being done, mobilize the NG in those states to conduct security patrols. Most other countries use their military. If u want to come here as a worker, they can figure that out. Otherwise do it legally.

Muscle...u will always be a pussy to afraid to serve. The Constitution is a piece of paper backed by those M-4's ( We don't use M-16's much anymore, good try though).....U would'nt have those rights without a strong military to ensure our continued survival. U don't call the shots on whether I or anybody I serve with, has a job. U owe ur existance to the military. Sleep tight!
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headhuntersix

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #17 on: January 07, 2009, 03:34:02 PM »
Yeeeeaaaaaa I'm gonna have to disagree with you there MM. That constitution wouldn't be worth the paper it's printed on without blockheads with m-16s, or M-14s, or M-1s or Springfields, or ...


I love the M-14. They actually re-issued them during OIF-1, to all Infantry rifle squads. One per squad, as the sniper weapon.
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MuscleMcMannus

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #18 on: January 07, 2009, 03:35:21 PM »
Did a Marine take ur girl. U anti-military types are all the same....deep seated mommy issues or a severe lack of testosterone.

Haha I've seen the quality of women a majority of the enlisted pull having lived in Colorado Springs for 6 years.  The only ones pulling half way decent ass were dudes in the AF academy and a few officers.  And AirForce Academy dudes are wannabe frat boys with a shitty football team.  

MuscleMcMannus

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #19 on: January 07, 2009, 03:42:38 PM »
Yeeeeaaaaaa I'm gonna have to disagree with you there MM. That constitution wouldn't be worth the paper it's printed on without blockheads with m-16s, or M-14s, or M-1s or Springfields, or ...

errrrrrrr wrong.......at the outset of the Revolutionary War America had no standing army.  "Soliders" during that era were common colonialists i.e. farmers, shopkeepers, however the hell you want to describe them.  If the common man wasn't ready to rise up against a tyrannical and oppressive government America wouldn't have come to fruition.  Remember the founding fathers were considered "terrorists" by the British.  I'm sure HH6 would have made a fantastic "redcoat" serving the queen without question.   

headhuntersix

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #20 on: January 07, 2009, 03:49:05 PM »
Ah its 2008..there aren't any redcoats or militiamen. I'm from Mass so I would have been loading my kentucky rifle at Concord. Given a choice I'd have served with Francis Marrion.

Also I'm not enlisted, ur post makes no sense anyway. They're an academy, if ur good enough to play D1, a service school won't be ur first choice. Oh and pilots will always pull better ass then a dumbass civi, in any bar, anywhere in the world,  period.
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MuscleMcMannus

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #21 on: January 07, 2009, 03:49:25 PM »
I don't understand why this is such a big deal. Build the damm wall....a real wall. Enlarge the border patrol to guard it. While thats being done, mobilize the NG in those states to conduct security patrols. Most other countries use their military. If u want to come here as a worker, they can figure that out. Otherwise do it legally.

Muscle...u will always be a pussy to afraid to serve. The Constitution is a piece of paper backed by those M-4's ( We don't use M-16's much anymore, good try though).....U would'nt have those rights without a strong military to ensure our continued survival. U don't call the shots on whether I or anybody I serve with, has a job. U owe ur existance to the military. Sleep tight!

For someone who serves you really know fuck all about history, the founding principles of this country let alone the "piece of paper" you're sworn to uphold and protect.  The purpose of the U.S. military is to protect the United States.  

The U.S. military has no business attempting to bring democracy to the world, remove dictators, spread goodwill, fight communism or Islam, guarantee the neutrality of any country, change a regime that is not friendly to the United States, train the armies of other countries, open foreign markets, protect U.S. commercial interests, provide disaster relief, or provide humanitarian aid. The U.S. military should be engaged exclusively in defending the United States, not defending other countries, and certainly not attacking them. What are U.S. troops doing overseas when the border between Mexico and the United States is not even secure?

Like said earlier........you could come up with a fairly good argument figthing communism......hell even terrorism.  But that was 50 years ago.  Today you exist for the sole purpose of U.S. commercial interests and the extension of corporate interests.  The "leaders" love the fact that you like to play with your big bad toys and are proud to put on the "uniform" to serve their interests not yours or the people.  

MuscleMcMannus

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #22 on: January 07, 2009, 03:51:23 PM »
Ah its 2008..there aren't any redcoats or militiamen. I'm from Mass so I would have been loading my kentucky rifle at Concord. Given a choice I'd have served with Francis Marrion.

Also I'm not enlisted, ur post makes no sense anyway. They're an academy, if ur good enough to play D1, a service school won't be ur first choice. Oh and pilots will always pull better ass then a dumbass civi, in any bar, anywhere in the world,  period.

So you're do not think highly of the people below you that actually do the dirty work?  Typical.  I never said you were enlisted.  I was providing an example.  Officers are some of the most overpaid underworked government employees around. 

Hahah go to any major bar in any major city across America and I'm sure civies with a rational mind will pull more pussy than some brainwashed GI who can't wait to go kill him some Muslims and terrorists.  Go to any college and see what kind of pussy the ROTC pulls!  LMAO!  But I guess everyone in college is just a pussy unwilling to serve their country?  Who can pull more pussy a soldier or a civillian?  Is that really  what you've reduced this argument to?  LOL pathetic dude!

Eyeball Chambers

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #23 on: January 07, 2009, 03:52:46 PM »
I don't understand why this is such a big deal. Build the damm wall....a real wall. Enlarge the border patrol to guard it. While thats being done, mobilize the NG in those states to conduct security patrols. Most other countries use their military. If u want to come here as a worker, they can figure that out. Otherwise do it legally.

I don't think the traitors we call our "leaders" want to stop the problem.  Do you?
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Hereford

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Re: Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers
« Reply #24 on: January 07, 2009, 03:53:50 PM »
I don't think the traitors we call our "leaders" want to stop the problem.  Do you?

If it's not your money or your blood, why do you care if it gets wasted?