A drill instructor with 2nd Recruit Training Battalion shapes one of about 20,000 recruits that pass through Paris Island S.C. each year into the United States Marines. (Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. David Bessey)
By: FEDweek StaffWhile the other services have trouble attracting new recruits, the Marine Corps is holding its own. Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger told the House Armed Services Committee that the service has a good chance of meeting its fiscal year 2024 active-duty end strength of 172,300. Additionally, Berger said the service achieved its annual recruiting mission and exceeded both first-term and subsequent-term enlistments in 2022.
“To put this in perspective, 5,063 first-term Marines re-enlisted in 2018, while 5,830 re-enlisted in 2022,” Berger told lawmakers. “Further, we are re-enlisting those Marines earlier.”
The commandant also challenged the prevailing notion that monetary incentives are essential tools for recruitment.
“Big sums of money are not required to incentivize potential Marine recruits,” Berger said. “This past year, we implemented a $5,000 shipping bonus program for new enlistees with great success. In exchange for this one-time payment we direct shipping at a date of our choosing, which gives us greater predictability and flexibility.”
Berger also cited a $9,000 shipping bonus program, in which a recruit’s contract time would not begin until they officially arrive at their first unit. Marines in this program would remain on active duty long enough to serve during two deployments, he said.
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