The Marine Corps has unveiled a list of bonuses as part of its yearly effort to keep Marines in the fleet, according to a service-wide message released last week, including more than half a dozen “kickers” worth tens of thousands of dollars.
The service is offering “primary military occupational specialty,” or PMOS, bonuses that — if including a kicker — can incur up to eight years of additional service for specific jobs the Corps needs to keep filled. Some of the priority jobs that may garner the highest dollar amount or additional service involve cybersecurity, special operations and intelligence.
Marines who reenlist after April 16 are eligible for the bonuses, which are geared toward gunnery sergeants and below, though there are some that apply to enlisted Marines above that rank.
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Two new PMOS bonuses that were added this year include amphibious combat vehicle technicians, an important role as the Marine Corps continues to launch the platform abroad, and tactical air control operators.
In December, Military.com reported that the service was at risk of not being able to pay out some of its previous bonus promises to Marines because Congress could not agree to pass a consistent budget on time, instead relying on a short-term solution known as a continuing resolution.
This type of budget limited the services to the previous year’s spending limits and put nearly 1,000 Marines in jeopardy of losing monetary incentives they had accepted — and were promised — to stay in the fleet.
“While continuing resolutions may delay reenlistment bonus payments, we remain committed to taking care of our Marines and ensuring they are properly compensated for their service — so we can retain top talent and remain the most lethal and capable force,” Maj. Jacoby Getty, a spokesperson for the service’s Manpower and Reserve Affairs division, said last week.
Most Marines reenlist without a bonus, Getty said. Fifty-three percent of first-term Marines, those who are up for their first reenlistment, did so without a bonus last year. Nearly 60% of subsequent term Marines also signed up for continued service without the monetary incentive, he said.
Marines looking to take advantage of bonuses cannot exceed $360,000 in career bonus payments. A sergeant who laterally transfers into counterintelligence for an additional six years can earn up to $105,000 under this round of bonuses, according to one of the examples listed in the message. That’s $17,000 extra per year.
Failure to stick with the job or new MOS a Marine signs up for can result in recoupment of the unearned portion of the cash based on how many years they served, or failed to serve, under that incentive program.
Lateral moves, meaning a Marine switches jobs into one of the roles that the service is prioritizing, can result in high dollar amounts. A kicker added this year that was not available in the last announcement includes an eight-year bonus bump of $80,000. Roles that fall under this category include jobs in reconnaissance, cyberspace and law enforcement.
“These incentives enhance our ability to train, retain and effectively employ top talent within our formations,” Getty said.
He added that the Marine Corps is prioritizing jobs the service is short on, ones that incur a high cost of training, “arduous or otherwise demanding” jobs, and high-demand roles that may compete with the civilian sector, such as cybersecurity.
The “Broken Service” program, which is meant to incentivize prior-service Marines with less than a four-year break in duty to come back to the fleet, is once again suspended this year. It was suspended last year, the first time in nearly 10 years.
“Just given the sheer number of Marines who are coming back on active duty, they are doing so for those, again, intangible reasons that are not monetary in nature,” Maj. Melissa Spencer, previously a spokesperson for the Manpower and Reserve Affairs division, said last year.
In December, the Marine Corps released updated guidance on how it plans to keep talented Marines in the force, touting historically high retention numbers as a measure of how those objectives are working after it introduced a monumental shift in how it recruits and keeps that talent, Military.com previously reported.
Efforts include expanding the window in which a Marine can enlist, reducing the chance that they may be separated from their military spouse, and establishing a Pacific-oriented cell to provide more stability for troops located in the strategically critical region.
Related: How the Marine Corps Is Changing to Keep Talented Marines in the Service
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