Of course the ANG wants those discharged Marines. First of all they are already trained, disciplined, tough, honorable, and do not have to put up with so much of the woke-ness found in the the active duty services. I happen to know this as a fact. One of my super stars in the Young Marine unit I ran in northern Illinois tried to get into the Corps’ PLC program but was on meds for OCD and was declined, I even wrote the OSO a letter highlighting this young ladies attributes, but it was to no avail. So she went to college under the ROTC program and is now active in ANG and loves it. She says they are not having to put up with all the woke-ness as is the Army. And, as expected, she has risen to a super star in her unit — and is off her meds!.
Why the Marine Corps wants to tank National Guard recruiting efforts
From the Marine Times
Historically the Marine Corps has had the lowest retention rate in the Department of Defense, as it intentionally has only kept 25 percent of first-term Marines.
As a result, the National Guard and other services have seen Marines fresh off a first enlistment as fertile recruiting ground, allowing the Guard to swell its ranks with already experienced troops.
The practice is so common the Army National Guard even has recruiters specifically trained and tasked to recruit prior service Marines.
But as the Corps looks to field an older more experienced force, it wants that to change.
“If we do our job right, they’ll never go to the Army or the National Guard to begin with,” Maj. Gen. Jason Bohm, the commander for Marine Corps Recruiting Command, told reporters on Monday.
On Nov. 3, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger released his talent management vision aimed at improving retention by treating Marines “like human beings instead of inventory.”
For those who left the Corps just to realize the grass is not always greener in the Army combat uniform, the Corps wants you back.
“Quite often, not to disparage any of the other services, but we do hear from (prior service Marines) saying ‘This isn’t quite what I expected, is there any chance I can come back?’” Bohm said.
LOL this is so funny. Did any of these so called SME’s in the Marine Corps Recruiting Command stop to consider why that Marine was dissatisfied with the service he/she opted for after the Corps? Perhaps, just perhaps, they missed the loyalty, comradery, pride, brother/sister hood, familial closeness, traditional values, being part of something good, and the sheer joy and honor of wearing the Marine uniform. But now that the Corps is going the way of the other services who started this woke-ness crap way prior to General Berger arriving will they find the same atmosphere in the “new” Corps? I think so. What happened to the motto: If everyone could be a Marine, it wouldn’t be the Marines, or no one promised you a Rose Garden, or even The Few, the Proud, the Marines. Forget that it’s not important anymore . . . . . I guess?
There already are methods for prior service Marines to return to the Corps, but Bohm said it was not particularly easy.
The Corps will look to streamline that process and welcome the lost sheep back into the Marine Corps’ fold.
The Corps also will improve its efforts to inform Marines who are getting out on ways they can reenter the force if circumstances allow them to return or if they simply change their mind about getting out.
“We are certainly going to maintain contact with those people,” Bohm said.
At least for now the Army National Guard does not seem to expect much to change on its end.
“The Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Force always seeks to recruit and retain the best available talent for the Guard,” Christina Mundy said on behalf of Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention in a Tuesday email.
Marine Corps Times has previously asked the National Guard for numbers on how many prior service Marines it enlists each year and has not heard back.
While the Marine Corps is looking to improve overall retention, the Corps is planning to downsize over the next few years and has completely eliminated certain military occupational specialties.
In 2021 the Corps had an authorized active-duty end strength of 181,200 Marines. By 2030 the Corps looks to shrink the active duty force to roughly 174,000 Marines, the smallest the Corps has been since 2002.
To slowly reduce numbers while improving retention the Marine Corps expects that it will reduce its recruitment goals.
As part of its redesign to faceoff against China the Marine Corps has eliminated its tank battalions, active duty law enforcement battalions and its bridging units.
Marines with military occupational specialties that were eliminated had been offered easy transfer into the Army, where tank battalions are still going strong.
Berger said the Corps needs an older and more mature force to handle the increased complexities of a potential war against a near-peer opponent.
On the future battlefield Marines will have more responsibilities pushed down to lower levels than ever before.
”The machine gunner who is also corpsman, a medic, also has to be able to talk to MQ-9 UAVs and bring in ordnance and understand the satellite connection that is required to do that,” Berger told reporters in early November.
The Corps is also leaning on updated science that shows people do not fully mature until they are in their early to mid-twenties and that peak physical performance does not happen until someone is in their late 20s.
“We based our force on an assumption that (18 to 20-year-olds) were indestructible supermen,” Berger said. “Turns out it’s not. We don’t peak physically or cognitively until our late 20s.”
“We can’t have a force full of 18 to 21-year-olds,” Berger said. Really? Tell that to the Marines of WW I, WW II, Korea, or Vietnam. I wonder how old these Marines are?
Recruits with Delta Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, run up the Reaper during the crucible at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. (Cpl. Grace J. Kindred/Marine Corps)
There are so much coming out of CMC’s mouth, I can’t keep up with them, Therefore, I’ll simply provide links to some of the “stuff,” and should you desire to lower your blood pressure even more please click on the link below and read more of this goobly-gook. I find no reason to publish this as a post. It’s simply filled with more BS.
