MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — Nearly one in three Marines are reenlisting after their first contract, a sign that the Marine Corps shift to retention, as laid out in Talent Management 2030, is working, Marine personnel officials told reporters.
The Marine Corps released its update on Talent Management 2030, which includes lines of effort around retaining Marines and giving Marines more agency when it comes to decisions about their future in the service. One of the goals under the service’s overhaul of its personnel aims was to grow a more mature, older force, a change from the culture of the Marines that generally saw a heavy focus on recruiting young Americans and only retaining 25 percent past the first contract.
The 34 efforts listed in the service’s update include areas where the Marines have started pilots and other programs, as well as initiatives that the service is examining for future use, Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte wrote in the introduction to the update.
“As the character of warfare continues to change, our personnel models cannot remain stagnant. We must invest in and retain talent across the Marine Corps to support Force Design, increase our lethality, and enhance the Corps’ warfighting capabilities. We will continue to listen to feedback from those we serve, adapt to an ever-evolving environment, and analyze the progress we’ve made so far,” reads the update.
Since the last update in March, the Marines have focused on optimizing the assignment process and looking at flexibility in careers, said Maj. Daniel Viverette, a plans officer and operations plans and assessments.
The Commandant’s Retention Program, one of the efforts under Talent Management 2030, helps offer some of the top Marines a more streamlined option for reenlistment, according to a MARADMIN announcing the start of Fiscal Year 2026’s enlistment campaign.
In Fiscal Year 2024, the Marines had more than 7,900 first-term alignment plan reenlistments, or 114 percent of its goal, according to the Talent Management update.
In order to make reenlistment easier for Marines, Marines approaching their expiration of active service date can re-up nine to 21 months prior to the time their contract ends, Maj. Mark McGee, enlisted retention planner with Manpower Plans and Policy, told reporters Thursday.
In focusing on retention, the Marines are also looking at lateral moves, with 1,014 lateral moves in FY 2024 for first-term and second-term alignment plans cohorts, according to the update.
Lateral moves are a way that Marines can stay in the service, as well as help fill critical gaps, McGee said. For Marines whose military operation specialization (MOS) might be filled, lateral moves might be a way to continue to stay Marine while also opening up a newer career path.
The Marines also looked at permanent changes of station as ways to give Marines more agency when it came to their futures. One option is the flexible basic housing allowance program that allows families to accept basic housing allowance for their family’s location instead of theirs, making it so a family does not need to move. This is currently being explored by the Marines, according to the update.
Similarly, the Marine Corps now has a dual-military coordinator who helps families where both spouses are in the service, said Maj. Jennifer Miller, enlisted assignments operations section head. There are more than 11,000 active-duty and reserve Marines who have a spouse that also serves, according to the update.
For dual-military families, spouses will not be separated without the approval of the director of manpower management or Borgschulte, according to the update.
The Marines have been looking at how they move Marines as part of Talent Management 2030. The idea is no longer moving Marines just to move them, Miller said, instead ensuring a reason behind a change of station, which could be necessary for career advancement.
“It allows them to have more agency, and there’s definitely, there’s definitely more transparency in the whole system,” Miller said.
When Marines are moving to the next assignments or looking to enlist, they are working with their monitors to walk through the different steps and options.
Part of Talent Management 2030 is also finding user interfaces that are easier to use, said Lt. Col. Todd Peterson, head of the Manpower Information Technology Branch. There are prototypes the Marines are currently examining, with the information technology branch also looking at how to make the enlistment process accessible from the phone.
Making reenlistment easier, like through better interfaces, is part of personnel overhaul. Efforts are ongoing, with the Marines continuing to look at taking away barriers to reenlistment.
One option being examined is the enlisted career designation pilot, which will allow Marines at grades E-8 and E-9 that have served at least 15 years to submit a final reenlistment package so that they do not have to re-up every four years, McGee said.
The update to Talent Management went out to the entire force Thursday. The idea behind pushing it out was to make sure all Marines know about current opportunities, as well as ones that are currently being worked, Viverette said.
“So as they think about their futures, maybe they’re hearing some things out in the fleet,” he said. “Maybe it’s not something that’s in a MARADMIN yet, but to provide them some information, things that we’re looking at and that could be implemented in the future, so that we can meet their needs, their family’s needs, but also the services needs, ultimately.”
