Junior officers to face more career hurdles

[unhappycamper]

About 1,650 lieutenants vying for promotion at February's promotion board may be separated from active-duty service under the new Career Designation Program.


Junior officers to face more career hurdles
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 9, 2009 5:59:45 EST

About 1,650 lieutenants vying for promotion to captain in February will face the possibility of separation from active-duty service under a new policy that could affect thousands of junior officers in years to come.

The Career Designation Program, approved recently by Commandant Gen. James Conway and Manpower & Reserve Affairs, will push dozens of Marines out of active-duty service in 2010. Hundreds of junior officers will face a similar fate annually in the future, as career options tighten with the end of the Corps’ growth to 202,000 active-duty Marines, said Lt. Gen. Ronald Coleman, the departing deputy commandant for manpower.

Marines who do not receive a regular commission will include some selected for promotion to captain by the next board, putting an additional hurdle in the path of junior officers looking to make the Corps a career. Those who are not selected for a regular commission can apply for open spaces within Reserve units or return to civilian life as a member of the Individual Ready Reserve, Coleman said in an Oct. 27 interview.

“To pick a number, we’re going to say, ‘OK, we need 80 percent (of Marines selected for captain) to stay,’ ” Coleman said hypothetically, outlining how the program will work in future years. “The 20 percent will be out, and that 20 percent can go into the reserves, or not.”

For Marines who became officers in 2008 and early 2009, while the Corps was offering $4,000 accession bonuses and $30,000 to pay back college loans, the change of direction may be jarring. But Marine officials said junior officers should consider history.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/11/marine_thinning_ranks_110909w/