Marines try to integrate few, proud into business
Jonathan Cribbs
Staff
As thousands of servicemen return from active duty in Iraq, the U.S. Marine Corps is beefing up its community relations program in Baltimore and abroad in hopes that Marines will be able to take their Semper Fi attitude from the battlefield to the boardroom.
The corps' Marine For Life (
www.marineforlife.com) campaign, aimed at reintegrating soldiers into the private sector after their duty is up, opened its Baltimore location last month. The national organization plans to have 125 new branches by next year, said Capt. Alex Wright, the Baltimore area office's "hometown link," who will put work-ready Marines in touch with local employers.
The corps loses more than 27,000 Marines a year due to normal attrition, Wright said, and Marine For Life will continue to expand over the next two years. "The other avenue is to build a network of employees who understand the value Marines can bring to their companies," he said.
More Marines than usual will be looking for jobs as they filter back into the United States from abroad since many of them would have finished their four-year terms last year, before being activated to go to Iraq, Wright said. Many Marines' honorable discharges were delayed after the war started.
But the job market for incoming Marines might not be as friendly as Marine For Life would like, said Anirban Basu, CEO of Optimal Solutions Group, a Baltimore economic and policy consulting firm.
Even as recent reports hint at a possible third quarter economic recovery in 2003, the labor market tends to lag at least six to 10 months, Basu said.
"That's the most optimistic time frame," he said. "It's what many workers across the country are facing. A lot of Americans are now beginning a new job search. I would expect many more Americans will join the labor force ... under the theory that things are getting better. These military personnel will be competing with a lot of people for not too many jobs."
Marine For Life's national budget will balloon in fiscal year 2004 to $10 million, up 500 percent from this year when the budget was $2 million, Wright said. He said he is looking for local employers interested in possibly hiring former Marines.
The program began with 46 recruiting and reserve offices throughout the country. In the region, offices are in Washington, D.C., Andrews Air Force Base and Wilmington, Del.
? 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.
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