Third-term enlistments get boost despite war

[thedrifter]

Issue Date: December 15, 2003

Third-term enlistments get boost despite war

By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer

Send Marines to hell and back and they?ll ask for more.
In the first sign that the war in Iraq may not have the negative impact on retention that some fear, Corps manpower officials report that Marines with two enlistments under their web belts are signing up for more.

A new analysis of continuation rates shows that Marines in their eighth year of service are re-enlisting at a rate about 10 percent higher than they did even a year ago.

Marines with eight years of service re-enlisted at a rate of about 74 percent in fiscal 2001 and 2002.

But this past year, in which more than 70,000 Marines deployed for the war in Iraq, more Marines at the same eight-year mark are opting for another tour.

Marines re-enlisted at a rate of 84 percent during fiscal 2003, according to Maj. Dave Ross, a career force planner for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Quantico, Va.

That?s good news to manpower officials, who worry that deployments for the war in Iraq might prompt some Marines to get out.

The analysis focused only on Marines at the eight-year mark, which historically has been a soft spot in retention. Retention indicators for other segments of the enlisted population are positive, but the war?s overall effect on retention remains unclear.

The study ended before news broke of a planned second round of Marine deployments to Iraq. The stop-loss, stop-move policy that prevented Marines from leaving the Corps during much of fiscal 2003, did not have an effect on the analysis, Ross said.

The new figures also suggest the global war on terrorism isn?t scaring any Marines away, either.

?So far, deployments aren?t hurting retention,? said retired Sgt. Maj. Lewis ?Gary? Lee, a former sergeant major of the Marine Corps now working as an analyst with the Center for Naval Analyses in Arlington, Va.

Lee said a number of factors may be contributing to the improved retention. In recent years, the Corps has boosted re-enlistment bonuses for career Marines, and career retention specialists continue efforts to keep more senior Marines.


http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/sto...PER-2456711.php

Sempers,

Roger