NEW ORLEANS -- For those who are caught between the desire to serve as a Marine Corps officer, pursue a civilian career and remain geographically close to their families, the options are now wide open.
Three programs have been developed to tailor-fit entry-level Marine Corps Reserve officer career options to qualifying men and women.
For many years, no Marine Corps programs existed to commission fresh lieutenants directly into the reserves.
Augmentation for active duty officers was extremely competitive during the 1980's and 1990’s, so a large percentage of officers left active duty as lieutenants and junior captains. These company grade officers finishing their first tours were typically recruited to serve in command billets at reserve units near where they settled down to pursue post-active duty careers.
As augmentation became less competitive in the active duty Marine Corps over the past 10 years, more officers stayed on active duty for a second tour. When they did get out of the Corps to enter the civilian workforce, they were typically senior captains when they joined the reserves. Consequently, Marine Forces Reserve has operated on a “one up” paradigm at the company grade officer level.
For example, an active duty infantry platoon is usually led by a lieutenant and a company is commanded by a captain, with a senior first lieutenant as his executive officer. For the past seven years, the majority of reserve infantry companies have mobilized and deployed in support of overseas contingency operations with captains serving as platoon leaders and majors serving as company commanders.
“The OCC-R (Officer Candidate Course, Reserve) is a pivotal program for the Marine Forces Reserve. It allows for reserve officer billets to be filled by Marines of appropriate rank,” said 1st Lt. Nathan D. Johnson, who went through the reserve accession pipeline in 2007 to become an air intelligence officer after serving enlisted for several years as a data network systems specialist.
“However, it does bring about the controversial issue of whether or not an officer will truly be competent in their ability to perform their job and the ability to lead Marines without having served time on active duty,” added Johnson.
Johnson stated that for his perspective, serving one to two years as a mobilized reservist immediately following completion of initial training enables reserve officers to remain on par with their active duty counterparts.
“I recently returned from a deployment as one of three Marine officers leading a Marine Advisor Team, conducting operations along the West Coast of Africa as part of Africa Partnership Station 2009,” said Johnson. “I was able to utilize the full range of tools that were given to me throughout my training, which has allowed me to not only get a better feel for my leadership style, but also more deeply secured my abilities as an officer.
“The OCC-R is a great program for potential Marine officers who may desire a lifestyle that can be focused on other passions such as family or work, but still allow for the fulfillment of their duty to help protect their nation.”
There are currently three different paths that Marines, civilians or other enlisted U.S. service members can take to pursue a commission in the Marine Corps Reserve.
a. The Officer Candidate Class, Reserve is primarily geared towards any qualified individuals who have a bachelor’s degree. It is open to civilians and veterans from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. The age limit for this, as well as all other officer programs, is 29 years old. However, waivers are not uncommon and are granted on a case-by-case basis.
b. The Reserve Enlisted Commissioning Program is for enlisted Reserve Marines with a minimum of 12 months of honorable service. Marines must already hold a bachelor’s degree to apply to this program. This program is not open to other branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.
c. The Meritorious Commissioning Program, Reserve is offered to Reserve Marines who do not yet have a bachelor’s degree, but have completed 75 credit hours toward a degree at an accredited university. Those who are commissioned through this program have about four years from the date of commissioning (to the date they are promoted to the rank of captain) to complete their bachelor’s degree.
Those who are commissioned through one of these reserve programs incur a four-year commitment as an officer in the Select Marine Corps Reserve from the date of commissioning. During those four years, the officers attend drills one weekend each month and an extended annual training that lasts between two and four weeks, with the possibility of a one-year mobilization and overseas deployment.
Regardless of which program the officer candidates elect to pursue, the end result is the same: a commission as an officer in the Marine Corps Reserve and the opportunity to remain close to home.
In some cases, reserve lieutenants have even more billet options available.
“I was an enlisted Marine Reservist while in college and wanted to continue my commitment afterwards,” said 1st Lt. Brandon McElroy, a ground intelligence officer who was one of the very first officers commissioned through the new reserve programs in 2005.
“When I found out about the OCC-R program it sounded like a good fit. As an enlisted Marine Reservist I saw a major shortage of company grade officers throughout the reserve component. With the major role that the Marine Corps Reserve has played in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, there is a definite need to put initial accession officers into company billets. When my officer selection officer told me about the OCC-R program, I jumped at the opportunity.”
After receiving his commission, McElroy attended the full-length Marine Corps Basic School, Infantry Officer Course, Ground Intelligence Officers Course and the Scout Sniper Platoon Commander’s Course.
McElroy took his training with him to Iraq in September 2008, when he deployed to Western Al Anbar Province with 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment and served as assistant battalion intelligence officer and the scout sniper platoon commander. Upon his return, he stayed on active duty mobilization orders as operations officer and inspector-instructor for Company C, Intelligence Support Battalion in Quantico, Va.
“Both my staff and platoon command billets have had unique challenges,” said McElroy, “but there’s no greater privilege than leading a platoon overseas.”
Most reserve lieutenants have the opportunity to mobilize and deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan or the Horn of Africa with their respective reserve unit. The operational tempo is based on a one-to-five mobilization to dwell ratio.
Within Marine Forces Reserve, dwell time refers to the duty time that Marines and Sailors have at their home duty base between mobilizations, usually in support of overseas contingency operations.
For Reserve Marines, this refers specifically to involuntary mobilization, which may result in overseas deployment. Consequently, one year of involuntary mobilization will typically be followed by five years where the Marine will not be involuntarily mobilized beyond routine annual training.
However, a lieutenant may volunteer to deploy multiple times during their dwell period, as individual augment billets become available with other deploying reserve units.
“I would wholeheartedly recommend this program. Especially for someone who has many varied interests and ambitions,” said 2nd Lt. Amaury Gallais, who took the OCC-R route and is currently in Iraq with Combat Logistics Battalion 46. “At the same time as a Reserve Marine pursues a full-time civilian career or education, he or she also gets the Marine Corps experience and goes through the schools, the training exercises, activation and deployments,” explained the 25-year-old resident of Greenbrae, Calif.
“I am now in charge overseeing the throughput of cargo and personnel on strategic airlift in and out of Al Asad Air Base. I am also responsible for the morale and welfare of the 55 Marines in the platoon,” said Gallais, a logistics officer who was a lance corporal in the infantry less than two years ago.
After completing their initial four-year commitment, reserve officers have the option to remain in the SMCR, attending monthly drills and annual training, or going into the Individual Ready Reserve, where officers remain on a recall list and still have the opportunity to take professional military education courses, both on-line and resident.
Reserve Marine officers are also eligible for GI Bill benefits, which will pay a certain percentage of the tuition cost for a graduate degree at a civilian university.
According to Col. Robert R. Underwood, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Affairs Plans branch head, more than 1,400 enlisted Marine reservists currently hold a bachelor’s degree and about 130 have master’s degrees.
Many more Reserve Marines have associate degrees and are working towards completing their bachelor’s programs.
However, only about 200 reserve lieutenants are either going through or have completed their initial training in the past several years.
Unit leaders throughout Marine Forces Reserve are encouraged to inform their Marines of the existence of these commissioning programs and encourage qualified candidates to apply.
For more information about Marine Corps Reserve officer commissioning programs, interested candidates should contact their unit career planner or officer selection officer.