Force in Readiness, fielding warriors whose unique seabased expeditionary and combined-arms capabilities will be critical to success in crisis and conflict. In the process of balancing our programs to meet these goals, we will focus on two primary objectives: (1) our main effort-maintaining excellence in warfighting, and (2) taking care of our Marines and families. III. TAKING CARE OF OUR OWN Providing for the needs of our Marines, their families and our civilian Marines remain among our top priorities. The most advanced aircraft, ship, or weapons system is of no value without highly motivated and well-trained people. People and leadership remain the real foundations of the Corps' capabilities. It is important to note that the Marine Corps operates as a Total Force, including elements of both active and reserve components. We continue to strengthen the exceptional bonds within our Total Force by further integrating the Marine Corps Reserve into ongoing operations and training. Human Resources End Strength. The Congressionally authorized increase in Marine Corps end strength to 175.000 in response to the global war on terrorism is very much appreciated. This increase of 2,400 Marines allows us to sustain the increased missions associated with the activation of the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism), enabling us to replace Marines in the active units that we "borrowed" in standing up the Brigade, and continue to provide the Nation with a robust, scalable force option specifically dedicated to anti-terrorism. Recruiting. Sustaining our ranks with the highest quality young men and women is the mission of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command. Recruiting Command has consistently accomplished this mission for more than the past seven years for enlisted recruiting and twelve years for officer recruiting. These achievements provide the momentum fueling the continuous pursuit to improve the recruiting process and enhance the quality of life for our recruiters. To continue to attract America's finest youth, Recruiting Command has provided recruiters with the best tools available to accomplish their mission. The Marine Corps supports the National Call to Service Act and continues to work closely with DoD in developing an implementation policy. We expect to commence enlisting individuals under this program commencing October 1, 2003. The Marine Corps Reserve achieved its FY02 recruiting goals, accessioning 5,904 Non-Prior Service Marines and 4,213 Prior Service Marines. With regard to our Reserve Component, our most challenging recruiting and retention issue is the ability to fill out our Selected Marine Corps Reserve units with qualified officers. The Marine Corps recruits Reserve officers almost exclusively from the ranks of those who have first served a tour as an active duty Marine officer. While this practice ensures our Selected Marine Corps Reserve unit officers have the proven experience, knowledge and leadership abilities when we need it the most-during mobilization—it limits the recruiting pool that we can draw from to staff our units. As a result, the Selected Reserve currently has a shortage of company grade (Second Lieutenant to Captain) officers. We are exploring methods to increase the reserve participation of company grade officers through increased recruiting efforts, increased command focus on emphasizing reserve participation upon leaving active duty, and reserve officer programs for qualified enlisted Marines. We are also pursuing the legislative authority to provide an affiliation bonus to reserve officers as an additional incentive for participation in the Selected Marine Corps Reserve. Retention. Retaining the best and the brightest Marines has always been a major goal of the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is by design a youthful service, however, it is of paramount importance to retain the highest quality Marines to lead our young force. History has proven that leadership in the Staff Noncommissioned Officer ranks has been the major contributor to the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps has two retention standards. Our First Term Alignment Plan has consistently achieved its reenlistment requirements over the past eight years. With one-third of the current fiscal year completed, we have achieved 87% of our first-term retention goal. A look at our Subsequent Term Alignment Plan (second tour and beyond) demonstrates that we have already retained 51% of our goal for this fiscal year. Both of these trends indicate healthy continuation rates in our career force. Current officer retention is at an eighteen year high, continuing the strong performance of the last two years. Despite this positive trend, we cannot become complacent. As a Corps, we will continue to target specific qualifications and skills through continuation pay. Military compensation that is competitive with the private sector provides the flexibility required to meet the challenge of maintaining stability in manpower planning. Marine Corps Reserve - Partners in the Total Force. It is important to note that the Marine Corps operates as a Total Force, including elements of both active and reserve components. We continue to strengthen the exceptional bonds within our Total Force by further integrating the Marine Corps Reserve into ongoing training and operations. Concurrent with the various initiatives underway to improve integration and update capabilities, the Marine Corps Reserve continues to support its primary mission of augmentation and reinforcement. Reserve units and Marines provided over 1.8 million man-days in FY02. Reserves provided support at all levels within the Marine Corps and at Combatant Commands and High-Level Staffs. As we enter the 21st Century, the overall structure of Marine Forces Reserve will retain the current basic structure. However, Marine Forces Reserve is currently working to create new capabilities identified as part of its comprehensive review. Both as a structural and an operational change, Marine Forces Reserve is increasing its operational ties with the Warfighting Commanders by improving lines of communication with our operating forces. These increased operational ties will improve interoperability, increase training opportunities, and enhance the warfighting capabilities of the Total Force. Mobilization. Since the events of 9/11, the Marine Corps judiciously activated Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) Marines in response to both internal and joint operational requirements. The Marine Corps has maximized the use of individual volunteers to meet these requirements primarily in the areas of staff augmentation and force protection. In addition, Selected Marine Corps Units (SMCR), were activated for force protection requirements in support of homeland security. Because of emerging requirements associated with war on terrorism, we began involuntary recall of some of our Individual Ready Reserves on January 17, 2003. Stop Loss. On January 15, 2003, the Marine Corps instituted Stop Loss across the Marine Corps to meet the emerging requirements associated with the expanding war on terrorism. Stop Loss was initiated to provide unit stability/cohesion, maintain unit readiness, meet expanded force protection requirements, and to reduce the requirement to active IRR personnel. We will continue to make judicious use of this authority and continue to discharge Marines for humanitarian, physical disability, administrative, and disciplinary reasons. We have instructed our General Officers to continue to use a common sense approach and have authorized them to release Marines from active duty if it is in the best interest of the Marine Corps and the Marine. Education Our leaders-especially our noncommissioned officers-throughout the entire chain of command have kept the Corps successful and victorious. Their sense of responsibility is the cornerstone of our hard-earned successes. We will continue to develop leaders who can think on their feet, act independently, and succeed. In the future, as today, leaders will continue to instill stamina and toughness in each individual while simultaneously reinforcing character that values honor, integrity and taking care of our fellow Marines - including treating each other with dignity and respect. Aggressive and informed leadership demands education, training, and mentoring. The importance of these key elements cannot be over-emphasized, and we must attend to each at every opportunity. Marine Corps University has responsibility and authority for the planning, coordinating and overseeing all education for our Marines. The University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to confer Masters degrees and currently offers a Masters of Strategic Studies at the Marine Corps War College, and a Masters of Military Studies at the Command and Staff College. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff currently accredits the War College, Command and Staff College, and the College of Continuing Education for Phase I Joint Education. The President of the University also exercises command authority over the Expeditionary Warfare School and the Staff Noncommissioned Officer Academies worldwide. Notable accomplishments include Department of Education approval of a Masters of Operational Studies at the School of Advanced Warfighting, which is the first step toward our third Master's degree program. Plans for the future include providing coordination and continuity through a coherent education plan for all Marines. Our goal is to develop better warfighting leaders at all levels through an increased emphasis on relevant, structured education – at the graduate and undergraduate level – through both resident programs and distance education. Our intent is to greatly expand beyond the current emphasis on field-grade officers to support leadership development throughout the training and education continuum from Marine Private through General Officer, and to specifically bring senior Non-commissioned Officers further along the education continuum. Our Lifelong Learning mission is to establish an integrated approach to learning; providing Marines with one destination for enrollment in a college program, access to research tools such as books, periodicals, and the Internet, basic skills enhancement, and nonresident courses. In the face of a requirement to increase Tuition Assistance from 75% to 100% of tuition costs, and the rate from $187.50 per semester hour to $250 per semester hour, the Marine Corps added the necessary funds to expand the Tuition Assistance program in the FY04 POM, which provides sustainment until FY09. Quality of Life / Quality of Service Congressional support for increases in the Basic Allowance for Housing, as well as the aggressive Marine Corps use of the Public Private Venture (PPV) authority provided by Congress five years ago, are resulting in dramatic improvements to the housing of our Marines and their families. Your continued support of our budget to help us achieve zero out-of-pocket expenses by FY2005 is greatly appreciated. The condition of other infrastructure, such as our barracks, workspaces, and training ranges, are also key factors in overall quality of life. While our infrastructure budgets reflect only the minimal essential military construction and re-capitalization necessary, they will allow us to achieve a re-capitalization rate of 67 years within the FYDP (down from 100 years in FY99) and an improvement of our facilities readiness by FY2013. We have been aggressively working to reduce the number of Marines and civilian Marines in noncore business areas, reapplying the Marines to other operational requirements, and looking to optimize the use of civil service/contractor support where appropriate. Our track record is good. By example, we have reapplied Marines in the garrison food service and mobile equipment areas back to the operating forces and competed a significant number of civilian positions. We will continue this process in line with the President's Management Agenda to review fifty percent of our positions by FY2008. By ensuring that quality of service remains high, we will help maintain our successful record of recruitment and retention. Families The Marine Corps is an expeditionary force prepared to deploy on short notice to accomplish assigned missions. While we may recruit Marines, we almost always retain families-it becomes a family decision for a Marine to stay for an entire career. Because of our expeditionary culture, deployment support is provided to Marines and their families as part of our normal operations, largely through the efforts of Marine Corps Community Services. In addition to concerted efforts to improve housing and family services, security and support is offered during pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment phases of our operations. The Marine Corps also offers numerous programs focused on new parent support and the prevention of domestic violence, as well as services and programs for infants, toddlers, children and teens. The Exceptional Family Member Program focuses on assistance to service personnel who have a family member with special needs before, during and after Permanent Change of Station Orders. Safety Ensuring a safe command climate and working environment remains a critical concern for the Marine Corps. Often, the settings and the work our Marines do are dangerous, but effective command climates continually mitigate those dangers through planning and leadership. Our safety programs are integral to force protection and operational readiness. Leadership and programming in safety awareness and standards are vital to providing Marines and their families with a meaningful quality of |