The Commandant's Retention Program (CRP) is a key factor in retaining high-performing Marines by offering conditional reenlistments, with the FY26 program already achieving significant progress in both Active and Reserve components. CRP empowers Marines to proactively manage their careers and duty station preferences, directly contributing to the Marine Corps' overall retention success.

The Marine Corps' multiple-year reenlistment cohorts, implemented last year, are proving highly successful in boosting retention and providing Marines more control over their future, exceeding FY25 retention goals and demonstrating significant early progress in FY26. The Reserve Component is adopting a similar flexible approach, allowing Marines to commit to service regardless of their RECC cohort and supporting overall reserve strength and readiness, with full implementation across the service expected by FY27.

The Judge Advocate Continuation Pay (JACP) program was successfully initiated in FY23 to address critical retention shortfalls among judge advocates at the Captain and Major ranks. JACP, a bonus pay for eligible mid-career judge advocates in exchange for obligated service, has incentivized the continued service of hundreds of high-performing and experienced judge advocates. The program, initially implemented as a pilot, is under review for potential transition to a program of record and continued implementation.
 

In June 2023, the Service eliminated the “up or out” policy for enlisted Marines who weren’t selected to the next higher grade two or more times. This gives Marines the opportunity to serve up to the service limit for their grade based on the needs of the Service. The Marine Corps also expanded Commanding Officers’ waiver authority, permitting Corporals and Sergeants to continue serving up to 10 and 14 years, respectively, when warranted. The Service continues to analyze options for potentially expanding the service length for additional ranks to allow necessary force maturation and readiness requirements.

The Marine Corps' Enlisted Career Designation Pilot (ECDP) allows eligible E-8 and E-9 Marines with 15+ years of service to submit a final reenlistment package to serve up to the service limits of their current and potentially higher grade. This pilot program streamlines reenlistment, recognizes commitment, and provides career control, with potential for expansion based on initial success; details are in MARADMINS 076/25.

The Marine Corps is constantly improving the promotion selection board (PSB) processes and timelines to reduce short-notice orders and increase predictability for Marines and their families. This year, we shifted the Reserve Colonel, Active Reserve Colonel, and Active Reserve Lieutenant Colonel boards to convene a full month earlier. These changes are intended to ensure notification of selection have the best possible chance to occur prior to the end of the calendar year, to facilitate more efficient assignment processes, and to give more lead time to discuss career opportunities.

The Indo-Pacific Cell, created in January 2024, streamlines policies impacting Marines and their families stationed in the Indo-Pacific region, recently removing COT leave restrictions, extending civilian workforce tours, and establishing a family overseas screening cell. The Cell is now focused on improving overseas screening, addressing civilian staffing policy, and alleviating the financial burden of Indo-Pacific assignments to better support personnel and enhance operational readiness.
 

As described in our previous Talent Management Update, MCTAP targets cybersecurity and signals intelligence professionals for entry at ranks up to gunnery sergeant, dependent upon qualifications and professional experience. As of July 2025, two prior-service applicants have successfully accessed into the Marine Corps Reserve, both at the rank of gunnery sergeant and both serving in mission-critical billets within U.S. Cyber Command. MCTAP remains in a pilot status through May 2026, informing the Service’s approach to integrating experienced civilian and prior-service talent into emerging operational domains.

A Marine Corps OPT identified inconsistencies and inefficiencies within civilian Human Resource Offices (HROs) across the service, including a lack of standardization, resource constraints, and training deficits. In response, M&RA has developed Courses of Action (COAs) for CD&I consideration, aiming to streamline the reporting structure, increase flexibility, and standardize HR functions across the Marine Corps.

The Promotion Board Alternate Selection Pilot continues to mitigate post-board personnel staffing shortfalls across the Service resulting from Marines choosing not to accept the required obligated service following selection for promotion. Since FY24, 1,245 active-duty and reserve Marines were selected as alternates, with 259 being subsequently designated for promotion. Alternates do not incur a failure of selection and a letter annotating selection is placed within their Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). This program will continue on the FY26 SNCO PSBs.

The Marine Corps Graduate Education Program-Enlisted (MCGEP-E) pilot program, mandated by the FY23 NDAA, has sent two cohorts of enlisted Marines to the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) for master's degrees. The first cohort is currently serving in utilization tours, and the second cohort will follow in 2026; their performance will be assessed to determine the program's future viability.
 

The Marine Corps is refining the integration of PME and advanced education programs with follow-on assignments, exploring pre-school billet identification for JPME I and II and assessing the ROI of 88XX post-graduate programs for long-term Force Design contributions. The service is also evaluating career pathways for Doctor of Philosophy graduates (Strategist and Technical programs) in various Service, Joint, and national security enterprise billets, while ensuring equitable advancement for these Marines compared to their peers in traditional assignments. The goal is to maximize the utility of specialized skills and enhance military capabilities.
 

The Marine Corps is improving the efficiency of its selection board process by leveraging modern tools like machine learning and AI to automate data collection, distribute cases, and pre-fill briefing templates. These initiatives aim to free up board members' time, allowing them to focus on record details and ultimately select the most qualified and high-performing Marines for future assignments.

The Marine Corps is prioritizing stability by reducing PCS moves and increasing PCA, but recognizes that PCS is still necessary for Talent Management and Force Design. To improve the PCS experience, the Corps is distributing orders earlier, enabling Marines to better plan and coordinate critical elements like spousal employment, housing, childcare, and school enrollment. The Marine Corps continuously seeks PCS efficiencies to ensure every move contributes to its overall objectives.

The Marine Corps is experiencing improved MOS health due to increased retention and lateral moves, setting a record with 1,165 Marines reenlisting for lateral moves in FY25 and seeing strong early progress in FY26. The Prior Service Enlistment Program (PSEP) further supports this by allowing former Marines to join new occupational fields. Similarly, the Reserve Component offers lateral move opportunities through DAP, aligning with Force Design manpower demands and providing incentives upon completion of training.

The Marine Corps has streamlined processes to encourage prior service Marines to return to active duty, including a rolling application process for officers, increased participation in the PSEP program, and expanded direct affiliation opportunities through DAP with various incentives. The ADOS program provides qualified reserve component Marines with opportunities to fill critical full-time positions while on active duty, with improved budget projections enabling better planning and utilization.
 

The Marine Corps is addressing promotion shortfalls, particularly at the Staff Sergeant level, while maintaining the importance of Professional Military Education (PME) for career advancement. While PME completion is correlated with promotion, a prior shortfall was largely due to Marines not completing PME. The Marine Corps aims to balance MOS health and PME standards in its promotion process to ensure fully qualified Marines fill leadership roles and mitigate the promotion shortfall.

 

The Marine Corps is modernizing officer career structures by refining Colonel PMOSs, approved in July 2025 and slated for inclusion in the FY27 MOS Manual. This will improve alignment of skills with organizational needs, increase career flexibility, provide better insights into occupational health, and enable future experimentation with alternative promotion models and staff track programs.
 

The Marine Corps has expanded delegation authority for civilian overseas tour extensions, allowing for streamlined approvals at lower levels due to authorization from the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and the FY25 NDAA. A pilot program, expiring December 23, 2026, allows a one-time 5-year extension approved by the first GS-15/O-6 in the chain of command, without requiring a business case, but limits total overseas service to 10 years.
 

Recognizing the need for modern information tools, the Marine Corps established the Manpower Information Technology Systems Modernization (MITSM) Program Office, which is driving technology modernization efforts. MITSM's strategy employs adaptive acquisition pathways for rapid prototyping and commercial technology, supporting six major initiatives including IT/Data Modernization, a Talent Marketplace, retention modernization, and Models Modernization, ultimately aiming to modernize all HR processes.

To increase transparency and empower Marines in their assignments, the Marine Corps developed the Talent Management Engagement Platform (TMEP), an internal prototype accessible to officers from 2nd Lieutenant to Colonel. After evaluating TMEP alongside two commercial Marketplace prototypes, senior leadership will select the best enterprise talent marketplace solution in late 2025. The selected platform will then be adopted as the primary HR process platform, beginning with the assignments process.
 

Recognizing outdated digital talent management systems, the MITSM strategy initiated a manpower models modernization roadmap, functionally replacing staffing goal models at M&RA with AI-driven versions. Development of target force, end strength planning, production, and promotion models is ongoing. These upgrades aim to enhance the Marine Corps' ability to meet its critical accessions, retention, and manpower planning missions, attracting and retaining top talent.
 

The Marine Corps developed a prototype replacement for the Total Force Retention System (TFRS), called TFRS 2.0, designed to be a user-friendly, paperless, and cloud-based system. However, initial testing revealed the need for further refinements, so the Marine Corps will continue to use the legacy TFRS process while evaluating the future of this initiative.
 

The Marine Corps conducted a comprehensive review of the Performance Evaluation System (PES) in the first half of 2025, the first since 1998, analyzing various aspects like counseling, training, evaluation tools, and IT systems. The review questioned the consistency of evaluation attributes across ranks with differing responsibilities and identified focus areas for further analysis, acknowledging the overall effectiveness of the current system while seeking improvements, pending senior leader review.