Every Marine internalizes a belief that—whether a proverbial “cook, baker, or candlestick maker”—he or she is a rifleman who happens to work a side gig as a communications technician, an aircraft mechanic, or any other specialization.
This generalist ethos has served the Marine Corps well since it came into being, and it continues to serve well today. Rigorous indoctrination and continual training emphasize it throughout a Marine’s career. It starts during recruit training and Marine combat training for enlisted and at Officer Candidate School and The Basic School for officers. It is reinforced later through events such as rifle qualification and battle skills training.
The bias towards generalism is reflected and amplified by manpower policies that require periodically leaving jobs in one’s military occupational specialty (MOS) for so-called B billets outside the Marine’s area of expertise. To be promoted, and thus entitled to stay in the service, a Marine must spend a substantial part of his or her career in B billets.
Among the most prized B billets for enlisted are special duty assignments as recruiters, drill instructors, Marine combat instructors, and Marine security guards. There are thousands of other jobs in the supporting establishment, from instructor to inspector.
Officers experience even more career-broadening assignments than enlisted. Nearly every other tour is supposed to be a B billet, and most of those have little to do with the officer’s MOS.
Limited Capacity
B billets aside, there also is a pervasive practice of sending Marines away from their jobs for shorter periods even while assigned in their primary MOSs. Junior Marines are often conscripted into mess duty, combat cargo, or guard duty even as they are still learning their crafts.
People have a given capacity for learning and retaining skills and knowledge. Even a short time away from regular practice degrades critical skills. Sometimes degradation is slight, but other times skills fall to a level that is potentially unsafe.
Consider a collateral duty inspector (CDI) in an aviation squadron. A CDI is a resident expert in aviation maintenance who is qualified to double-check other Marines’ work before aircraft are certified safe to fly.
A motivated Marine can qualify as a CDI in his or her first four-year enlistment. The first several months of that enlistment were spent in recruit training, Marine combat training, and A-school. The Marine then spent a couple weeks each year on the rifle range, a few more on guard duty or the mess decks, and still more on other training and housekeeping chores. All told, he or she probably spends less than half those four years working on aircraft. Nevertheless, this Marine is considered the duty expert for all but the most complex tasks. No one in commercial aviation is designated an inspector after turning a wrench for the equivalent of barely two years. This cumulative difference in specialized experience likely helps explain why commercial aviation generally has far higher levels of aircraft availability than the military.
Aviation MOSs rigorously measure tasks, skills, and currency, so the results of disrupted training are most apparent in those fields—but it affects many other technical jobs. The shortcomings of generalism will become more obvious as more unmanned systems enter service and even relatively mundane ground vehicles gain sophisticated electronics. How many models of drones could an operator expect to pilot? Systems are becoming more software-defined, and even old platforms can change fast.
Every time the Marine Corps sends away a subject matter expert, that person comes back less able to do his or her primary MOS. For some Marines it is worthwhile, but for those whose aptitudes lie in highly technical specialties, it may not be the best use of time.
Flexible Solutions
The supporting establishment does not run itself, and B billets are important. The question is how to get that work done while retaining expertise.
There are ways to reduce the need for Marines to spend so much time outside the fleet. For one, contractors and federal civilians could perform a greater share of nondeploying jobs. Unfortunately, the current trend is to shed civilian staff, which means more Marines will end up peeling potatoes and mowing grass because no one else is available.
Other jobs could be targeted for homesteading, both to aid retention and to reduce the number of bodies needed to rotate through certain roles. This could even include some special duty assignment roles. For instance, while today gunnery sergeants are the lowest rank eligible to serve as career recruiters, this could be lowered to include staff sergeants. Many Marines would forego upward mobility if they were able to stay in a desired job or duty station. Retaining them would require changes to policy, but that flexibility would be in line with Force Design.
Unfortunately, every Marine must pursue higher rank and command, whether or not they want it or are suited for it. This is especially true for officers. The selection rate for the 2024 lieutenant colonel command board was less than 24 percent. While selectivity is desirable, a 3-to-1 failure ratio suggests many officers spent many years chasing the wrong goal; or perhaps pretending to, since being promoted is the only way to stay a Marine. By treating Marines as individuals, and not as interchangeable parts, the Marine Corps can unlock underused talents.
Not All Officers Will Lead Large Units
There are good officers who are not destined to be good battalion or squadron commanders. What if those officers could step off the command track in favor of billets directly related to their primary MOS duties? A non–command track could initially grow the talent base in technically demanding fields such as aviation, unmanned systems, and cyber, but it could be expanded as necessary. At the rank of captain, these individuals could formally elect to continue to serve as subject matter experts in their MOSs. They would be reclassified as limited duty officers, with promotions limited to lieutenant colonel, and would thereafter serve only in billets requiring specialized knowledge in their MOSs. This could include being resident experts in fleet units or instructors in formal schools.
Specialization is not stagnation. The promotion and retention of these officers would be separated from the senior leader track for board purposes. Time-in-grade requirements would be different. Since they would no longer necessarily be subject to up-or-out, these officers would periodically be evaluated for retention to ensure they still uphold the standards expected of Marine officers.
Fewer officers would learn to command at the operational and strategic levels of war. This realignment of billets would allow time for more advanced education, as well as joint, foreign-exchange, and high-level staff experience, for these officers to become true strategic thinkers before taking command.
Enlisted Expertise in the Right Places
In the enlisted ranks, rather than split technical and general career paths only at first sergeant/master sergeant, specialist career paths starting at corporal should be opened to certain MOSs. Aircraft maintenance, cyber, UASs, and communications would likely be first, with other technical fields to follow as the personnel models are finetuned and validated. The number of spaces would need to be carefully calibrated to grow a cadre of technical experts while not overstressing the rest of the force.
These Marines would have different, likely longer, time-in-grade standards than those in traditional career paths. They would be ineligible for formal leadership roles within their units and limited in advancement to E-6 unless selected for warrant officer. Lengthening the careers of Marines outstanding in certain specialties would keep expertise and maturity at the operational level.
The U.S. Army currently has the specialist-4 rank, above which soldiers rejoin the standard noncommissioned officer ranks. But the service used to have distinct specialist ranks and insignia above E-4: specialist-5, specialist-6, etc. Similarly, the Marine Corps could change the names and insignia for these Marines’ ranks for clarity. The Corps could append “specialist” to corporal and sergeant (e.g. “corporal specialist”) and reinstate the “technical sergeant” rank as E-6.
These Marines would become true experts in their fields, not diverting for three years or more at a time. This would benefit the professionalism of technical MOSs by nearly doubling the sets and reps mechanics and technicians receive in a career. It would mold resident experts within units who are valued for their knowledge and ability to teach. These specialists would improve the material readiness of the Marine Corps’ aircraft, ground vehicles, and communications equipment.
Such an initiative would increase the need for other Marines to fill B billets. Senior officers are expected to have diverse and career-broadening experiences, and so should senior enlisted personnel. Senior noncommissioned officers in technical fields who do not elect to specialize would become generalists to an even greater degree. This would better prepare them to fill roles as noncommissioned officers in charge, senior enlisted advisors, and unit logisticians, and it would professionalize functions such as supervising close-order drill and maintaining infantry skills in noncombat arms units. This individualization of career paths will help more Marines reach their potential to the benefit of the service.
Modern Training Moves in Several Directions
The problems facing Marine units today are complex, requiring leaders with diverse experiences and the problem-solving skills to match. But new technology also means maintaining technical expertise and proficiency is a full-time job.
Force Design and Talent Management 2030 have increased the ways to serve in the Marine Corps, but there is still much left to do to ensure the service is getting the best out of every Marine. Personalizing career paths will not only improve job satisfaction and retention, but it also will improve combat effectiveness. The Marine Corps needs both generalists and specialists at the right places and times. Allowing individuals to better align with their talents would go a long way towards ensuring they arrive on time, on target, at the point of need.
