In 2022, potential future Marines will run through more tests to ensure they are the right fit for the Corps and to get better matched with a job that best matches their skills.
The change comes as the Corps overhauls its manpower and retention policies in order to improve retention and create an older, smarter force.
On the enlisted side, prospective new Marines currently are given a list of contracts they qualify for primarily based on armed services vocational aptitude battery, or ASVAB, scores.
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While many can become Marines with a good enough physical test and ASVAB score, the actual job they get is based more on when they happened to ship to boot camp than on actual aptitude.
In 2022 the Marine Corps will give recruits a wider variety of tests better outline who is likely to make it through boot camp and who is most likely to have a long successful Marine Corps career.
Though the rollout will begin in 2022 it likely will not be fully operational until 2024, Maj. Bob Jankowski, with Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs, told reporters Nov. 22, 2021.
“Better aligning Marines to an (military occupational specialty) that aligns with both their interests and abilities will have positive impacts on retention,” Jankowski said.
The Marine Corps is still working out how to best implement the tool on the enlisted side. It likely will be a hybrid method that sees some Marines sign an umbrella contract while others sign a job specific one.
Officers also will take extra tests that will be used to guide them through their preference ranking at The Basic School.
The new officers will have a chance to discuss the results to ensure they are ranking their preferences based on their strengths and desires.
“We’re actually given them an opportunity to have a best fit for them in the assignment, where they would be happier,” Bohm said. “And if you’re happier in your assignment, not just doing what dad told you to do, or because you didn’t know any better, but something you’re actually best suited for and would be happier doing that’s going to help our retention efforts as well.”
