Marine Corps exceeds recruiting goals, 1026 Marines serving in Iraq reenlist

DefenseLink News Article: Marine Corps Exceeds Recruiting, Retention Numbers

The Marine Corps announced today that it exceeded its recruiting and retention expectations for the year, marking the first milestone in a push to significantly expand the overall force by 2011.

During a background briefing at the Pentagon today, Marine Corps officials told reporters that the Corps’ end strength stands at 186,000 Marines, some 2,000 more than officials expected when fiscal 2007 ended Sept. 30.

“At a time of unprecedented challenges to the all-volunteer force, to achieve such a growth so quickly and without compromising our high standards, it is an enormous credit to our Marines and to the young patriots who continue to step forward to serve,” a Marine Corps official said.

Officials declined to release an official figure but said that the corps exceeded its fiscal 2007 recruiting goal to enlist 35,576 recruits. Thirty-one percent of eligible Marines in their first term re-enlisted during that time, up from 22 percent in 2006. From the career force, 70 percent reenlisted, compared to 65 percent last year.

In one notable two-week period in July, 1,025 Marines re-enlisted while serving in Iraq. This figure more than tripled the amount of re-enlistments that occurred during prior visits by manpower representatives to Marines deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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