Training new officers lags behind enlisted pace

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Training new officers lags behind enlisted pace
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Dec 8, 2008 15:55:50 EST

MARINE BASE QUANTICO, Va. — Adding more enlisted Marines means adding more officers to lead them, but growing them as fast as the Corps would like remains a struggle.

By the time a new Marine second lieutenant hits the fleet, the junior officer has spent more than a year in officer training and specialty schooling. And while the Corps has adjusted to make the growth to 202,000 Marines happen quickly, the officer portion can’t match the enlisted side step for step and will take until fiscal 2011 to reach steady state.

“There are only so many folks we can fit through the belly of the snake,” said Lt. Col. Scott Casey, head of officer programs with Marine Corps Recruiting Command. “All of our programs, they were planned four or five years ago (before the 202K), and it takes time for that seed corn to grow.”

The Basic School, where newly commissioned officers spend six months before going to their Military Occupational Specialty schools, added a seventh company of about 300 Marines in fiscal 2008, an influx that meant as many as five companies were on hand for one portion of the year, said Col. George Smith, TBS commander. Overall, about 2,000 Marines graduated TBS in fiscal 2008 as the companies came through on a rolling basis. In a typical year, the school sees about 1,600 lieutenants.

“Week in and week out, the institution is busier, based just on through-put,” Smith said during an interview in his TBS office, found west of Quantico’s main side aboard Camp Barrett.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/12/marine_TBScrunch_120808w/%2e