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Corps calls up IRR Marines for Iraq

Most of the 1,800 Individual Ready Reservists the Corps involuntarily recalled this week will be sent to Iraq to fill specialty jobs the service is having trouble filling, according to a mobilization official.

Letters were mailed Monday to those IRR Marines, notifying them of an April muster in Kansas City, Lt. Col. Jeff Riehl, a mobilization officer with Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said Monday at a press briefing.

Those accepted for active duty will be issued orders to report for an Iraq deployment with I Marine Expeditionary Force in October, he said.

“Unit deployment dates will be in early 2008,” he said.

The Corps is authorized to involuntarily activate 2,500 IRR leathernecks at one time.

Mobilization officials called up 150 IRR Marines in December, of which only 69 were fit for active duty. This second round of involuntary call-ups will target 1,800, with the aim of filling about 1,200 active-duty slots.

Specifically, the Corps wants 361 aviation mechanics, 225 for logistics support, 223 for combat arms, 178 for motor transport, 97 for communication, 95 for intelligence and 21 for military police, Riehl said.

This week’s call-up is heavy on junior leathernecks and midgrade officers, including more than 1,000 sergeants and more than 100 captains, Riehl said.

“The Marine Corps is using the Marines in a prudent and judicious manner. We’re targeting the Marines that we need to get specific skill sets. And we’ve also adopted the philosophy of do no harm to the Marine,” Riehl said.

It would be possible for an activated IRR Marine to get a waiver for active-duty deployment through the issuance of a Delay, Deferment and Exemption for medical or family issues, he explained.

While some IRR Marines have volunteered for active duty, their efforts have not done much to alleviate the Corps’ manpower shortage in Iraq, Riehl said.

“The calls that come into me, unfortunately, are not the grade and [military occupational specialties] that we’re looking for. ... I don’t have the right mix of volunteers. So by targeting specific grades and MOSs, we can pull those Marines that we really need to go fill shortfalls.”

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Corps calls up IRR Marines for Iraq