Corps slashes 300 jobs in cost-cutting move - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Corps slashes 300 jobs in cost-cutting move

The Marine Corps will cut 300 currently empty jobs from the service as part of cost-cutting measures put in place to reduce the size of the service.

The empty job slots, known as boatspaces, were described in Marine administrative message 025/10, dated Jan. 15. They will be cut as part of a larger, seven-point plan to help officials with Manpower & Reserve Affairs, based at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., cut the size of the service to about 202,100 Marines by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. As of Jan. 21, the Corps had 204,280 Marines, said Maj. Shawn Haney, a Manpower spokeswoman.

In an interview with Marine Corps Times, Lt. Gen. Richard Zilmer, Manpower’s commander, said the service must reduce its size after several years of rapid growth to 202K.

“What we’re operating in now with this growth, this meteoric rise to 204K, it’s costing us money that we had not projected,” Zilmer said during an interview at Manpower headquarters, based at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. “The force is [supposed to be] 202,000, and that’s what we want to work our way down to.”

A breakdown of the military occupational specialties affected by the cuts:

MOS and Current 2010 goal/Previous 2010 goal

0151 Administrative clerk 156/176

0351 Infantry assaultman 37/57

0411 Maintenance management specialist 44/50

0621 Field radio operator 246/276

0622 Digital multi-channel wideband transmission equipment operator 30/40

0844 Field artillery fire control man 38/43

1142 Electrical equipment repair specialist 24/34

1171 Hygiene equipment operator 18/28

1391 Bulk fuel specialist 37/42

2111 Small arms repairer/technician 48/58

2311 Ammunition technician 52/62

2831 Multichannel equipment repairer 4/12

2834 Satellite communications technician 6/28

2844 Ground communications organizational repairer 73/83

3043 Supply administration and operations clerk 169/179

3531 Motor vehicle operator 304/334

4341 Combat correspondent 27/32

5811 Military police 76/91

5939 Aviation communication systems technician 25/30

6112 Helicopter mechanic, CH-46 9/14

6122 Helicopter Power Plants Mechanic, T-58 2/4

6172 Helicopter crew chief, CH-46 11/13

6414 Advanced aircraft communications/navigation systems technician, intermediate maintenance activity 21/26

6531 Aviation ordnance technician (organizational/squadron level) 69/84

6672 Aviation supply specialist 77/87

7051 Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Specialist 45/65

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For details about the other six pieces of the Corps’ plan, see the Feb. 1 Marine Corps Times.