With the drawdown still in effect, Marine officials will remain busy shaping the size and composition of the Corps in 2015.

Bonuses, promotions and new requirements for promotions are all tools officials with Manpower and Reserve Affairs have at their disposal to reshape the service in the coming 12 months. Though Corps leadership recently indicated they are planning to end the drawdown with about 182,000 Marines, this scenario depends upon Congress lifting sequestration.

RELATED: The year ahead, what every Marine needs to know

The original plan called for culling the Corps to about 174,000 by the end of 2017. In either case, the service will need to shed 4,000 Marines in 2015 to meet its targets.

Here's what Marines need to know about bonuses and promotions next year:

Re-enlistment bonuses E-ENLISTMENT BONUSES

Re-up bonuses will continue to shrink in 2015, with the overall budget falling from $79 million to just $55 million — what planners have called a pre-9/11 level.

That is not to say that some Marines won't still receive generous incentives, however.

Even if amounts are shrinking, bonuses will be offered to first-term Marines reenlisting in more military occupational specialties than last year — 63 percent compared to 53 percent. But the bulk of money — about 80 percent of the entire bonus budget — will be taken home by Marines in one of five in-demand MOSs. Those include: 0211 counterintelligence/human intelligence specialist; 0321 reconnaissance man; 0372 critical skills operator; 0689 cyber security technician; and 2336 explosive ordnance disposal technician.

Promotion forecast ROMOTION FORECAST

While more clarity is expected in the weeks to come, MOS-specific promotion forecasts remain unclear for 2015.

What manpower officials have said is that there are jobs that will obviously see significant cuts and others growth moving ahead. Career-minded Marines would do well to consider a lateral move if they find themselves in a dead-end specialty, or are simply looking to improve their odds at picking up rank faster, taking home bonuses and making it to a full retirement.

MOSs directly tied to airframes whose days are numbered — for example, the CH-46 Sea Knight — should consider retraining. The venerable helicopter is being replaced by the MV-22 Osprey which will fulfill the service's medium-lift capability. Thus, any Osprey-related jobs are growth jobs that aviation Marines should consider moving into.

Maintainers who work with the EA-6B Prowler, which is also being phased out, are likely to face similar challenges.

On the other hand, cyber warfare-related, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and Marine Corps Special Operations Command 0372 critical skills operator communities are growing.

Professional military education changes ROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION CHANGES

Lance corporals and corporals eying promotions can expect additional professional military education coursework starting Oct. 1.

Marines going from lance corporal to corporal must attend the Leading Marines course and a newly refined command-sponsored Lance Corporals Leadership and Ethics Seminar. In addition to the Corporals Course Distance Education Program, would-be sergeants must complete a command-sponsored corporals course.

Similar requirements for sergeants trying to make staff sergeants, and staff sergeants trying to make gunny will go into effect in 2016.

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