Marine Forces Reserve is the headquarters command for approximately 40,000 drilling Selected Reserve Marines and 184 Reserve Training Centers located throughout the United States. The mission of Marine Forces Reserve is to augment and reinforce active Marine forces in time of war, national emergency, or contingency operations; to provide personnel and operational tempo relief for the active forces in peacetime; and to provide service to the community. MARFORRES is composed primarily of two groups of Marines and Sailors. The first, known as the Selected Marine Corps Reserve, are Marines who typically belong to reserve units and have a minimum obligation to drill one weekend a month and two weeks a year. The second group is known as the Individual Ready Reserve. The IRR is composed of Marines who have finished their active duty or USMCR obligations, however, their names remain on record to be called up in case of a war or other emergency – the Individual Ready Reserve is administered by the Marine Corps Individual Reserve Support Activity. IRR Marines participate in annual musters to check in with the Corps. While MFR units have US Navy Sailors assigned to perform medical and religious program specialty services, those Sailors are not members of the Marine Corps Reserve. Instead, they are a mix of US Navy Reserve and US Navy Regular Sailors detailed by the Navy to serve alongside Marines. In addition, through the MCIRSA, MFR administers a small number of reserve Marines assigned to either the Active Status List or Inactive Status List of the Standby Reserve, a category reserved for those Marines who remain members of the USMCR but are either retained involuntarily for various reasons, or unable to participate in SMCR activities.
Reserve units utilize infrastructure when mobilized through Reserve Support Units located at various bases throughout the U.S..
Enlistment
Enlistment in the Marine Forces Reserve occurs through a process similar to that for enlistment in the regular active Marine Corps. Recruits must take the ASVAB, pass a comprehensive physical exam, and be sworn in. They may enter through a billet in the Delayed Entry Program. Reserve recruits currently attend recruit training along with active duty recruits, earning the title United States Marine upon successful completion of the training. They then have a mandatory leave of 10 days before further training at the School of Infantry and their designated Military Occupational Specialty. Only after completing the training program does a Reserve Marine's enlistment begin to differ from that of an active duty Marine. There is a program called the Select Reserve Incentive Program, which provides enlistment bonuses for Reservists enlisting for needed MOSs. Half is payable upon completion of training and the other half is spread out over the term of enlistment.
Commission
For those who have earned a college degree, the Reserve Officer Commissioning Program provides a path directly into the Marine Corps Reserve leading to a commission as an officer of Marines. Upon selection from a regional Officer Selection Office, applicants attend Officer Candidates School at Quantico, Virginia. Upon successful completion of OCS, candidates are commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and subsequently attend the Basic Officer Course at The Basic School, Quantico, Virginia. Following graduation of TBS and follow-on MOS training, officers either report to their reserve unit, or have the option to complete a one-year experience tour with an active duty unit.
Service
Reservists, like all new service members, contract for eight-year terms. There are three options on how these terms may be served, one of which is designated upon signing.
6x2 – Under this option the reservist spends 6 years drilling with an SMCR unit and fulfills the remaining two in the Individual Ready Reserve. This is the only option which makes Reservists eligible for the benefits of the Montgomery GI Bill unless they complete periods of active duty, and is also the most common.
5x3 – Under this option the reservist spends 5 years drilling with an SMCR unit and fulfills the remaining three in the Individual Ready Reserve.
4x4 – Under this option the Reservist spends 4 years drilling with an SMCR unit and fulfills the remaining four in the Individual Ready Reserve. The 4x4 option is popular among officers.
After serving several years in the Reserves and attaining leadership rank it is possible for an enlisted Reservist to receive a commission through the Reserve Enlisted Commissioning Program. Marines who have previously served on active duty, whether officer or enlisted, can join the Select Marine Corps Reserve directly. Veteran Marines wishing to do this go through a Marine Corps Prior Service Recruiter. The mission of the Prior Service Recruiter is to join members from the Individual Ready Reserve to SMCR units close to their home. Marine reservists are allowed to serve simultaneously in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and in the naval militia of their state of residence; however, when called into federal service, reservists are relieved from service and duty in the naval militia until released from active duty.
