Manpower officials have recently announced suspension of the Corps’ Voluntary Separation Pay program for officers and enlisted Marines, as the service begins nearing its drawdown targets that will reduce the ranks to 182,000 by the end of 2017.
The program was a voluntary force-shaping program rolled out in 2013 that offered Marines a lump-sum payout to leave the service early. Carefully targeted only to Marines in overpopulated ranks and military occupational specialties, VSP it could amounted to six-figure payouts for some depending on rank and years of service.
An eligible gunnery sergeant with 16 years of service, for example, would receive $161,291 before taxes under the payout programVSP.
Marine officials have said they viewed suspending the program in 2016 as a possibility. Col. William Tosick, the head of Manpower and Reserve Affairs’ plans, programs and budget branch recently told Marine Corps Times that VSP wouldn’t be offered to officers next year and that the service was considering suspending it on the enlisted side as well. “Voluntary Separation Pay will not be offered to officers in [fiscal year 2016], and we are considering suspension of the FY16 enlisted VSP,” Col. William Tosick, the head of Manpower and Reserve Affairs Plans, Programs and Budget Branch recently told Marine Corps Times.
But the release of an officials message Wednesday afternoon removes any doubt about cancellation of both versions of the program.
“The VSP program is suspended as it is no longer required to meet end-strength requirements or force shaping efforts,” reads Marine administrative message 279/15 states, signed June 10.
The decision to cut the program for officers was made as the service already hit its drawdown target of 20,912 personnel officers in all. Manpower officials said they have no need to cut the overall number of officers any further, but still have work ahead to even out shortages and overages in certain ranks and MOSs.
Requests for VSP that are already being processed should be honored. But all new VSP requests received by Marine officials npower following release of the message “will be administratively closed,” meaning those Marines who were preparing to submit or whose requests were still en route to Quantico, Virginia, will miss out.
While VSP is now a things of the past, other voluntary force-shaping measures remain in effect, including the following programs:
VEERP
For enlisted Marines, there remains a way to leave uniform early through the Voluntary Enlisted Early Release Program. VEERP, however, does not offer any financial incentive.
“The program allows a Marine who does not have enough time left on contract to deploy, and chooses not to extend, to separate early, making a vacancy to either re-enlist or access an additional Marine to get to the [operating force],” Tosick said.
On average, Marines leave the service four months early under the program, he said. But VEERP, unlike VSP, is less a force-shaping tool under the drawdown. It is more intended as a cost savings measure and to help deploying units head out deploy with a full cadre of Marines.
TERA
There are financial incentives to leave uniform that will be preserved, even if offered to fewer Marines, as a drawdown steady state is reached, Manpower officials say.
The Temporary Early Retirement Authorization program was recently significantly trimmed, but the program will endure for officers and enlisted even after the service hits 182,000 Marines.
While it will be offered to just eight officer MOSs in fiscal 2016 compared to 26 when it was announced last year, the Corps manpower will continue to use the program as long as it the service has Congressional approval. Current approval extends through 2018, at which point the service would have to plea for a renewal. The program has also declined slightly on the enlisted side., it has also shrunk, but only slightly.
“In order to continue to keep faith with twice passed majors and staff sergeants not selected for retention via a force shaping board, we will need to have the ability to offer them full retirement benefits (though with a reduced pension based upon actual years of service) through TERA,” said Col. William Tosick said, the head of Manpower’s Programs and Budget Branch.
Like VSP, the program was carefully targeted to overpopulated ranks and MOSs. However, when a longstanding policy allowing Marines who reached the rank of major to remain in uniform to a 20-year retirement even if they were not competitive for promotion was rescinded, TERA was offered to those Marines as compensation.
As the drawdown got underway in 2013 then-Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Jim Amos said that as part of efforts to “keep faith with Marines and their families” they would continue the practice. But when he reversed course in 2013, he directed the use of TERA as a way to still provide those Marines some reduced retirement benefits.
At that time, Corps officials said those who attained the rank of staff sergeant would be able to finish out a 20-year career. That policy was reversed in fiscal 2014, with the service began offering TERA to all staff sergeants separated by retention boards.
