The Marine Corps is incentivizing major retention bonuses for enlisted troops who are willing to switch into high-tech jobs, while many in traditional roles — including infantry — can now get smaller bonuses for re-upping in their current role.
Marines with more than a decade into their careers could see bonuses that edge past $60,000 in some cases.
Under a MARADMIN released last week, mid-career Marines can earn as much as $50,000 by retraining into emerging fields that support drones, cyber, and intelligence operations. Marines who crosstrain as a Marine Raider, a special operations role for which candidates must complete a grueling selection process, can also earn a bonus up to $50,000.
For Marines who’d rather stay in their current jobs, the service is also offering “kicker” programs to those already in traditional roles in aircraft maintenance, aircraft readiness, air traffic control, and infantry. Those kickers vary from $5,000 to $30,000, depending on terms of reenlistment.
Infantry Marines will get their own shot at a bonus, with $7,000 for a two-year reenlistment, and up to $30,000 for three years.
According to Marine officials, the bonus programs are meant to fill high-need military occupational specialties, MOSes, but do not represent a downsizing of other jobs in the service.
“I don’t think there are any jobs at the moment that we are trying to shrink. There are jobs that we are definitely trying to expand,” said Maj. Jacoby Getty, a spokesperson for the Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs. “Those MOSes that are getting these bonuses, those are the low-density, highly critical demanding ones.”
The MARADMIN spells out different bonus options available in fiscal year 2027 for Marines, which vary from Marines with just over a year in the service to those who are nearing the end of a 20-year career.
Largest bonuses to those who retrain for drone or cyber
Some of the most enticing bonuses will be offered to Marines who make lateral moves with a seven-year reenlistment. The highest bonuses will go to those willing to be counterintelligence/human intelligence specialists, cyberspace warfare operators, criminal investigators, MQ-9 Reaper drone mechanics, drone technicians, influence operations specialists, and low altitude air defense gunners.
For instance, Marines change jobs and become cyber operators, lance corporals can earn up to $53,500, while sergeants and above can earn a $57,750 bonus. New influence operations specialist Marines can earn $64,000 as a corporal or $65,000 as a sergeant and above.
The latest retention bonus program follows a December MARADMINS where the Marine Corps announced officer positions that the service was incentivizing for jobs in infantry, intelligence, logistics, and aircraft maintenance.
Marines who decide to switch MOSes will not see the bonus hit their bank accounts on the day they sign their paperwork. Instead, the bonus will be paid out after they finish their new primary MOS training, according to the notice.
“Marines who fail to complete required [lateral move primary MOS] training will be re-designated or administratively separated according to the needs of the Marine Corps and will receive no bonus, even if the PMOS the Marine is reclassified into is eligible to receive one,” according to the MARADMIN.
The reenlistment training will depend on the type of MOS. For instance, Marines who are becoming cyber operators will have to go to a six-month school at Fort Stewart, Georgia, Getty said.
“If it’s already an intel Marine and he’s changing into something very specific into a niche intel MOS, he will still require some sort of additional training, but it’s probably not gonna be the full gambit that a ‘Joe-Schmo’ Marine that had no intel background at all,” Getty said. “For the most part, every lateral move will incur some sort of additional MOS training.”
Smaller bonuses for shorter reenlistments
The service is also offering a $35,000 six-year lateral move bonus for mid-career Marines who will change course and become a counterintelligence specialist, Marine Raider, influence operations specialist, Explosive Ordnance Disposal tech, or criminal investigator.
Other bonuses laid out in the MARADMIN include between $5,000 and $15,000 for aircraft maintainers, up to $24,000 for aircraft readiness Marines, depending on the number of necessary military occupational specialties they hold.
Air traffic controller Marines can be eligible for $40,000 bonuses, and Marines in infantry jobs can get up to $7,000 for a two-year reenlistment and up to $30,000 for a three-year reenlistment.
“Retention goals are vital for shaping and sustaining the Marine Corps’ enlisted force. It is imperative the Marine Corps builds upon past successes and continues to prioritize retaining the best and most talented Marines,” the notice states.
Overall, Marines are limited to a total of $360,000 in retention bonuses over their entire career and are only able to receive one of the bonus options in fiscal year 2027 — even if they qualify for multiple kickers.
The kicker programs only apply to active duty Marines and are not for those in the Marine Corps Reserve.
