---
title: "The Marine Corps Is Offering Enlistment Bonuses For Grunts… Again"
date: "2017-09-13"
modified: "2017-09-13"
authors:
  - name: "James Clark"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/james-clark/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-corps-enlistment-bonus-infantry/"
categories:
  - "Career"
  - "Field Guide"
---

# The Marine Corps Is Offering Enlistment Bonuses For Grunts… Again

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/19042672-1.jpg>)

The Marines are looking for a few good recruits to bolster the ranks, and the Corps is willing to pay a little something extra for those looking to go infantry. Emphasis on *little*.

According to a [Sept. 12 MARADMIN](<https://www.marines.mil/News/Messages/Messages-Display/Article/1307650/fy18-enlistment-incentive-programs/>) for fiscal year 2018, the service is willing to shell out $5,000 for would-be Marines who enlist to be grunts… with a six-year contract, rather than the usual four. The bonus amounts to roughly $833 extra each year and applies to the following infantry military occupational specialties: Marine rifleman (0311), machine gunner (0331), mortarman (0341), assaultman (0351), anti-tank guided missileman (0352), and light armored vehicle (LAV) crewman (0313).

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/image-placeholder-title-1218.png>)

The bonuses for the 2018 fiscal year mirror those in [2017](<https://www.marines.mil/News/Messages/Messages-Display/Article/958091/fy17-enlistment-incentive-programs/>) and [2016](<https://www.marines.mil/News/Messages/Messages-Display/Article/897525/fy16-enlistment-incentive-programs/>) for infantry Marines — five large, but with the caveat that you’ll have to wait an extra two years to get your hands on that DD214 and GI Bill money.

Related: The 5 Worst Marine Corps Bases To Live On »

$5,000 may seem like a lot, but when it comes with an extra two years latched onto the contract... eh, not so much.

Active-duty Marine life isn’t all bad, but it doesn’t take long for even the most motivated and gung-ho devil dog to start yearning for their [EAS](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoxdT2xhra8>). Doubly so when you think about the crap grunts have [to put up with](<https://terminallance.com/2017/08/22/terminal-lance-488-brief-moments-glory/>). Two extra years of ass-chewings, standing by to stand by, and waiting for hours to turn in rifles at the armory seems like it's worth a lot more than the extra $70 bucks you’ll have in your bank account each month.

And, let’s be honest, most boot Marines will blow that lump-sum bonus their first weekend out on the town at [J-Vegas](<https://www.google.com/maps/place/Jacksonville,+NC/@34.7413435,-77.426107,12z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89a9051c72746623:0x508f21eb3f052f41!8m2!3d34.7540524!4d-77.4302414>).

[*H/t to Paul Szoldra for reminding us all that the green weenie is still out to get us.*](<https://twitter.com/PaulSzoldra/status/907699422309507072>)

**WATCH NEXT:**

## Author
James Clark is the editor-in-chief of Task & Purpose. He is a former Marine and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/JamesWClark>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jclarkjournalism/>)