Corps wants separated Marines to come back

James Blake Miller, the 'Marlboro Marine', became an icon of the gritty American warrior in a picture published world-wide. After separating from the Marines, he was treated for PTSD and depression.

WASHINGTON — Marine Corps officials want fewer deployments and increased dwell time for active duty servicemembers, and they’re looking at Marines who have already left the force to help.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway said officials this month will begin a major push to contact Marines who left the Corps in the last four years and encourage them to serve again.

“We’re saying to them … the job isn’t done,” Conway said in a press conference Friday. “We are in a period of national crisis, and your ability to come in and hit the ground running is something we’ll find useful.”

The effort mirrors a letter sent earlier this month by Conway to more than 50,000 active-duty noncommissioned officers, asking them to re-enlist.

The Marine Corps is trying to increase its active-duty end strength from 180,000 to 202,000 by fiscal 2011.

Conway said officials are still aiming for a schedule of seven months deployed, 14 months at home, but admitted right now some Marines are spending as little as five months at home before heading out again.

Read the rest at Stars and Stripes

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