Evaluation of the Marine Corps IDT Travel Reimbursement Program

摘要

For the Selected Marine Corps Reserve (SMCR), unit staffing having the right Marine, in the right billet, at the right time is important for force readiness. The Marine Corps, however, has not always been able to meet its SMCR manning goals because it is constrained by geography and by its billet identification code (BIC) assignment policy. Specifically, Marine Corps reserve management policy stipulates that reservists must live within 100 miles of their drilling units unless they obtain distance waivers, and the BIC assignment policy stipulates that SMCR Marines must have the primary military occupational specialties (PMOSs) and paygrades required by the BICs to which their units assign them. These conditions reduce units recruitable populations and can contribute to manpower shortages. The only way for the Marine Corps to staff hard-to-fill billets without weakening its BIC assignment policy is to increase the recruitable pool by relaxing geographic restrictions. The problem is that, if the costs to travel to and from their drilling units exceed or significantly cut into their drill pay, Marines may be less willing to affiliate effectively limiting SMCR recruiting efforts and making it harder to fill billets. In 2009, the Marine Corps implemented the inactive duty training (IDT) travel reimbursement program in accordance with United States Code and the Joint Federal Travel Regulations, which stipulate that, to be eligible for IDT travel reimbursement, a reservist must fill a critical reserve billet and travel 150 or more miles, one-way, to drill with his or her unit. Another stipulation is that a reservist can be reimbursed for no more than $300 per round-trip.