The Marine Corps announced several incentives for personnel who are willing to extend their overseas tours by a year or longer, the service said in an administrative message published Monday.
Marines who volunteer and are approved can choose between a monetary offer or a pair of separate leave incentives, according to the message, which was meant to clarify Overseas Tour Extension Incentive Program instructions.
The financial incentive, according to the service, is $2,000 paid in 12 monthly installments of $166.66, which are taxable unless otherwise subject to an exemption.
Marines’ leave options comprise a 30-day period of nonchargeable special rest and recuperative, or SR&R, leave or a nonchargeable SR&R leave period no longer than 15 days but with government-funded round-trip transportation to a port of entry in the contiguous U.S.
Marines who extend for 13 months or more may select the latter option and get five extra days of SR&R leave.
The leave options must be taken in a “single and continuous” period, according to the memo, and government-funded transportation must be used concurrently with the leave period.
The incentives, meanwhile, can only be used by Marines, not dependents, and Marines must complete their initial tour, including previously approved extensions, to use them.
The program is open to Marines of any MOS and paygrade who are entitled to basic pay and are assigned to an eligible location, which as of Nov. 1 will include all posts outside the contiguous U.S. except for Hawaii and countries in the Marine Corps Forces Europe area of responsibility.
Enlisted Marines should request the extension through their career counselor, while officers are instructed to send a written request to their MOS monitor.
The Corps and other services offer a variety of incentives and bonuses to increase recruitment and retention. Those offerings are regularly adjusted in response to manpower and budgetary outlooks and national economic conditions.
Earlier this month, the Marine Corps became the first service to increase its rates for hostile-fire pay and imminent-danger pay for the 2027 fiscal year.
The goal of those offers “is to maximize the number of fully trained, qualified, experienced, and deployable” Marines “over time and within any given personnel budget,” the Corps said in a recent message announcing FY2027 enlistment bonuses. “It is critical to channel applicants into the right occupational fields to maximize our return on investment and increase Marines’ propensity to serve beyond their initial contract.”