SelRes Attrition and the Selected Reserve Incentive Program in the Marine Corps Reserve

This study hopes to improve the Selected Reserve Incentive Program (SRIP) and to help the Marine Corps Reserve (MCR) to better understand Selected Reserve (SelRes) attrition. First, we document the legislative authorities for the payment of SelRes unit bonuses and bonus offerings across the Guard/Reserve components. This discussion draws heavily on interviews we conducted with personnel from all the Guard/Reserve components to discuss their bonus offerings and processes for determining bonus eligibility. Next, we document findings from focus groups held with Marines in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). In these groups, we discussed Marines’ willingness to affiliate/reenlist with an SMCR unit and what factors were important in their decisions. The study also describes recommended changes to the current SRIP that could help improve its ability to recruit and retain Marines in SMCR units. Finally, we present our analysis of SelRes attrition and the effect of SRIP bonuses on retention.