A ceremony aboard Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth, Texas took place October 15, 2018 in order to commemorate the opening of new office spaces for the Prior Service Recruiting Station located aboard the base.
Major Eric Jones, the PSR CO at 8th Marine Corps District, said, “The biggest benefit of the new office space is that it provides a professional appearance that links PSR to the rest of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command.” Moving to the new office space will further strengthen the unit’s ability to recruit prior service members in alignment with the 8th Marine Corps District’s recruiting mission.
The prior service recruiting force targets prior service commissioned and non-commissioned officers in an effort to place them in various extensive reserve unit programs. Being able to find and recruit potential candidates for such programs will further reinforce these units. “Our primary focus is on recruiting corporals through staff sergeants and first lieutenants through majors into the selected Marine Corps Reserve, Individual Mobilization Augmentee program, and Active Reserve program,” said Jones.
Such programs, like the Active Reserve Program, provide well-trained and experienced prior service Marines who will act as the critical support component of the main Marine Corps element. While recruiting former service members and integrating them with Reserve units is important, recruiting members for the individual reserve unit programs is equally vital in assisting the Marine Corps mission.
In recruiting prior service members, experienced leadership qualities are integrated within reserve units to support their mission and enable the reinforcement of the main Marine component. The determination seen in both prior service and non-prior service recruiters comes from their mutual understanding of the important role played in supporting the Marine Corps’ future mission accomplishment.
With the move into the new office spaces, prior service recruiters will continue providing, as Jones states, “experienced mid-level leadership that will aid Reserve units in accomplishing their mission of augmenting and reinforcing the active component.” Having experienced prior service members will provide reserve units with strong leadership and guidance and leverage the vast skillsets and capabilities that prior service members provide.