Selected Marine Corps Reserve Annual Training Budget Volatility and Participation

Abstract

Significant volatility in the execution of the 1108 Reserve Personnel Marine Corps (RPMC) appropriation over the past ten years has caused lost funding opportunities and may pose a risk to individual, unit, and service readiness. Recently, systemic under-obligation has caused a loss of funding through reprogramming, fund reversion, and negative congressional budget marks. The most budget volatility has been in Selected Marine Corps Reserve (SMCR) Annual Training (AT). Accurately forecasting remaining AT participation in the year execution remains difficult, causing reprogramming uncertainty during mid-year review (MYR). There are varying definitions of participation, depending on the perspective of different stakeholders, which may contribute to the difficulty in forecasting. Additionally, current policy allows periods of Active Duty for Operational Support (ADOS) to be used in lieu of AT. In our study we compared different stakeholder perspectives and participation rate formulations, then considered the impact of ADOS on AT participation rates. By examining the stakeholder perspectives of Programs and Resources, Marine Forces Reserve, and SMCR Marines, relevant differences in AT participation surfaced. To compare participation rate formulations and ADOS, we analyzed data from SMCR AT and ADOS orders from FY2017-FY2022.