Photo Information

Major Bill Carroll, commanding officer, Recruiting Station Louisville, Ky., gives a brief to other Eastern Recruiting Region personnel during the ERR Commanders' Conference at the Depot Lyceum April 3. The annual conference is held as a way to provide a forum for recruiting station commanding officers to discuss recruiting issues and focuses on the recruiting station commanding officers' discourse on effective techniques, tactics and procedures.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Heather Golden

MCRD Parris Island hosts Eastern Recruiting Region Commanders' Conference

5 Apr 2007 | Lance Cpl. Heather Golden Marine Corps Training and Education Command

The Eastern Recruiting Region held its annual ERR Commanders' Conference April 3 - 5 aboard the Depot.

While here, commanders from the ERR's districts and recruiting stations, as well as the commanding general and key members of his staff, gathered to discuss some of the more pressing recruitment issues and missions currently facing the Corps.

The conference started with an opening reception to welcome the Marines to the Depot. The next day was spent in-conference, and day three gave the participants an opportunity to relax with a team building event - a round of golf at the Legends at Parris Island golf course.

The conference's goal this year was to provide mission analysis and tasking to districts for recruiting operations in fiscal years 2007 and 2008, and to provide a forum for recruiting station commanding officers to discuss execution issues and techniques, tactics and procedures (TTPs) for enhanced momentum and production.

"My intent [was] to provide a forum in which the recruiting station commanders gain useful information by sharing ideas through the discussion of presented TTPs," said Brig. Gen. Paul E. Lefebvre, commanding general, MCRD Parris Island/Eastern Recruiting Region. "[The big issue is] production momentum. How do we get it and how do we maintain it? The majority of this conference [was] focused on the individual recruiting station commanding officer's discourse on effective TTPs."

The commanders also reviewed ERR's fiscal-year-to-date performance and discussed course and speed adjustments.

According to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Marine Corps is directed to expand force structure and increase end strength to 202,000 by the end of fiscal year 2011.

The conference also mapped out a manpower accessions plan that demonstrated how the Corps' top leaders intend to gradually reach the troop increase goal.

The Marine Corps Recruiting Command intends to achieve this by increasing the recruiting force and its resources, raise recruiting production by 45 percent in fiscal year 2008 and by 48 percent in fiscal year 2009. It also plans to better align the recruiting force and resources to the target recruiting market, all while continuing to maintain current standards demanded of potential and current Marines.

There are also plans in the works to restructure additional recruiting positions, provide more funding for recruiters aide and increase advertising.

Marine Corps Training and Education Command