Sitting here tonight I was looking up some Marine type stuff, when I came across a link on the Marines page about retirees volunteering for active duty...

Basic plan is, if you've been retired 5 years or less, you can fill out a single piece of paper, email it to Marine Headquarters, and they'll start looking for a position for you back in the Corps for at least 1 year! And you can be back on active duty in around a month!

Now, I'm not a fool. I know the position won't be anything cool like going back to being a pilot or instructor or anything. More like being a staff pogue in Iraq or Afghanistan or something like that. And you're not eligible for promotion when you go back ('cause you're already retired).

Didn't fill out the paper yet, but did email HQ and asked a couple more questions, like do I get my flight pay back, if deployed into a combat zone do I get Family Sep / Hazardous Duty / Imminent Danger pays? What about housing and subsistence pay for my family? Does the extra year I spend on active duty count towards my retirement when I go back INTO retirement (like do I get another 2.5% after an extra year of active duty)? And very importantly, once I find out what orders they want to give me, can I back out?

Just sent the email tonight, but I'll let everyone know what I find out. Would definitely relieve the stress of being in a MUCH lower paying job!! Although, the stress of being in a combat zone might offset that!! LOL

Anyway, let me know if you think I'm crazy or if you think it's patriotic or whatever. Haven't talked to the wife yet, so I'll also report her reaction on here when (and if) I tell her!

marinepilot