FY05 Updated Prior Service Assignments (PSTA) Policy

1. BACKGROUND. APPROXIMATELY 75 PERCENT OF PRIOR
SERVICE (PS) ACCESSIONS POSSESS THE REQUISITE GRADE/MOS COMBINATION
TO MATCH THE SPECIFIC T/O BILLET LINE NUMBER THEY ARE RECRUITED
FOR. THE REMAINING 25 PERCENT REQUIRE MOS RETRAINING WITHIN 18
MONTHS FROM JOIN DATE IAW REF A. IAW REF B ONLY MOS 0121, 0151,
0811, 3381 4341 CAN BE ASSIGNED AS A PMOS VIA ON THE JOB TRAINING
(OJT), ANY MARINE DESIRING ONE OF THESE MOS'S IS STILL ELIGIBLE
FOR PSTA TO ATTAIN THE REQUIRED MOS. ALL OTHER PMOS MUST BE
OBTAINED VIA FORMAL MOS SCHOOL TRAINING. CMC (RAP) CURRENTLY
MANAGES MOS RETRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIOR SERVICE (PS) 
ACCESSIONS.
2. DISCUSSION. EFFECTIVE 1 OCT 02, PSTA MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITY
FOR PS ACCESSIONS WAS TRANSFERRED FROM MARINE FORCES RESERVE (MFR)
G3 TO CMC (RAP). MFR G3 RETAINED RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL OTHER
TRAINING REQUIREMENTS. AS THE RESPONSIBLE AGENT FOR RESERVE
ACCESSION TRAINING, CMC (RAP) HAS INCORPORATED PS QUOTA SERIAL
NUMBER (QSN) AND PSTA SCHOOL SEAT ASSIGNMNETS (SSA) INTO ITS
INCREMENTAL/INITIAL ACTICE SUTY TRAINING (I/IADT) AND PSTA
DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. UPON COORDINATION WITH PS RECRUITERS,
SELECTED MARINE CORPS RESERVE (SMCR) UNIT/INSPECTOR-INSTRUCTOR
(I-I) STAFFS, AND PROSPECTIVE PS MARINES, CMC (RAP) WILL ISSUE
SCHOOL SEAT ASSIGNMENTS AND FUNDING FOR THE MOS THE PS MRINES
HAVE AGREED TO BE ASSIGNED. ASSIGNMENTS AND FUNDING WILL ONLY BE
APPROVED FOR VACANT UNIT'S T/O BILLETS. VACANT BILLETS ARE
IDENTIFIED BY CMC (RAP) AND ARE ASSIGNED A QSN. IF A QSN IS NOT
OBTAINED FROM CMC (RAP) PRIOR TO THE PS MARINE BEING JOINED TO THE
SMCR UNIT, THE SMCR UNIT, THROUGH ITS MAJOR SUBORDINATE COMMAND,
WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TRAINING AND FUNDING. ONCE A PS
MARINE HAS BEEN JOINED TO THE SMCR UNIT, IT IS IMPERATIVE FOR 
THE SMCR UNIT TO INFORM CMC (RAP) OF ANY
CIRCUMSTANCE THAT WOULD PREVENT THE MARINE FROM ATTENDING THE
SCHEDULED MOS TRAINING.
3. PROCEDURES. THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURES WILL BE FOLLOWED TO
ENSURE THE PROPER AND TIMELY EXECUTION OF PRIOR SERVICE MOS
RECLASSIFICATION TRAINING VIA THE PSTA PROGRAM:
A. PS MARINES/NEW JOINS POSSESSING THE REQUISITE GRADE/MOS
COMBINATION, WILL BE ASSIGNED TO A QSN AND JOINED TO THE SMCR UNIT.
B. PS MARINES/NEW JOINS NOT POSSESSING THE REQUISITE GRADE/MOS
COMBINATION, BUT WILLING TO RETRAIN IN A DIFFERENT MOS, WILL BE
SCREENED IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR OJT OR PSTA AS APPLICABLE.
C. PSR WILL CONTACT CMC (RAP) DURING THE INITIAL PS SCREENING
PROCESSS TO DETERMINE THE AVAILABILITY OF SSA DATES FOR PS
MARINES/NEW JOINS WHO ARE CANDIDATES FOR PSTA.
(1) THE PS MARINE/NEW JOIN WILL IDENTIFY DATES OF AVAILABILITY
FOR TRAINING CORRESPONDING TO AVAILABLE SSA DATES. THIS
INFORMATION WILL BE RECORDED ONT HE NEW JOIN WORKSHEET.
(2) TRAINING AVAILABILITY, AS INDICATED ON THE NEW JOIN
WORKSHEET, WILL BE VERIFIED BY THE SMCR UNIT/I-I STAFF
MEMBER CONDUCTING THE NEW JOIN INTERVIEW AT THE PROSPECTIVE
GAINING SMCR UNIT.
(3) PS MARINES/NEW JOINS UNABLE TO COMMIT TO A SPECIFIC SSA
DATE AT THE TIME OF THE INTERVIEW WILL HAVE 90 DAYS FROM THE
JOIN DATE TO SELECT A SSA. MARINES UNABLE TO COMMIT TO A SSA
AFTER THE 90 DAY COMMITMENT WINDOW MAY LOSE SSA AND HQMC
FUNDING.
D. CMC (RAP) WILL ISSUE SSA FOR ORDERS ASSOCIATED WITH PS
RETRAINING AS OUTLINED IN PARA 2. ORDERS WILL BE GENERATED BY
THE RESERVE UNIT VIA THE RESERVE ORDER WRITING SYSTEM (ROWS)
ONCE THE MARINE COMMITS TO AN AVAILABLE SSA DATE.
E. PS RECRUITERS WILL BE GIVEN CREDIT FOR AN MOS MATCH ONCE THE
PS MARINE HAS BEEN ASSIGNED A QSN, A SCHOOL SEAT IN THE TECOM
INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (TIMS), AND JOINED TO THE SMCR UNIT.
MARINE CORPS RECRUITING COMMAND (MCRC), IN COORDINATION WITH
CMC (RAP), WILL DETERMINE JOIN CREDIT FOR MOJT MARINES.
F. SMCR UNIT/I-I STAFF TRAINING REPRESENTATIVES MAY REQUEST
ADJUSTMENTS IN SSA DATES IF REQUIRED DUE TO CHANGES IN THE
RESERVE MARINE'S AVAILABILLITY FOR TRAINING. REQUESTS,
HOWEVER, WILL NOT BE ENTERTAINED IF THE ADJUSTMENT WILL RESULT
IN RETRAINING OCCURING OUTSIDE OF THE 18 MONTH TRAINING WINDOW.
ALL TRAINING AFTER THE 18 MONTH WINDOW WILL BE THE
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENT COMMAND.
G. PSTA APPROVAL FOR INDIVIDUAL MOBILIZATION AUGMENTEES (IMA)
WILL BE APPROVED BY CMC (RAP) ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS.
4. PSTA FUNDING. FUNDING FOR ALL PSTA TRAINING WILL BE
MANAGED BY CMC (RAP). DELAYS IN TRAINING WILL ONLY BE APPROVED
BY CMC (RAP). CMC (RAP) MUST BE NOTIFIED IMMEDIATELY IF A PS
MARINE IS TRANSFERRED TO THE IRR PRIOR TO COMPLETING MOS
TRAINING OR IF A PS MARINE IS UNABLE TO ATTEND THE MOS TRAINING.
IN THE EVENT A PS MARINE DOES NOT ATTEND MOS TRAINING (FOR ANY
REASON) AND CMC (RAP) IS NOT NOTIFIED 30 DAYS PRIOR TO
THE START OF TRAINING, CMC (RAP) RETAINS THE RIGHT TO DENY ANY
FURTHER PSTA FUNDING. THE SMCR UNIT WILL BECOME RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE TRAINING, COORDINATION AND FUNDING.
5. PSTA ORDERS. SMCR UNITS WILL SUBMIT ALL REQUESTS 60 DAYS
PRIOR TO THE START OF TRAINING FOR US ARMY COURSES OF INSTRUCTION
UNTILIZING THE ROWS; SMCR UNITS WILL SUBMIT ALL REQUESTS FOR MARINE
CORPS SCHOOLS 45 DAYS PRIOR TO THE START OF TRAINING. CMC (RAP)
WILL REVIEW AND FUND APPROVE ALL PSTA ORDERS. SMCR UNITS WILL 
ENSURE THAT THE FOLLOWING NON STANDARD PARAGRAPHS ARE CONTAINED
WITHIN THE ORDERS: "THIS PERIOD OF ACTIVE DUTY IS FOR FORMAL
TRAINING TO QUALIFY FOR MOS (XXXX). YOUR QSN IS (200XXXXXX)."
"MEMBER RATES PER DIEM FIRST AND LAST DAY OF DUTY ONLY."
"YOU ARE ENTRUSTED WITH HAND CARRYING AND SAFE GUARDING YOUR
SERVICE RECORD BOOK AND YOUR HEALTH AND DENTAL RECORDS BOTH TO
AND FROM THIS PERIOD OF ACTIVE DUTY TRAINING IAW MCO P1070.12K.
THE TRAINING COMMAND SHALL REQUEST DISPOSITION INSTRUCTIONS FROM
CMC (RAP) VIA E-MAIL TO RAP3@MANPOWER.USMC.MIL IF FOR ANY
REASON YOU ARE UNABLE TO COMPLETE YOUR TRAINING AS ORDERED."
6. THE PS ACCESSIONS COORDINATOR, GYSGT J. E. BELL, CAN BE
CONTACTED AT DSN 278-9136/9137 OR COMMERCIAL (703) 784-9136.
REQUESTS FOR PSTA SSA AND/OR SSA ADJUSTMENT CAN BE SENT
ELECTRONICALLY TO RAP3@MANPOWER.USMC.MIL