FY06 Prior Service Training Assignment (PSTA) Program Update

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 THE JOIN DATE IAW REF A. IAW REF B MOS 0121, 0151, 0351,
0352, 0811, 0814, 3381, 4133, AND 4341 CAN BE ASSIGNED AS A
PRIMARY MOS (PMOS) VIA ON THE JOB TRAINING (OJT). ANY MARINE
RECRUITED TO JOIN A SELECTED MARINE CORPS RESERVE (SMCR) UNIT FOR
AN OJT ELIGIBLE MOS MAY STILL CHOOSE TO ATTEND FORMAL MOS
RETRAINING AT AN APPROPRIATE SCHOOL VIA THE PSTA PROGRAM.
ALL OTHER MARINES MUST OBTAIN A PMOS THROUGH FORMAL MOS SCHOOL
TRAINING VIA THE PSTA PROGRAM.
2. DISCUSSION. CMC RESERVE AFFAIRS PERSONNEL, PLANS, AND POLICY
BRANCH (RAP) MANAGES MOS RETRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR PS ACCESSIONS
WHEREAS MARINE FORCES RESERVE (MFR) G3 MANAGES ALL OTHER TRAINING
REQUIREMENTS SUCH AS CAREER PROGRESSION TRAINING, SKILL
DESIGNATOR FOLLOW-ON TRAINING, AND PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION. 
UPON COORDINATION WITH PS RECRUITERS (PSR), SMCR
UNIT INSPECTOR-INSTRUCTOR (I-I) STAFFS, AND PROSPECTIVE PS MARINES,
CMC (RAP) WILL ISSUE SCHOOL SEAT ASSIGNMENTS (SSA) AND FUNDING FOR
THE MOS SCHOOL THE PS MARINE AGREED TO ATTEND. ASSIGNMENT AND
FUNDING WILL ONLY BE APPROVED FOR VACANT UNIT T/O BILLETS.
VACANT BILLETS ARE IDENTIFIED BY CMC (RAP) AND ARE ASSIGNED A
QUOTA SEQUENCE NUMBER (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 MOS TRAINING TO INCLUDE FUNDING.
ONCE A PS MARINE HAS BEEN JOINED TO THE SMCR UNIT, IT IS
IMPERATIVE THAT THE SMCR UNIT INFORM CMC (RAP) OF ANY
CIRCUMSTANCE THAT WOULD PREVENT THE MARINE FROM ATTENDING THE
SCHEDULED MOS TRAINING. TRAINING DEFERMENTS WILL BE COORDINATED
THROUGH MFR G1 RECRUITING AND RETENTION OFFICE.
3. ELIGIBILITY.
A. EFFECTIVE 1 OCT 2005 ONLY SGTS AND BELOW WHO HAVE NOT
PREVIOUSLY UTILIZED PSTA FUNDING WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE PSTA
PROGRAM.
B. SNCOS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR MOS RETRAINING VIA THE PSTA PROGRAM.
C. COMPANY GRADE OFFICERS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR MOS RETRAINING.
REQUESTS FOR RETRAINING AS NAVAL AVIATORS OR LAWYERS WILL NOT BE
APPROVED.
D. RETRAINING IN MOS 7257 (AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER) IS NOT
AUTHORIZED VIA THE PSTA PROGRAM.
E. PSTA REQUESTS FOR INDIVIDUAL MOBILIZATION AUGMENTEES (IMA) WILL
BE CONSIDERED BY CMC (RAP) ON A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS AND FOR SGTS AND
BELOW ONLY.
4. PROCEDURES. THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURES WILL BE FOLLOWED TO ENSURE
THE PROPER AND TIMELY EXECUTION OF PS MOS RECLASSIFICATION TRAINING
VIA THE PSTA PROGRAM:
A. PS MARINES/NEW JOINS NOT POSSESSING THE REQUISITE GRADE/MOS
COMBINATION, BUT WILLING TO RETRAIN IN A DIFFERENT MOS, WILL BE
SCREENED BY THE PSR TO ENSURE THE MARINE MEETS THE PREREQUISITES
FOR THE MOS PER REF (B). ONCE DEEMED QUALIFIED FOR THE MOS
REQUESTED, THE PSR WILL UTILIZE THE TRAINING AND EDUCATION COMMAND
INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (TIMS) TO REVIEW SCHOOL SEAT QUOTAS
WITH A SPONSOR CODE OF '3EP' AND REQUEST, VIA WEB-ALMRS, THAT THE
MARINE BE ASSIGNED TO THE SPECIFIC SCHOOL DATES IDENTIFIED.
B. THE PSR WILL ENTER SSA DATES ON THE NEW JOIN WORKSHEET BEFORE
JOINING THE MARINE TO THE SMCR UNIT. THIS WILL ENSURE THAT BOTH
THE MARINE AND THE SMCR UNIT ARE AWARE OF THE REQUIRED TRAINING
DATES.
C. PS MARINES/NEW JOINS UNABLE TO COMMIT TO A SPECIFIC SSA DATE AT
THE TIME OF THE JOIN WILL HAVE 90 DAYS FROM THE JOIN DATE TO SELECT
AN SSA. MARINES WHO ARE UNABLE TO COMMIT TO AN SSA AFTER THE 90-DAY
COMMITMENT WINDOW MAY LOSE SSA AND CMC (RAP) PSTA FUNDING.
D. PSR'S WILL BE GIVEN CREDIT FOR AN MOS MATCH ONCE THE PS MARINE
HAS BEEN ASSIGNED A QSN, A SCHOOL SEAT IN TIMS, AND JOINED TO
THE SMCR UNIT. MARINE CORPS RECRUITING COMMAND, IN COORDINATION
WITH CMC (RAP), WILL DETERMINE JOIN CREDIT FOR MANAGED OJT MARINES.
E. 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.
DELAYS IN TRAINING WILL ONLY BE APPROVED BY CMC (RAP). CMC (RAP)
WILL ONLY EXTEND ELIGILIBILTY WHEN SCHOOL SEATS ARE NOT AVAILABLE
WITHIN THE ORIGINAL 18-MONTH TRAINING WINDOW DUE TO LIMITED SCHOOLS
SEATS OR SCHOOL CONVENE DATES. CMC (RAP) MUST BE NOTIFIED
IMMEDIATELY IF A PS MARINE IS TRANSFERRED TO THE INDIVIDUAL READY
RESERVE PRIOR TO COMPLETING MOS TRAINING OR IF A PS MARINE IS
UNABLE TO ATTEND ASSIGNED MOS TRAINING. IN THE EVENT A PS MARINE
DOES NOT ATTEND MOS TRAINING (FOR ANY REASON) AND CMC (RAP) IS NOT
NOTIFIED 45 DAYS PRIOR TO THE START OF TRAINING, CMC (RAP) RETAINS
AUTHORITY TO DENY ANY FURTHER PSTA FUNDING FOR THAT MARINE.
THE SMCR UNIT WILL BECOME RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COORDINATION AND
FUNDING FOR TRAINING.
5. PSTA FUNDING AND ORDER WRITING. FUNDING FOR ALL PSTA TRAINING
WILL BE MANAGED BY CMC (RAP). SMCR UNITS WILL SUBMIT ALL ORDERS
REQUESTS NO LATER THAN 60 DAYS PRIOR TO THE START OF TRAINING
UTILIZING THE RESERVE ORDERS WRITING SYSTEM (ROWS). ENSURE PAY
GROUP 238 IS UTILIZED. 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 SAFEGUARDING 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