Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- While some question the wisdom of a retention-conscious Marine Corps informing Marines about employment options outside the
Corps, Lt. Col. Etta Staples believes it's the right thing to do.

And as long as base officials agree with Staples, the annual Career Fair, held here Sept. 26, will keep growing.
Thirty minutes before the doors opened to the South Mesa Club for the Career Fair's 9 a.m. start, more than 100 job-seekers lined the sidewalk outside the club.

Inside, Staples, who heads Camp Pendleton's Personnel Services Division of Marine Corps Community Services, finished her opening remarks by thanking 143 representatives occupying 122 booths from companies and government agencies throughout the United States for attending.

Staples concluded by reminding those in attendance of the Career Fair's growth over the past decade and a half.

"Fifteen years ago, the Career Fair consisted of 35 booths, and just a little more than 300 potential employees attended this event," Staples said as the line of attendees standing outside the club continued to lengthen.

"Today, well over 100 companies are represented and you can expect nearly 2,500 people to pass through these doors, looking
for their employment of the future."

Just minutes after Staples finished speaking, the doors opened and hundreds of people, military and civilians, filled the
bi-level facility in search of a new way of life. Many were attired in preparation for formal interviews, others were more casual, but most Marines attending wore cammies.

Maurice Grace, 29, a sergeant from the base's Operations and Training Division, said he hoped attending the Career Fair could help him land a job in or near Washington, D.C. after he leaves the service this week.

"When I get out, I'm looking to move to the Virginia- Washington, D.C. area, and I'm here today trying to find work in that
area," Grace said as he filled out an employment application for an armored car company with a branch office in Washington.

"I'm looking for a job that offers a future for me. We don't make too much money in the Marine Corps, the nine-year Marine said.

"Right now, I'm at an age where I can still become a valuable asset to a company and can make the kind of money I need to make a life for myself.It really all comes down to the money, and the Marine Corps just doesn't offer enough."

Most military members attending the Career Fair echoed that theme. Several cited diminutive pay raises in recent years as the
primary reason for leaving active duty.

"You're never going to get rich being in the military, and nobody expects to, said Sgt. Brian Fulford of Headquarters Company, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

"But the cost of living keeps going up, especially out here in Southern California.
The way things are going, (all Marines are) going to be living at the poverty level pretty soon."

A Marine veteran of eight years, Fulford says at the current pay scale, it makes little financial sense for many young
Marines to stay in the Corps.

"I truly love being a Marine and I love my job, it's great. But if I'm going to risk my life in my job, then I might as well
be paid better for it," Fulford said after he finished gleaning information from a recruiter with the Los Angeles Police Department, one of several law enforcement agencies represented at the Career Fair.

Critics challenge the wisdom of holding events like the Career Fair, especially on a military base, at a time when retention
of service members is a high priority.

Staples countered that the Career Fair primarily caters  to military members who have already decided to leave the service
and provides a smooth transition back to civilian life for Marines exiting the Corps.

"Many of the Marines here today have made up their minds to leave (the Corps)," Staples said as she mingled with fair visitors.
"What this event, and the many like it at military bases across the county, offers to the service member is an opportunity to
segue back into civilian life with the fewest possible problems."

She suggested the Career Fair may even persuade some to stay in the Corps, especially when they compare benefits.

"People who criticized these Career Fairs fail to realize that many people in the military have never held jobs in the
civilian sector, military service is all they've known. They joined (the military) right out of high school and have no idea
what is waiting for them out there in the civilian job market. Some Marines come to these Career Fairs and decide that what
they have in the military isn't so bad... and then see the wisdom in staying in the service."

Staples added that many jobs offered at the Career Fair are entry-level positions paying less than $30,000 a year, half of what the average Marine makes when benefits are included.

"When a Marine with six or eight years in the Corps takes into consideration his base pay, housing and health benefits, it's a lot more than most of the companies here are offering," Staples said. "There are very few companies here, or out there in the civilian job market, offering a starting pay of $50,000 to $60, 000 a year.

"We've done studies that show that, especially when health care costs are factored in, a Marine with a spouse and two kids is much better off staying in the Marine Corps than getting out to an uncertain future."

The Career Fair, Staples said, is most beneficial to Marines whose options are limited.

"Not everyone here wants to leave the military. Some people here need to return home because there are family emergencies
that require they be there," Staples said.

"For those Marines and the ones who have similar situations, this Career Fair can provide them with an opportunity to make
contact now with employers that are in their home area.

"That gives the Marine an advantage over people who might be applying at the same time for the same job back home. The
Marines are getting to meet people from the company right now, and there is a lot less pressure for both sides in an environment like this."

Visitors to the Career Fair were met at the entrance by Gunnery Sgt. Wendy Seymour, a transitional recruiter here.

Seymour's job is to provide Marines exiting the service with resources to help them return to civilian life.

Primary among Seymour's goals is to promote the Marine Corps Reserve.

Additionally, the transitional recruiting office offers help under the "Marine for Life" program, which offers access to an online network for Marine veterans. The site,
www.MarineForLife.com, provides listings related to employment, housing, business and education opportunities for any geographical area in the United States.

"Our office provides the Marine with all the information he or she needs in making the transition to civilian life," Seymour said.

"It doesn't matter if they are returning to their hometown or if they are relocating to another city in the country,especially one that they may not know much about. We're here to remind them about the opportunity to stay a Marine in the Marine Corps Reserves and to give them information about the area they've chosen to settle in.

"Once a Marine has decided to leave the military, our job is to make help the transition as smooth as possible."