MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Marines looking to add a special duty assignment or "B" billet to their portfolios now have a new option, Marine Combat Instructor, besides the standard tour as a drill instructor, recruiter or member of the Marine Security Guard.The move is designed to broaden career options for Marines who may need to fill such billets to get promoted, and to improve infantry instruction by standardizing training to create "professional" instructors, according to Lt. Col. Robert E. Heinz, the School of Infantry's executive officer.All Marine Message 056/02, signed Oct. 9, created military occupational specialty 8513, Marine Combat Instructor, and outlined its implementation Corps-wide. The first group of instructors will begin school early next year and classes will convene four times annually."We are going to create a professional corps of Marine Combat Instructors, all of whom received standardized training, to teach essential combat skills to young Marines," Heinz said. A screening team will review Marines ranking between corporal and staff sergeant for assignment as combat instructors, but Marines can volunteer for the MOS. Combat instructors will serve three-year tours."Upon completion of the school, Marines will also receive (special duty assignment) pay incentives and special consideration for promotion," Heinz said.Making the MOS a special duty assignment is key to attracting the best Marines possible to the billet."Now, being an instructor here has the career incentive that will attract the Corps' finest," Heinz said. Heinz says the new billet will broaden career options while offering career-minded Marines a chance to deepen their impact on the Corps' future."Recruiters have the hardest job in the Corps, drill instructors have the most important, but Marine Combat Instructors have the most influence," Heinz said."Not only does every Marine have to come through the SOI, but this is the first unit a (Marine) ever belongs to. We set the tone, show them what to expect in future units and how to conduct themselves. We are their first impression of the Corps."The more positive the experience, the better it is for everyone."The new MOS also will benefit the Fleet Marine Force, he said."Not only will the fleet receive Marines better trained in basic skills, but the instructors will return with additional skills. Much like for every ceremony the organizer seeks a former drill instructor, units will seek former combat instructors to teach sustainment training to their units," Heinz said.Methods to prepare SOI instructors must also change to accommodate the re-emphasis of the ethos "every Marine a rifleman.""Currently, we use a three-week course to prepare our instructors to teach students. This began in January 2000, but what and how we teach these Marines will be much more in-depth now," Heinz said."We are selecting only the best instructors currently at SOI to teach our new instructors." Officials are finalizing specifics on how the old and new courses will differ, he added. Heinz expects "all the bugs to be worked out" by next summer. Approximately 380 instructors teach around 16,000 students annually at the SOI here. The SOI at Camp Lejeune, N.C., has similar numbers.In two years, all the instructors at SOI will have completed the new combat instructor school, Heinz said.