R 061941Z APR 26 MARADMIN 160/26 MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC MRA MM// SUBJ/FISCAL YEAR 2028 (FY28) ACTIVE AND RESERVE MARINE ATTACHÉ (MARA) SELECTION BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT// REF/A/MSGID: MCO/CMC/20090709// REF/B/MSGID: MCO/CMC/20210510// REF/C/MSGID: MCO/CMC/20150219// NARR/REF A IS MCO 3821.2, USMC PARTICIPATION IN THE DEFENSE ATTACHÉ SERVICE.  REF B IS MCO 1300.8 CH-1, PERSONNEL ASSIGNMENT POLICY.   REF C IS MCO 1900.16 CH 2, SEPARATION AND RETIREMENT MANUAL (MARCORSEPMAN)// POC/J. SCHULZE/MAJ/MMOA-3/TEL: 703-784-9284/ EMAIL: [email protected]// POC/D. A. HAMRICK/GYSGT/MMEA-25/TEL: 703-784-9276/ EMAIL: [email protected]// POC/C. S. SMITH/CIV/MCIA, ATTACHÉ PROGRAM/TEL: 703-432-5992/ EMAIL: [email protected]// POC/T. M. GILBERTSON/CIV/MCIA, ATTACHÉ PROGRAM/TEL: 703-432-7842/ EMAIL: [email protected]// POC/R. W. DAWSON/LTCOL/RESERVE ATTACHÉ DETACHMENT/TEL: 501-847-2186/ EMAIL: [email protected]// POC/M. T. WELTZIEN/MAJ/DCI RESERVE LIAISON/TEL: 703-692-1395/ EMAIL: [email protected]// GENTEXT/REMARKS/1.  Purpose.  In accordance with the references,  this message outlines the Active Duty and Reserve Marine Corps  Attaché (MARA) program, the procedures for consideration for  service with the Defense Attaché Service (DAS), and solicits  applications for the FY28 MARA program.  The board selects Marines  based on Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) experience and  performance, and slates Marines based on merit and their specific  language, regional expertise, and cultural skills. 1.a.  Major timeline milestones are below (read in three columns). Date                        Milestone            Note Release of this message     Applications open 26 June 2026                Applications due 31 August 2026              Board convenes January 2027                Results released     1 Note 1:  Following approval of primary selects by the Secretary of  the Navy (SECNAV), Manpower and Reserve Affairs (M&RA) releases the  results of the FY28 MARA Selection Board anytime from December 2026  to January 2027.  Results may be delayed due to SECNAV approval. 2.  MARAs fill influential, strategic-level positions within  embassy country teams.  Depending on the specific billet and  country, they serve as the direct representative of the Secretary  of War, the SECNAV, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,  geographic combatant commanders, and the Commandant of the Marine  Corps.  MARAs may also serve as the Senior Defense Official/Defense  Attaché (SDO/DATT) at particular embassies.  SDO/DATTs direct,  control, operate, and administer the Defense Attaché Office to which  assigned.  Attaché duties vary by country, but all personnel will  advise the Chief of Mission on military matters. 2.a.  Reserve attaché program.  Reserve attachés’ primary purpose  is to augment the DAS utilizing drills and annual training periods,  30-60 continuous days in the National Capital Region (NCR) or  abroad per year.  However, they may also have opportunities to  support while on longer term Active-Duty Operational Support orders  for periods of three months to two years based on operational MARA  gaps.  Reserve attaché program selectees will be assigned to a  geographic division and utilized based on DAS priorities, Marine  availability, suitability, and funding availability. 3.  Eligibility criteria.  Active Component (AC) and Reserve  Component (RC) Marines who meet the following criteria are eligible  to apply. 3.a.  Grade and career timing 3.a.1.  AC applicants must meet the grade criterion (or be selected  for promotion to that grade) and possess the career timing to serve  a full tour of duty in the grade of the billet for which they are  applying.  Lieutenant colonel applicants must plan to opt-out of  consideration for promotion if selected if they enter the in-zone  population at any time during their anticipated tour of duty and  must agree to do so in their application.   3.a.2.  Enlisted Marines in grade of E-5 to E-8.  E-5s must have  two years TIG. 3.a.3.  RC applicants must belong to one of the following  categories of the ready reserve:  Selected Marine Corps Reserve,  Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA), Individual Ready Reserve,  or AC with a transfer date to the Ready Reserve before the end of  FY26. 3.a.4.  AC Marines must be a FY27 mover based upon their current  prescribed tour control factor (TCF).  If selected, Marines will  depart their current duty station in FY27 to attend training prior  to reporting to their assigned country in FY28. 3.a.5.  If an applicant does not meet their prescribed TCF  requirements in paragraph 3.a.4, they must submit an exception to  policy (ETP), endorsed by the first O-6 in the chain of command,  via NAVMC 10274 (AA-Form), with their application.  Transfer inside  of the prescribed TCF will result in a gap for that command until  the TCF has concluded.  If an officer is selected prior to his/her  normal rotation date, Manpower Management Officer Assignments  (MMOA) will attempt to provide a backfill.  A commander's  endorsement of the AA Form is considered acknowledgement of this  situation.  MMOA will adjudicate the ETP separately from the board  process and must be approved by MMOA before a Marine will be  considered for a MARA billet vacancy.  An officer with an approved  ETP will be a FY27 mover regardless of selection to the MARA  program.  MMOA will not accept conditional tour curtailment  requests. 3.a.6.  AC applicants must include email correspondence from their  PMOS monitor.  RC applicants must include email correspondence from  RAM-1 confirming their eligibility for this program by using  [email protected].  The board will not consider applications  without PMOS monitor or RAM confirmation.  Service requirements and  other manpower considerations may preclude eligibility IAW ref (b). 3.a.7.  Per references (a) and (b), AC applicants must have  completed a Single Scope Background Investigation or Top Secret  (TS) Security Investigation and have Sensitive Compartmented  Information (SCI) eligibility to apply.  Application to the MARA  program is not sufficient justification for an investigation  eligibility determination for AC applicants.  Officers and Marines  selected by the board will be required to either have a current  (within the last five years) counterintelligence scope polygraph or  obtain one prior to attending the Joint Military Attaché School  (JMAS).  For questions regarding clearances, contact USMC HQMC  Special Security Office at 703-693-6005 or [email protected]. 3.a.8.  RC Marines without TS/SCI eligibility may apply, however,  if a reserve primary selectee does not have TS/SCI eligibility, the  Marine will be submitted for and must obtain a TS/SCI clearance  before transferring to the IMA and subsequently pass a  counterintelligence-scope polygraph before starting the Reserve  Support Course (RSC). 3.a.9.  RC Marines must have had four satisfactory years of service  (50 points minimum each year) during the last five years. 4.  Ineligibility criteria 4.a.  Marines with an established separation or retirement date. 4.b.  AC captains and majors in the Above-Zone (AZ).  Lieutenant  colonels in the AZ will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 4.c.  Restricted officers. 4.d.  Marines with pending legal action. 4.e.  Marines affiliated with the Active Reserve Program. 4.f.  RC Marines above 5840 Active Duty Points on their Career  Retirement Credit Report.  RC Marines with less than 5040 Career  Retirement Credit Report points are preferred. 4.g.  AC officers and Marines in receipt of Permanent Change of  Station or Permanent Change of Assignment orders. 4.h.  Officers and Marines selected for or currently attending  programs that have a designated utilization assignment.  Examples  include, Commandant’s Education Board, and School of Advanced  Warfighting, etc. 4.i.  AC aviators completing two or more consecutive years in  Duties Involving Flying - Denied status during FY27 will not  normally be screened.  These officers may request consideration  by contacting their PMOS monitor.   4.j.  AC Marines without TS/SCI clearance eligibility. 4.k.  Current MARAs can only apply for back to back tours if you  are eligible for rotation in FY28. 5.  Additional considerations 5.a.  While actively serving in the Marine Attache (MARA) training  pipeline, while attending Joint Military Attache School (JMAS), and  while posted overseas as a MARA, the Defense Intelligence Agency  (DIA) and the Defense Attache Service (DAS) retain operational  control (OPCON) of you at all times.  During these same periods of  time, your administrative control (ADCON) is retained by Marine  Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA), including responsibility for  fitness report processing, orders generation (both to and from the  program), and court-martial authority. 5.b.  Language, regional expertise, and culture skills are highly  desirable but are not prerequisites. 5.c.  Families are an important element of the MARA program.   Attachés are encouraged to take their families to most assignments.   Applicants with dependents enrolled in the Exceptional Family  Member Program are eligible to apply but may not be able to  participate pending availability of required care. 5.d.  Foreign-born Marines are not eligible for assignment to the  country in which they were born. 5.e.  Spouses of AC applicants must be naturalized US citizens.   Applicants will not be eligible for assignment to the country in  which the spouse was born.  For RC applicants, spouses are not  required to be naturalized US citizens for the applicant to serve  in the Reserve Attaché Program. 5.f.  Applicants will not be eligible for assignment to a country  in which immediate family members still maintain citizenship.   Applicants should identify in their application letter whether any  of their immediate family are not US citizens or dual citizens.   Immediate family members include parents, stepparents, siblings,  and children. 5.g.  Dual Active-Duty applicants must have concurrence from both  monitors and be willing to forego co-location if selected.  This  must be annotated in the MARA application.   6.  Training 6.a.  AC Training.  AC Marines selected for the program will  attend JMAS, conducted over approximately 16 weeks at the Defense  Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Washington, DC.  Marines who  successfully complete this training are then available for  assignment abroad.  Language training is also required for most  billets.  The length of language training will be based on the  language and proficiency level required.  Training start dates are  dependent upon the country to which selected, JMAS, and the  language training (up to 64 weeks in duration).  In some cases,  this training may start as early as Spring 2027.  Active Duty  officers serving as MARAs are administratively controlled by the  Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA) throughout training and  while assigned to their respective countries. 6.b.  RC Training.  Reserve Attachés selected for the program must  complete both the RSC and Geographic Division  Training/Familiarization before serving overseas.  RSC is a  resident one-week introductory course taught by the JMAS annually,  usually in December, at DIA in Washington, DC. 7.  AC vacancies.  The FY28 MARA board will screen AC applicants  for the below assignments.  This list is subject to change up  until the conclusion of the board based on DIA requirements.  For  the most current list, visit the website listed in paragraph 9.c.   All are 36-month accompanied tours unless noted otherwise. 7.a.  Officers  (Read in four columns): Country             Language          Rank           Notes Bangladesh          Bengali           Maj            1,2 Colombia            Spanish           Maj Denmark             Danish            LtCol France              French            LtCol Iraq                None              Maj            3 Japan               Japanese          Col            4 Latvia              Latvian           LtCol          SDO/DATT,5 Liberia             None              Maj            1,2,6 Mexico              Spanish           Maj  Papua New Guinea    None              LtCol          SDO/DATT,1,5 Peru                Spanish           Maj  Philippines         Tagalog           Maj Romania             Romanian          Maj Senegal             French            LtCol          1 United Kingdom      None              LtCol          2 7.b.  Enlisted  (Read in four columns) Country             Language           Rank          Notes Bahrain             None               GySgt-MSgt    7 Dominican Republic  Spanish            GySgt-MSgt    7 Mexico              Spanish            Sgt-GySgt Taiwan              Chinese-Mandarin   Sgt-MSgt      8 Ukraine             Ukrainian          Sgt-GySgt     3 Libya               French             GySgt-MSgt    7