Top Marine says troops need to be able to lock in jobs before they leave the Corps

• Sergeant Major Carlos Ruiz urges early hiring for Marines leaving service.
• Delayed hiring leaves veterans vulnerable, risking affecting their mental health after the military.
• Partnerships with agencies like the Secret Service could ensure job transition for Marines.

The Marine Corps' top enlisted leader wants government agencies and civilian companies to start recruiting Marines for new jobs long before troops leave the military, arguing that delays in hiring can leave veterans vulnerable at a critical moment.

Speaking during a congressional hearing on service member quality of life last week, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlos Ruiz said he wants to see agencies such as the Secret Service, as well as industries like shipbuilding and emergency responders, begin hiring processes up to a year before Marines separate.

"The in-between time when the paychecks run out, when the medical gets expensive and life hits them, I worry," Ruiz told lawmakers, referring broadly to data showing veterans are often most vulnerable to mental health issues soon after leaving the military. "Build a pipeline where a Marine can go straight from the last day of active duty to your school," he said, referring to employee training. "Eliminate the barriers."

Each year, around 200,000 service members leave active duty, first attending the congressionally mandated Transition Readiness Program, designed to help troops learn how to apply for civilian jobs or universities. About 14% of those transitioning are Marines.

Previous oversight reports have found consistent shortfalls with that program. A 2023 government watchdog report found that a quarter of troops who needed the most transition support never received it, and 70% did not begin the process a year before separation, leaving many scrambling for civilian opportunities.

"That's the thing that I think is maybe the source of a downhill spiral towards negativity," Ruiz explained to Business Insider in a video interview after the hearing, linking delayed employment to broader mental health concerns.

While many Marines transition successfully, others struggle. Some studies estimate that more than 40% of veterans leave their first post-military job within a year. The VA's latest suicide report shows veterans from the Corps, where tight-knit camaraderie is prized, face the highest risk of suicide within a year of exiting relative to other services.

Ruiz argued that speeding up and smoothing the hiring process could help reduce that early instability.

For example, he said, the Secret Service can have an 18-month application period for applicants, even as the agency works to expand its ranks amid an injection of cash.

"You want Marines. I want you to have Marines. You got to come to the left," Ruiz said, referring to a quicker hiring timeline. He recalled a conversation with Secret Service director Sean Curran last month. "I will give you access to them throughout the years that they're in the Marine Corps, so we can move that date to the left, so they can transition straight in.'

"That's a lot of time in between for life to happen," Ruiz said.

The Secret Service is trying to shorten its lengthy hiring process by condensing qualifying events — like polygraphs and various exams — for applicants, Nate Herring, an agency spokesperson, said in an email to Business Insider. Herring cited an aggressive push to recruit more veterans and reduce hiring bureaucracy, too, in some cases cutting the process by six months.

Rather than waiting until Marines exit active duty to begin lengthy application processes and hit unexpected chokepoints, Ruiz wants employers to move hiring timelines sooner, starting any additional background checks, interviews, and paperwork during a Marine's final year of service, including while deployed.

Such a shift would require buy-in from the service's middle-management ranks, who may be reluctant to let subordinates spend more time on job searches, a challenge not usually well-understood throughout the active ranks, though often felt by those leaving.

A 2020 Department of Veterans Affairs report found that "many veterans did not understand the magnitude of the issues they might face when transitioning to civilian life."

Ruiz also floated the idea of formal partnerships between the Marine Corps and private-sector employers, including Big Tech companies, from the time a recruit enters the Corps, that would guarantee job placement for selected Marines upon completing their enlistment, provided they meet agreed-upon benchmarks.

Such early partnerships could offer recruits and families greater career stability and more predictability. Many recruits already join the military planning to stay for one or two tours and use their service as an important stepping stone.

Shipbuilding, a priority industry for the Trump administration and one that is grappling with persistent workforce shortages and pay challenges, could also benefit from a more direct Marine-to-industry pipeline, Ruiz said.

"You want Marines, you want this kind of work ethic, you want this kind of passion," he said of similar industries. "Then build the pipeline, build an incentive package that's worth their talents, and I think they'll come no matter where you are."

Some career fields have programs in place already to help troops quickly land in suitable career fields. But those existing efforts, including those within the civilian sector, generally fall short.

"It's not good enough," he said. "You're taking too long, and we can be better."