February18, 2007: Now that the U.S. Marine Corps has been told to expand from 180,000 troops, to 202,000, it has to find a way to get the extra people, without sacrificing quality. To help make that happen, the marines are offering an extra reenlistment bonus (in addition to any existing programs) of $10,000, for most marines (ranks E-3 through E-9), with under twenty years service, who will sign up for another four years, before September 30th. The marines are trying to get another 3,000 people with this program, in addition to the 13,000 marines it expects to have reenlist in the next year. Marines with over 20 years service, will get the bonus if they sign up for another three years. The marines have until 2011 to find the additional 22,000 people. Because there are not unlimited training facilities, or trainers, the marines can only increase their overall strength by a few thousand a year. The bonus program is largely an effort to get experienced people to stay so there are enough trainers for the larger number of new recruits.