MARADMIN 436/26 - Reporting and Management of Personnel Tempo (PERSTEMPO)

Scope

MARADMIN 436/26 summarizes DOWI 1336.07, Management of Personnel Tempo, for the Marine Corps Total Force. The message covers the PERSTEMPO definition, event types and categories, the threshold calculation, the waiver process, and the responsibilities of commanders, individual Marines, and servicing administration sections.

PERSTEMPO measures the amount of time an individual Service member, not a unit, spends engaged in official duties making it infeasible to spend off-duty time in the housing where they normally reside. Tracking the events maintains visibility of time away so commands limit negative effects on readiness, quality of life, and retention.

Cancellations

This MARADMIN cancels four prior deployment tempo messages.

• ALMAR 026/01, Marine Corps Deployment Tempo (DEPTEMPO) Policy Guidance.
• ALMAR 052/01, Marine Corps Deployment Tempo (DEPTEMPO) Policy Guidance Amplification.
• MARADMIN 481/03, Deployment Tempo (DEPTEMPO) and Overseas Control Date (OCD) Policy.
• MARADMIN 484/04, Deployment Tempo (DEPTEMPO) Under Reporting Corrective Action.

Any portal reference treating those four as current guidance is out of date from 22 September 2026.

The day away rule

A creditable PERSTEMPO event of any type must span more than one calendar day. An event beginning and ending on the same date earns no credit. A day away does not require a full 24 hours.

The day of departure counts as a full day away. The day of return does not count. A Marine departing Monday morning and returning Tuesday afternoon earns one day away, Monday.

Event types

PERSTEMPO events split into two types. Only deployment events count toward the threshold.

Deployment type covers operations, exercises, unit training, mission support temporary duty, home station training or the local operating area of a ship or vessel, and hospitalization not at or near the permanent duty station or homeport.

• Operations. Contingency, counterdrug, law enforcement, security cooperation, U.S. domestic civil, humanitarian, security force assistance, peacekeeping or peace, surveillance, and forward-presence operations, among others.
• Exercise. Joint or combined exercises, Service exercises, and NATO exercises.
• Unit training. All or part of a unit accomplishing training objectives at a location other than the permanent duty location, including a combined training center or a designated training area.

Non-deployment type covers individual training, duty in garrison, hospitalization near the permanent duty station or homeport, disciplinary events, Reserve Component inactive duty training, muster duty, and funeral honors duty. These events are tracked and do not count toward the threshold calculation.

Reserve Component rule

A Reserve Component member sits in PERSTEMPO status on any day when, under orders not establishing a permanent change of station, they perform active duty as defined in 10 U.S.C. 101(d)(1) at a location other than their permanent training site and is either 100 or more miles or 3 or more hours travel time from their permanent civilian residence.

The measurement runs against the permanent civilian residence, not the permanent training site.

Threshold and calculation

The threshold is 400 days out of the preceding 730 days. Calculation is required whenever a PERSTEMPO deployment event is forecast.

1. Determine the projected end date of the upcoming deployment event.
2. Count back 730 days from that end date to fix the start of the assessment window.
3. Sum every creditable deployment day away inside the window, including the forecast event.
4. Submit a waiver when the sum exceeds 400 days.

Non-deployment events are excluded from the sum.

The message carries a worked example. A forecast event ends 31 December 2026, so the window opens 1 January 2025. Two days of temporary duty in January 2025, 163 days of deployment from March to August 2025, 69 days of temporary duty from October to December 2025, and 266 days of projected deployment from April to December 2026 sum to 500 days. The Marine crosses the 400-day threshold on 21 September 2026, so the unit requests a waiver.

Waiver process

Approval comes from the Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs before the Marine exceeds the threshold.

• Format. Standard naval correspondence.
• Routing. Through the chain of command, through the first Marine Corps General Court-Martial Convening Authority, to DC M&RA via the Manpower Military Policy Branch SharePoint site. Email submission to the MPO mailbox runs by exception only.
• Lead time. At least 120 days before the projected threshold crossing date.
• Reserve Component. The gaining command submits the waiver.

Each request explicitly justifies why the specific Marine is essential to the mission and how the command will limit the negative effects on that Marine. Required content includes the Marine's full name, pay grade, primary military occupational specialty, unit name, monitored command code, reporting unit code, electronic data interchange personal identifier, and the requested coverage dates. The request carries supporting evidence showing the waiver is the only alternative given manpower constraints and operational requirements, the specific actions the unit will take to limit time above the threshold, and the actions mitigating effects on readiness, quality of life, and retention potential. The request names a General Court-Martial Convening Authority primary point of contact and email address. The point of contact is never the Marine who is the subject of the request.

MPO forwards approved waivers to the Marine's chain of command for reporting into MCTFS under MCTFSPRIUM section 91001.

Responsibilities

Commanding officers report every PERSTEMPO event accurately and promptly into MCTFS, manage schedules prospectively, and use the automated MCTFS 112 remarks page reports to monitor levels. Projected deployment events crossing the threshold are identified 120 days ahead so the waiver request and any Special Leave Accrual consideration under DOWI 1327.06 have time to run.

Individual Marines review their own PERSTEMPO data in Marine Online under Personal Information, Personal Reports, PERSTEMPO Report. A Marine finding a discrepancy or a missing period of temporary duty contacts the S-1 or the local servicing administration section.

The servicing Installation Personnel Administration Center, working with command administration sections, ensures complete reporting of all PERSTEMPO data.

Systems of record and support

MCTFS is the official system of record for calculating and tracking every PERSTEMPO event. Marines and commands monitor through MCTFS or Marine Online generated reports.

The Manpower Information Systems Support Offices, the Admin Assist Unit, and the Marine Corps Administrative Analysis Teams support commanders with day-count verification procedures, unit education on reporting and tracking, and resolution of contested PERSTEMPO accounting. Commanding officers request adjudication of unresolved accounting from DC M&RA (MPO). Those decisions are final and apply to deployment events only.

DC M&RA Manpower Information develops and manages the reporting systems and pulls historical PERSTEMPO data for inter-service and inter-component transfers on request.

Points of contact

• Policy and waivers. Manpower Military Policy Branch SharePoint site.
• Reserve Marines. Reserve Affairs, smb_rap@usmc.mil.
• Data reporting, tracking, and management. Manpower Information, mrahelpdesk@usmc.mil.
• Administrative assistance. M&RA Secretariat, dc.mra.secretariat.office@usmc.mil.

Status

Released 22 September 2026, DTG R 211800Z SEP 26. Originator CMC Washington DC MRA MP. Release authorized by Lieutenant General William J. Bowers, Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Applicability is the Marine Corps Total Force.