Approximately 1,000 Individual Ready Reserve Marines from the National Capitol Region gathered at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria on March 9 for a mega-muster.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the Marine Corps to reach out to its Marines in the IRR and a great opportunity for those Marines to come back and touch the Marine Corps for a short period of time,” said Lt. Gen. Steven A. Hummer, Marine Forces Reserve commanding general.

The Marine Corps hosts 10 mega-musters nationwide annually in order to meet its requirements to contact, screen and practice the strategic mobilization of the manpower asset that the IRR provides. Through the 10 musters, 10,000 IRR Marines are contacted yearly.

At each muster, the IRR Marines are medically screened.

The medical screenings ensure that the IRR Marines are ready for re-integration should they be needed, said Gerard Lee, medical program office manager, Marine Corps Individual Reserve Support Activity. The muster also provided a chance for the Marines to be screened for mental health issues and if needed, be connected to free resources available to them.

“It’s about ensuring the member can be taken care of,” said Lee. The average attendee was 26 years old, with an average of two combat tours.

There were also veteran’s benefits subject matter experts, including Veterans Affairs representatives, employers seeking veteran employees and college recruiters available to answer any of the Marines’ questions.

The goal of the event was, “Just to help a Marine,” said Sgt. Maj. Michael E. Sprague, Force Headquarters Group, MFR. “If I can help one Marine, its worth all we invested.”

The Marines are compensated for their time with a small stipend that is provided through Department of Defense funding.

“It’s a miniscule amount to take care of Marines,” said Col. James “Skeeter” Fox Jr., director, MCIRSA. “It’s a small price to pay for the value of the muster program and the value of keeping the faith with these Marines.”

High ranking members from the other U.S. military services, including Army Gen. Frank Grass, chief of the National Guard Bureau, also attended this muster to see if their service should implement a similar muster program.