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What is a MARADMIN, and how do I read one?

Short answer

A MARADMIN is a Marine Administrative Message — the Corps' way of publishing official guidance fast without rewriting a whole order. Each one has four parts: Purpose, Background, Action, and POC. If you read only one, read the Action paragraph — it tells you what you're expected to do.

Last reviewed June 21, 2026·Source: marines.mil — MARADMINS

A MARADMIN — Marine Administrative Message — is how Headquarters Marine Corps publishes official guidance quickly, without rewriting an entire order. It's the source of record for a policy change, an opportunity, a deadline, or a board.

Bottom line: Read the Action paragraph first — that's what you're actually expected to do. The rest is context.

The four parts of every MARADMIN

  1. Purpose — why it was published.
  2. Background — the context and rationale.
  3. Action — what Marines are expected to do. Start here.
  4. POC — who to contact with questions.

If you're short on time, the Action paragraph is the whole game. Purpose and Background tell you why; POC tells you who to ask.

How to read the number

Every MARADMIN has a number in the form sequence/year — so MARADMIN 024/26 is the 24th message of 2026. The number is just an address; it tells you nothing about the content.

Which ones actually affect reservists

The Corps publishes hundreds a year, most aimed at the active component or at functions you'll never touch. The handful that matter to a reservist usually involve pay and bonuses, promotions and boards, retirement points, standards (fitness, body composition), drill and annual training, or education and benefits.

That's the gap Reservable works on: we read the new MARADMINs every morning, score each for whether it affects a reservist, and translate the ones that do into plain English. Browse the glossary for the terms, or subscribe and we'll send you the ones that affect your reserve career.

Written and reviewed by the Reservable.org team — an independent newsroom run by reserve Marines. We translate official policy into plain English and link the source so you can verify it before you act.