Bottom line
When you affiliate with the Marine Corps Reserve, several programs can put money, education benefits, or travel reimbursement in your pocket. There are enlistment and affiliation bonuses, GI Bill education assistance, TRICARE Reserve Select, IDT travel reimbursement for hard-to-fill leadership billets, a retraining path if you join without the right MOS, and extra composite score points for some junior enlisted Marines. Most bonuses come with a drill commitment in return, and the exact dollar amounts and eligibility are set by separate guidance, not fixed in this manual.
What it means for you
This section is a menu, not a rulebook. It tells you which incentive programs exist and the basic trade for each one, but the actual bonus figures, mileage caps, and yearly eligibility rules live in other references and in annual MARADMINs. If a bonus interests you, the real numbers come from your recruiter, your S-1, or the current FY MARADMIN. The one consistent rule across the bonus programs: take the money, owe the drill time. Affiliation bonuses normally obligate you to drill in that unit for three years. The composite score points incentive normally obligates one or more years.