Should I join the Marines?

Hey man just saw this and figured I would throw in my two cents. Im a fresh boot a year ago i was at bootcamp. I prolly made the best decision o fmy life by joing the Marines but my worst by going into the reserves. I listen to my recruite who told the only way i could get infantry was if i enlisted as a reservist, and after I got all my training done with i would be able to switch as if it was nothing. So now im stuck being a reservist because its next to impossible to switch rigth now. Make sure you get what you want and talk to people who are in now to make sure the recruiter isnt playing any games. Good luck with your choice.

 

my uncle back in the day was booted out of the army due to shrapnel but he could still be in the NG so he went and joined up then didnt show up to drill... so they activated him...then they caught what he had done after about a year booted him again so he went and joined the NG in Florida and did the same thing again to be activated...they finally fully medically discharged him after he said he would keep doing it over and over

 

Yes, an 87 is pretty good, should have quite a few jobs open to look at. I won't vote on the poll, because that's a decision YOU need to make.

Now...I am not a Marine, but I've worked with loads of them over the years...the one thing that has always impressed me about them is Pride. I have seldom seen any other organization/group of people that have as much as Marines. On the other hand, I've also never seen another single group do as much stupid crap as Marines do (off duty stupid crap mostly; the on duty stupid crap is pretty much universal among them services). Marines can be the baddest MFrs on the battlefield, but they can also be the DUMBEST SOB's after Liberty Call I've ever seen. So...be careful who you associate with...if they've been in for 4 years and are still a Private, First Class or a Lance Corporal...there's a reason for that, and it's not a good reason, either!

Second...be VERY SURE you A) WANT TO BE A MARINE and B) Want to do the job you select. Don't just go Ground Grunt because you think that would be cool for a few years...we call them Bullet Sponges for a reason.

I'm not going to take the typical Squid stance on the techie side here. If you want to get into the technical side, there are some excellent options in the Corps for you. Aviation has all manner of jobs that will exercise your brain, as will IT, so on and so forth. Yes, the Air Force has a cushy life (They lay out the golf course before they lay out the rest of the base!), but they are civilians in blue suits to the rest of us. Navy has the BEST technical training programs and ratings (MOS to the Green side) of all the services. You can be a professional computer geek (IT), work on jets (what I did), helicopters, ships, gas turbines, nuclear power plants, build towns, the list is too long for me to list everything here.

You can even go be a Ground Grunt if that's your bag and you're enough of a badass to make it through BUDS and SEAL qualification.

Now for the bad (Navy/Marine):

You will deploy...a lot. You might be one of the weird ones (Like me!) that enjoys deployments, or deployment might be sucktastic for you, but that's part of the job.

As a Marine, on deployment these days, you WILL get shot at. I have a number of Marine friends with Purple Hearts...and they are Airdales, not ground grunts.

Stable home life? Not part of the package, Bud. Did 20 years, the last 15 were as a married man with kids. I was either on deployment, on det, on deployment workups for the majority of our married life, and the last 4.5 years I went as a geographical bachelor. Totally. Sucked. Balls.

If you pull a career hitch, you WILL be somewhat beat up when you leave. Shit that's cool when you're in your early 20's hurts like hell when you're in your 40's. Document everything through the Medical Department, you will need it later for VA Disability claims.

As a father, I've missed birthdays, holidays, special events, first concerts, too much stuff to list. I've not been there at times when my kids and my wife needed me. I've not been there at times when I needed them. I missed the funerals of all but one of my Grandparents. Was lucky enough to get to go see my Mom not long before she died, and they moved heaven and earth to get me back for her funeral.

Sounds rough, don't it? It is.

And I would not trade the experience for anything.

Bill
USN (ret) 1991-2011

 

^ I second all that. Very well said brother.

 

one thing i've learned over the past few years, a genuinely good recruiter wont even mention "special operations".

A recruiter who mentions special operations within the first 5 minutes of talking to you is a legit shitbag. preying on kids who played COD or BF3 and then telling them they could do Spec Ops with the knowledge that they will fail miserably and become Sec For is a fucking douchebag move. I have zero respect for recruiters who do that.

 

Go to college...no offense to my military friends/relatives but an education will get you a long way. You can join after college as either enlisted or try for officer...

 

Almost 20 years in the military and I totally agree with this.

Also consider the Guard or Reserves. Great way to serve and still have a life you have control over. Know that the days of "weekend warrior" are long past...but will come around as soon as this GFJ in Afghanistan ends.

 

Same here. Had my parents sign when I turned 17. On the part where you list "reasons for wanting to enlist" or something like that, I put "to see the world" (I was 17 haha). While I didn't seould be pretty much useless once I got out of the Corps.

So what you (OP) should take from that is that you need to read you contract carefully before signing your life away!!! Don't take the advice that you have gotten from others on here for granted. It may seem silly, but many people aren't fortunate to get this kind of easily obtainable knowledge. The only Marine I ever spoke to before I joined was the recruiter.

While I didn't get the job that I wanted, I would do it all over again in a heart beat! Met some great people, went to places I never thought I'd go to (on a FREE boat ride no less!!! )

One of the biggest changes for me was being away from home for 2 years straight. Probably the biggest change for me though was the culture shock. I'm from a town full of hispanics. When I got to bootcamp, WOW!! I had never seen so many white people. Or much of any other races for that matter.

The Marines taught me to love diversity, taught me to try new things. It brought out a side of me that I never knew I had, and would probably never have known about had I not joined.

I got out at the ripe age of 23 years old. Going to school thanks to the GI bill.


You old farts on here sure have some awesome advice!

Good luck on your final decision OP, whatever you decide at the end, you seem to be headed down a good road.

 

thanks for all the input guys. my dad is starting to come around. and as far as the contract is concerned I know my dad will read it about 50 times before he lets me sign it ha

 

Amazing how they talk about seeing the world, but fail to mention you're going to see the shittiest parts of it.

 

ha yea I know there is stuff hidden in between the lines but I think of it this way. if I in-list. especially with the marines I'm getting that pendant come hell or high water.

 

When are you gonna take the real asvab?
What mos you trying to get?

 

Make damned SURE it is what YOU want. IMO, you should finish the education first...the Corps (hell, all the services) need good, educated, motivated Officers...and there are too many file closers where we needed Leaders.

 

I think I need to get under the weight limit first before they will let me take it. which I just got done running and about to do another 30 min session.

as far as mos I'm not to sure I wanna take the test and see what I qualify for and then go from there

 

if your going to do it, get EXACTLY what you want. if you think being a grunt is all about playing with guns and flower falling out your ass, youre sorely mistaken. if you do it youll never regret it when your done. but if you wanna be a war fighter killer badass cause call of duty looks cool, fuckin forget it. ive been there and done that. war is no fucking pick nic, war is hell kid. and all the runnin and gunnin all but over for the usmc, its back to udps and mue's with 18 month work ups. marines are the best for a reason, fuck the rest, they are not as good, period. and an 87 is a good score on the asvab, but its all about your general technical score on the asvab. have any more questions just ask me, im in the spot you want to be in, which means i know what the fuck im talking about.

 

Such a motivator

 

I hope you never have to find out what it feels like to be one of three Americans stuck in a crowd of Arabs screaming "Death to America". (Dubai 2003).

Found out I could still run pretty fast...

 

Join the navy, work on nuclear reactors on submarines/ACCs. Get a job after at a local nuclear plant. Start as an outside operator making about $28-35 an hour. Top out as a senior reactor operator making 160-220k/ year.

I know this, cause I interviewed to be an outside operator, they hiring 5 ex-navy nukes over me. The navy really is the only place to get reactor training.

 

I'm looking over all my options right now. I do know I will join a branch of the military, just not sure which yet and what MOS I will have. Right now I have a ticket I'm having some trouble getting rid of because the cop hasn't turned it in yet. and as far as taking the ASVAB do I need to wait till I've lost the weight and would I need to take it again if I try to go to a different branch?

 

Very true. The whole industry was built by the Navy (read: Rickover) in the '50's.