Posted: 6/28/2009 9:45:38 AM EDT
So I've been kicking around the idea of enlisting. Not sure if it would be now, or when I'm done with college (2 years left). I know we have a few .mil and former .mil people here, so I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. I'm not sure which branch yet (although I always pictured myself as a Bulldog  ). Basically, my life goal is to become a LEO of some sort, hopefully at the federal level, and the military experience wouldn't hurt me there. Also, I've always had a sense of patriotic duty, and I'm finally giving it some real thought to exercising it.
What is the normal length of service? I'm not looking to make a career out of it. Do you pick your MOS? Or is it assigned to you, based on need? If I graduate from a 4-year school, do I go in as an officer, or start from the bottom? I plan on going to talk to a recruiter some time this week, but like to do a little bit of research before hand. Thanks |
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w a 4 year degree go officer, better pay better everything. shorter training time as well.
and your job may depend on your degree, ie if your a nurse there not going to have you work on jets... I cant speak for the officer side only enlisted, but I can tell you the air force is a pretty easy way to go. |
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So I've been kicking around the idea of enlisting. Not sure if it would be now, or when I'm done with college (2 years left). I know we have a few .mil and former .mil people here, so I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. I'm not sure which branch yet (although I always pictured myself as a Bulldog ). Basically, my life goal is to become a LEO of some sort, hopefully at the federal level, and the military experience wouldn't hurt me there. Also, I've always had a sense of patriotic duty, and I'm finally giving it some real thought to exercising it.
What is the normal length of service? I'm not looking to make a career out of it. Four years. There are some two-year enlistments available (yes, that is what I was told by the OPS Officer at RS Albuquerque), but you'll never hear of them in this day and age. Do you pick your MOS? Or is it assigned to you, based on need? In the USMC, you take your ASVAB to see what you qualify for. From the "eligibility" list, you pick what you want to do, or you let the recruiter sell you on what you think you want to do. That's what you sign your contract for in the recruiting office before going to MEPS. From what I gathered working with the Army recruiters, the applicant enlisting in the U.S. Army doesn't make a decision until he gets to MEPS as to what he contracts for. That's where the "sale" is closed, so to speak. That's the way it used to be back in the mid '90s-maybe some of our Army bretheren can tell us if this has changed. If I graduate from a 4-year school, do I go in as an officer, or start from the bottom? If you have a bachelors degree, you can apply for OCC (Officer Candidates Class for those who've graduated already) and attend officers training at Quantico, VA for 10 weeks if your package gets approved (if nothing has changed in the past few years). You can enlist if you want, but you should at least talk to the OSO in your area before you do. You'd be a fool not to. I plan on going to talk to a recruiter some time this week, but like to do a little bit of research before hand. Thanks |
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So I've been kicking around the idea of enlisting. Not sure if it would be now, or when I'm done with college (2 years left). I know we have a few .mil and former .mil people here, so I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. I'm not sure which branch yet (although I always pictured myself as a Bulldog ). Basically, my life goal is to become a LEO of some sort, hopefully at the federal level, and the military experience wouldn't hurt me there. Also, I've always had a sense of patriotic duty, and I'm finally giving it some real thought to exercising it.
What is the normal length of service? I'm not looking to make a career out of it. Four years. There are some two-year enlistments available (yes, that is what I was told by the OPS Officer at RS Albuquerque), but you'll never hear of them in this day and age. Thanks minimum length of service is 8 years. It usually done as 4 years active and then 4 years IRR. Some people chose to do 8 years active duty so they do not have to do any addtional IRR time. |
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w a 4 year degree go officer, better pay better everything. shorter training time as well. and your job may depend on your degree, ie if your a nurse there not going to have you work on jets... I cant speak for the officer side only enlisted, but I can tell you the air force is a pretty easy way to go. Not in the Marine Corps, officers training time is much longer than the majority of enlisted. Officer vs. enlisted- what are your goals while in the service? Do you want to the the one guy responsible for a platoon? If so, go officer. Do you want to turn wrenches? If so go enlisted. Nothing wrong either way. The USMC is not easy, be ready for 4 years of hard work and sacrifice. Officer side you do not pick MOS, you make a wish list of the 15-17 MOS then you get assigned one based on what you want and your performance at The Basic School (TBS, 6 month long basic officer course) Enlisted side you pick "occfield" (say 03XX infantry) then the USMC picks specific MOS (0331, machine gunner). |
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So I've been kicking around the idea of enlisting. Not sure if it would be now, or when I'm done with college (2 years left). I know we have a few .mil and former .mil people here, so I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. I'm not sure which branch yet (although I always pictured myself as a Bulldog ). Basically, my life goal is to become a LEO of some sort, hopefully at the federal level, and the military experience wouldn't hurt me there. Also, I've always had a sense of patriotic duty, and I'm finally giving it some real thought to exercising it.
What is the normal length of service? I'm not looking to make a career out of it. Four years. There are some two-year enlistments available (yes, that is what I was told by the OPS Officer at RS Albuquerque), but you'll never hear of them in this day and age. Thanks minimum length of service is 8 years. It usually done as 4 years active and then 4 years IRR. Some people chose to do 8 years active duty so they do not have to do any addtional IRR time. Or some just go reserve with the promise of not deploying for the first two years if they're still inside of their 8 year commitment. |
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So I've been kicking around the idea of enlisting. Not sure if it would be now, or when I'm done with college (2 years left). I know we have a few .mil and former .mil people here, so I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. I'm not sure which branch yet (although I always pictured myself as a Bulldog ). Basically, my life goal is to become a LEO of some sort, hopefully at the federal level, and the military experience wouldn't hurt me there. Also, I've always had a sense of patriotic duty, and I'm finally giving it some real thought to exercising it.
What is the normal length of service? I'm not looking to make a career out of it. Four years. There are some two-year enlistments available (yes, that is what I was told by the OPS Officer at RS Albuquerque), but you'll never hear of them in this day and age. Thanks minimum length of service is 8 years. It usually done as 4 years active and then 4 years IRR. Some people chose to do 8 years active duty so they do not have to do any addtional IRR time. "Four years" is what your recruiter told you. There are (or were) two year enlistments (two years active, not to include IRR time) available whether you want to believe it or not. I worked for the RS, and I saw it. Nobody talks about it because two years doesn't do shit for the service. They barely get any value out of that training before the applicant is discharged (which is why the Army got away from it a long time ago). Highly discouraged, but available as a "tool in the box" if the RS needs it to "make mission". The MOSs that you could do this with would be limited. Bear in mind that different districts have different or at least more flexible standards. One RS might be given more latitude in contracting more "bravos" (as opposed to higher aptitude "alphas") for example than another in the same district. It often depends on what "drug deals" are going on between the RSS, RSs, and Recruting Districts to make the numbers "work". You won't see it now because recruiters are having a somewhat easier time finding enlistees (or so I was told) right now. You'd be surprised what goes on "behind the scenes". |
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finish college, then look at going either Officer or Enlisted. As mentioned before, Officer jobs are typically managment positions where Enlisted jobs are more hands on.
For the USAF there are or used to be a few 18 month enlistments, not sure if they still have it. With the USAF most people sign up for either 4 or 6 yrs. A 6yr enlistment gets you E-3 at the completeion of tech school and resets your date of rank of E-3 to the day you graduated Basic Training. This allows you to sew on E-4 in about 2.5 years. The 6 yr enlistment is usually chosen by people who plan on making the USAF a career, since it puts you on the fast track to becoming an NCO. I signed up for 6 yrs and by 4 yrs and 1 month I was an E-5 Staff Sergeant |
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w a 4 year degree go officer, better pay better everything. shorter training time as well. and your job may depend on your degree, ie if your a nurse there not going to have you work on jets... I cant speak for the officer side only enlisted, but I can tell you the air force is a pretty easy way to go. Not in the Marine Corps, officers training time is much longer than the majority of enlisted. Officer vs. enlisted- what are your goals while in the service? Do you want to the the one guy responsible for a platoon? If so, go officer. Do you want to turn wrenches? If so go enlisted. Nothing wrong either way. The USMC is not easy, be ready for 4 years of hard work and sacrifice. Officer side you do not pick MOS, you make a wish list of the 15-17 MOS then you get assigned one based on what you want and your performance at The Basic School (TBS, 6 month long basic officer course) Enlisted side you pick "occfield" (say 03XX infantry) then the USMC picks specific MOS (0331, machine gunner). My enlisted training was- 13 weeks boot 4 weeks MCT 11 weeks MOS school Total: Around 7 months Officer- (I'm not an officer) 10/12 weeks OCS (OCC/PLC) 6 months TBS MOS school Around a year |
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w a 4 year degree go officer, better pay better everything. shorter training time as well. and your job may depend on your degree, ie if your a nurse there not going to have you work on jets... I cant speak for the officer side only enlisted, but I can tell you the air force is a pretty easy way to go. Not in the Marine Corps, officers training time is much longer than the majority of enlisted. Officer vs. enlisted- what are your goals while in the service? Do you want to the the one guy responsible for a platoon? If so, go officer. Do you want to turn wrenches? If so go enlisted. Nothing wrong either way. The USMC is not easy, be ready for 4 years of hard work and sacrifice. Officer side you do not pick MOS, you make a wish list of the 15-17 MOS then you get assigned one based on what you want and your performance at The Basic School (TBS, 6 month long basic officer course) Enlisted side you pick "occfield" (say 03XX infantry) then the USMC picks specific MOS (0331, machine gunner). I'll add a little to this... If you go to OCC, your training will be about 10 weeks. It will not be easy. You will be challenged. You will not be encouraged to finish if you don't want to be there. If you do finish, then it's off to TBS (again, at Quantico). At The Basic School, you'll learn quite a bit about everything, which is why the course is six months. If you end up as a supply officer for example, you'll be able to draw upon your days of attending TBS because they taught you basic infantry leadership, among other things needed to make you a leader of Marines in the event you go into combat outside your MOS (not uncommon right now-lots of provisional infantry missions going on). Then there's the "quality spread" aspect of picking your MOS....When you submit your package, your select either ground or air (if you want to be a pilot). After graduating from OCC (in your case) and while attending TBS (for six months), the class is divided into three groups. Each of the three groups are ranked from top to bottom. You put on your "dream sheet" what you want be (infantry officer, armor officer, finance officer, ect.)-I understand it's your top three choices. The better you perform at TBS (within your group), the higher the chance you get your top or at least one of the top three picks. Not everyone is going to get their top pick. Some of the top performers are going to get stuck in "logistics", and some of the lesser performers will get combat arms MOSs like Infantry. Mind you, all these guys (and some gals) are competitive, so it's a matter of relative performance. The "quality spread" prevents all the support or combat support jobs from being filled by those that didn't perform as well as the top graduates. IOW, it spreads out the talent on a somewhat more even distribution. As people are injured or drop out, you'll have a guy at the top of his class in the second or third group move to the bottom of the first group. Once you graduate from OCC and TBS, then it's off to your MOS school. If you went Infantry, it'll be Infantry Officers Course at Quantico for example. If you're a pilot, then it's off to NAS Pensacola for flight training. After flight training, then it's off to learn what aircraft you'll fly (either fixed or rotary wing). The bottom line is that as an officer, picking what kind of officer you are is more dependent on you being competitive than a simple black and white issue of signing a contract with a guarantee of your MOS spelled out in writing if you had enlisted. If you choose to be an Officer Of Marines, you'll be a very well trained officer before you even meet your platoon and Plt. Sgt. for the first time. Then he has to train you because no matter what you think, you still don't know it all. You just know more than your counterparts in the other services when you report to your first command. |
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w a 4 year degree go officer, better pay better everything. shorter training time as well. and your job may depend on your degree, ie if your a nurse there not going to have you work on jets... I cant speak for the officer side only enlisted, but I can tell you the air force is a pretty easy way to go. Not in the Marine Corps, officers training time is much longer than the majority of enlisted. Officer vs. enlisted- what are your goals while in the service? Do you want to the the one guy responsible for a platoon? If so, go officer. Do you want to turn wrenches? If so go enlisted. Nothing wrong either way. The USMC is not easy, be ready for 4 years of hard work and sacrifice. Officer side you do not pick MOS, you make a wish list of the 15-17 MOS then you get assigned one based on what you want and your performance at The Basic School (TBS, 6 month long basic officer course) Enlisted side you pick "occfield" (say 03XX infantry) then the USMC picks specific MOS (0331, machine gunner). My enlisted training was- 13 weeks boot 4 weeks MCT 11 weeks MOS school Total: Around 7 months Officer- (I'm not an officer) 10/12 weeks OCS (OCC/PLC) 6 months TBS MOS school Around a year Mine was 13 weeks boot 4 weeks SOI 2 weeks weapons.... Officer, 6 weeks OCS, 6 months TBS 6 months comm school....not counting college of course.... |
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Ill chime in here. I got 8 years in, and am an E6 in the Army. All these things you are hearing are good things. Did you decide what branch yet? I do know that whatever you do decide, be prepared, as this is a life changing decision. I too said that I only wanted to do a few years and originally came in on a three year contract. Yes. Three. But when you put so much hard work, and no-shit-oh-my-god-for-real sacrifices, its hard to just leave this lifestlye. So, my advice is to first find what branch you want to represent, and what you want to do.
If you come in as an officer, you will be ahead of those that couldnt go to college before joining. You will be ahead of the game big time as far as money goes. But if you came in enlisted, you will be promoted faster than most (unless your a dumb ass) because you have the civilian education. Me personally have been in class almost every chance I get but with over 4 years overseas, its hard. So, Im going to become a warrent officer (technical) soon, as Im dropping my packet before heading out to Iraq again in a few months. Thank you for even considering joining the ranks of less than 1% of the American population. I wish everyone committed to at leadt 2 years, as this will be a great point to start your life. -Jay |
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w a 4 year degree go officer, better pay better everything. shorter training time as well. and your job may depend on your degree, ie if your a nurse there not going to have you work on jets... I cant speak for the officer side only enlisted, but I can tell you the air force is a pretty easy way to go. Not in the Marine Corps, officers training time is much longer than the majority of enlisted. Officer vs. enlisted- what are your goals while in the service? Do you want to the the one guy responsible for a platoon? If so, go officer. Do you want to turn wrenches? If so go enlisted. Nothing wrong either way. The USMC is not easy, be ready for 4 years of hard work and sacrifice. Officer side you do not pick MOS, you make a wish list of the 15-17 MOS then you get assigned one based on what you want and your performance at The Basic School (TBS, 6 month long basic officer course) Enlisted side you pick "occfield" (say 03XX infantry) then the USMC picks specific MOS (0331, machine gunner). My enlisted training was- 13 weeks boot 4 weeks MCT 11 weeks MOS school Total: Around 7 months Officer- (I'm not an officer) 10/12 weeks OCS (OCC/PLC) 6 months TBS MOS school Around a year Mine was 13 weeks boot 4 weeks SOI 2 weeks weapons.... Officer, 6 weeks OCS, 6 months TBS 6 months comm school....not counting college of course.... 6 weeks OCS? 2 part PLC? |
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Wow, thanks alot everyone. I've learned alot by reading, and it is helping me make my decision. I have narrowed it down to two branches; the Air Force and Marines. Ever since I was a kid, I have wanted to be a member of the USMC, and always wanted to be a pilot. Well, my vision sucks (getting Lasik within the year), and my math grades aren't all that high (B's mostly), so I kind of ruled that out. Also, my interests have changed, and I'd rather by on the ground anyway. The only reason I am looking at the USAF is of their security forces. I was walking out of a SubWay, and saw a brocheur for the Security Forces, and took one home. I got to reading it, and it seems like it's exactly what I want to do.
I am aware it's a life changing decision. I don't think I would have any qualms on pulling the trigger and going in. I want to do the LE thing, but it can wait. I'd love to serve my country in any way I possibly can. My parents are 'okay' with the decision (as okay as you can be I guess  ), but they won't factor into it. They just asked that I finish my degree first, which I will abide by them and do (it benefits in the long run anyway, as I/my parents are not paying a dime for school).
As far as enlisted v. officer, I'm not entirely sure what I would want to do. I'm not doing it for the money/the glory. I'm doing it for the service to my country. I was always a believer in putting your time in to work up the ranks, and earn your spot, whatever it may be. That is why I'm leaning towards enlisted. Another question, if I may. I spoke with a friend who went to enlist in teh MC. The kid is a complete F-up, so I take what he says very lightly. He told me the recruiter lied to him, made false promises, yada yada. I take it from where it comes. But I have heard from other people (who I trust only slightly more) that a recruiter may promise you one thing, and when it comes to it actually happening, it may not be as promised. I'm not trying to accuse anyone of anything, but is this true? I really do appreciate your advice. It's a big decision, and like to get as much info as possible before I make it. And thank you to all who serve 
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Air Force and Marines? That's an odd couple to narrow it down to. 
edit: Hold off on the lasik till you talk to a recruiter. If i remember correctly the military will pay for your lasik but if u don't get it through them it can be a disqualifier for some things. |
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Air Force and Marines? That's an odd couple to narrow it down to.
Yea, I'm sure I'll hear something for that Marines is where my heart is, AF is where my brain is.
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edit: Hold off on the lasik till you talk to a recruiter. If i remember correctly the military will pay for your lasik but if u don't get it through them it can be a disqualifier for some things. That would be be perfect. I'll definately have to look into that. |
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Bear in mind if you score high enough on the ASVAB and any other battery of tests the USMC might give you, it's still possible you can fly fixed-wing in the USMC, regardless of your GPA. I've known F / A-18 pilots with Political Science degrees. I've heard the USAF wants their pilots to have a hard science degree. The USMC requires a degree, and will accept any degree from an acredited college-even degrees without a math requirement (although you need to know some for your own good).
As a Marine aviator, you'll also do a tour as a FAC as the air-officer for a ground unit some time in your career. It doesn't matter whether you fly jets or helos. Calling in CAS for fun and profit is The Ticket if you're ever on the ground. I wish RON would chime in on this thread. You have a world of opportunity available to you my friend. Have you talked to the USAF yet? I did, as I was considering a commission, but the recruiter was an arrogant ass so I dismissed the idea quickly. He told me (this was about 1995 or 1996) that I'd have no choice as to the job I did once I completed OTS. Whether that was true or not, I don't know-it's just what I was told. Talk to one and find out for yourself, then go talk to the OSO at your local RS. Any recruiter can give you the POC of the Officer Selection Officer. Don't forget that the U.S. Army has one hell of an aviation program for Warant Officers. Unlike commissioned officers that do staff jobs after being a pilot for awhile, the WOs just fly, fly, and fly some more. Not a bad gig for a two-year degree. |
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6 weeks OCS? 2 part PLC? MECEP and NROTC candidates only go to the 6 week bull dog, it's like taking a bit of PLC junior and most of PLC seniors in a 6 week course. If you want to fly and are qualified you can get a flight contract that will get you to flight school. It is up to you to make it through OCS, TBS and flight school. What you fly depends on what is available and your class standing at flight school. Generally rotary wing guys tended to have not done as well at some aspects of flight school (but this is not 100 percent because not all classes have allot of fixed wing slots), the guys who do the best at flight school tend to get AV-8s and Prowlers, since they are so hard to fly. The F/A-18 is pretty simple to fly so some of the guys who get them its because its one of the safest ones to fly. |
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FYI...USMC paid completely for my PRK. Process only took one month from first appt to surgery.
Finish college first so that it is out of the way. I got my BS degree, and then enlisted in the USMC (didn't go officer, as I wanted to have both expierences should I have chosen to stay in). I'd recommend going officer regardless of the branch you choose: it'll be a better quality of life, and you have more opportunities to actually make decisions and lead. Being a 26yo male with a BS degree having worked in LE and trained with Blackwater prior to enlisting means absolutely nothing when you're just an E3/E4 amongst a bunch of stupid 18-20yo E5s and below with no life experience. |
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Bear in mind if you score high enough on the ASVAB and any other battery of tests the USMC might give you, it's still possible you can fly fixed-wing in the USMC, regardless of your GPA. I've known F / A-18 pilots with Political Science degrees. I've heard the USAF wants their pilots to have a hard science degree. The USMC requires a degree, and will accept any degree from an acredited college-even degrees without a math requirement (although you need to know some for your own good). As a Marine aviator, you'll also do a tour as a FAC as the air-officer for a ground unit some time in your career. It doesn't matter whether you fly jets or helos. Calling in CAS for fun and profit is The Ticket if you're ever on the ground. I wish RON would chime in on this thread. You have a world of opportunity available to you my friend. Have you talked to the USAF yet? I did, as I was considering a commission, but the recruiter was an arrogant ass so I dismissed the idea quickly. He told me (this was about 1995 or 1996) that I'd have no choice as to the job I did once I completed OTS. Whether that was true or not, I don't know-it's just what I was told. Talk to one and find out for yourself, then go talk to the OSO at your local RS. Any recruiter can give you the POC of the Officer Selection Officer. Don't forget that the U.S. Army has one hell of an aviation program for Warant Officers. Unlike commissioned officers that do staff jobs after being a pilot for awhile, the WOs just fly, fly, and fly some more. Not a bad gig for a two-year degree. Not all pilots will get a FAC or air officer tour. It's normally a career enhancer as a non-associated tour go for pilots. Pilots unlike other MOS have the most restrictive of assignments of any Marine officers, if they don't get back into the cockpit in certain time frame after their non-associated tour, they have to repeat the entire flight school syllabus. |
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A recruiter is a salesman. They may stretch the truth. Always ask for it in writting. I was promised airborne. Never did get to go to that school.. Go kick his ass  .
I used to work right across from the Army recruiters in Clovis. They were a good crew. I got along with them better than the others, although the Navy recruiters were a good bunch too. What was bad for us was that they were the only ones that had a spanish-speaking recruiter, and he made money with that not-insignificant skill... |
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Bear in mind if you score high enough on the ASVAB and any other battery of tests the USMC might give you, it's still possible you can fly fixed-wing in the USMC, regardless of your GPA. I've known F / A-18 pilots with Political Science degrees. I've heard the USAF wants their pilots to have a hard science degree. The USMC requires a degree, and will accept any degree from an acredited college-even degrees without a math requirement (although you need to know some for your own good). As a Marine aviator, you'll also do a tour as a FAC as the air-officer for a ground unit some time in your career. It doesn't matter whether you fly jets or helos. Calling in CAS for fun and profit is The Ticket if you're ever on the ground. I wish RON would chime in on this thread. You have a world of opportunity available to you my friend. Have you talked to the USAF yet? I did, as I was considering a commission, but the recruiter was an arrogant ass so I dismissed the idea quickly. He told me (this was about 1995 or 1996) that I'd have no choice as to the job I did once I completed OTS. Whether that was true or not, I don't know-it's just what I was told. Talk to one and find out for yourself, then go talk to the OSO at your local RS. Any recruiter can give you the POC of the Officer Selection Officer. Don't forget that the U.S. Army has one hell of an aviation program for Warant Officers. Unlike commissioned officers that do staff jobs after being a pilot for awhile, the WOs just fly, fly, and fly some more. Not a bad gig for a two-year degree. Not all pilots will get a FAC or air officer tour. It's normally a career enhancer as a non-associated tour go for pilots. Pilots unlike other MOS have the most restrictive of assignments of any Marine officers, if they don't get back into the cockpit in certain time frame after their non-associated tour, they have to repeat the entire flight school syllabus. There you are-I was hoping you'd see this. I was under the impression that being a FAC was required for anyone staying in past their first tour. Thanks for the correction. |
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So I've been kicking around the idea of enlisting. Not sure if it would be now, or when I'm done with college (2 years left). I know we have a few .mil and former .mil people here, so I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. I'm not sure which branch yet (although I always pictured myself as a Bulldog ). Basically, my life goal is to become a LEO of some sort, hopefully at the federal level, and the military experience wouldn't hurt me there. Also, I've always had a sense of patriotic duty, and I'm finally giving it some real thought to exercising it.
What is the normal length of service? I'm not looking to make a career out of it. Do you pick your MOS? Or is it assigned to you, based on need? If I graduate from a 4-year school, do I go in as an officer, or start from the bottom? I plan on going to talk to a recruiter some time this week, but like to do a little bit of research before hand. Thanks in regards to this.. finish school and then go officer, you will have a much better chance of getting a job after you EAS from the military , Im telling you this from my own screw ups... dont be stupid,,think long term.. |
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A recruiter is a salesman. They may stretch the truth. Always ask for it in writting. I was promised airborne. Never did get to go to that school.. Go kick his ass .
I used to work right across from the Army recruiters in Clovis. They were a good crew. I got along with them better than the others, although the Navy recruiters were a good bunch too. What was bad for us was that they were the only ones that had a spanish-speaking recruiter, and he made money with that not-insignificant skill... You got stuck in Clovis? Damn, I hated living there (was in Portales) as a kid. And any recruiter in that area who didn't work on learning Spanish on his own needed some extra motivation... |
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w a 4 year degree go officer, better pay better everything. shorter training time as well. and your job may depend on your degree, ie if your a nurse there not going to have you work on jets... I cant speak for the officer side only enlisted, but I can tell you the air force is a pretty easy way to go. Not in the Marine Corps, officers training time is much longer than the majority of enlisted. Officer vs. enlisted- what are your goals while in the service? Do you want to the the one guy responsible for a platoon? If so, go officer. Do you want to turn wrenches? If so go enlisted. Nothing wrong either way. The USMC is not easy, be ready for 4 years of hard work and sacrifice. Officer side you do not pick MOS, you make a wish list of the 15-17 MOS then you get assigned one based on what you want and your performance at The Basic School (TBS, 6 month long basic officer course) Enlisted side you pick "occfield" (say 03XX infantry) then the USMC picks specific MOS (0331, machine gunner). My enlisted training was- 13 weeks boot 4 weeks MCT 11 weeks MOS school Total: Around 7 months Officer- (I'm not an officer) 10/12 weeks OCS (OCC/PLC) 6 months TBS MOS school Around a year Mine was 13 weeks boot 4 weeks SOI 2 weeks weapons.... Officer, 6 weeks OCS, 6 months TBS 6 months comm school....not counting college of course.... 6 weeks OCS? 2 part PLC? No, "bulldog" 6 week course for MECEPS and NROTC. |
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A recruiter is a salesman. They may stretch the truth. Always ask for it in writting. I was promised airborne. Never did get to go to that school.. Go kick his ass .
I used to work right across from the Army recruiters in Clovis. They were a good crew. I got along with them better than the others, although the Navy recruiters were a good bunch too. What was bad for us was that they were the only ones that had a spanish-speaking recruiter, and he made money with that not-insignificant skill... You got stuck in Clovis? Damn, I hated living there (was in Portales) as a kid. And any recruiter in that area who didn't work on learning Spanish on his own needed some extra motivation... I lived in Portales for many years (graduated from ENMU). I miss NM. Once Los Arcos closed down, the town went to shit. That town needed more saloons, and less baptist churches .
Did you attend Lindsey Middle School? I met the wife in Portales when I came back from overseas, and she was an assistant teacher there from '89ish to '92. |