US Marine Corps

Alright well i've been thinking about it alot latly and i've think made up my mind. I wanna join the Marine Corps. Is/has anyone else here been in the marines? Any advice on joining? Olny thing is I don't wanna go in as enlisted. Education means alot to me and my family so I would like to go to college before joining. Since I don't need money for college I mine as well take advantage of my opportunity to get my degree while I am still young. This would also allow me to go in as an officer rether than enlisted.

I've been talking to other family members who have served and they all seem to have diffrent epinions about this. Bolth of my grandpa's where officers during World War II and they think I should go in as an officer at all costs. Where as my uncle (vietnam vet) and cousin (currently serving and is do to go back to iraq in the fall) where bolth enlisted and don't think its a good idea to go in as an officer becouse fellow soldiers tend to not respect commissioned officers.

One thing i'm not to sure about is education. It seems like a bachelors degree is needed to go in as an officer which I already planning on getting in culinary. But i've also been thinking about going to Annapolis. But since I don't plan on going career military will the degree I get at Annapolis be of use after my time with the marine corps is up? Am I better off getting my bachelors in culinary rether than attending Annapolis?

Any advice anyone can give me would be great.

If you serve our country that's great. However, be careful. Some people I know went that route, and still had to be in action. Just because you are in culinary does not mean they can't use you when it is crunch time.

I'm not looking to join the marines to preform a culinary job. Theres alot more money to be made with a culinary degree outside of the military. If I join I would probably go into Infantry. Or (and I know its along shot) Special Forces (aka Force Recon in the marine corps) I don't know it seems like a waste of time to serve as a cook in the military (to me atleast). I would want to be fighting.

licorps

Good luck to you, my boy Anthony was in Iraq an that man tells me some crazy ass story's. If anything go with the Navy my boy Matt traveled to a lot of nice places.

[quote9cb958c323="doylnea"]licorps[/quote9cb958c323]
Haha +karma. That was bugging me too wink His post is still riddled with other grammatical mistakes...

If you enlist in anything, be prepared to go over seas. My sister was out of the army for 3-4 years with a steady full time job and 2 kids and they just made her come back and sending her off to iraq

Army vet here, but my oldest daughter is Marine Corps Reserves. Enlisted.

If you want to go to Marine OCS, you have to be in college but do not have to have a degree yet. You do have to apply and be accepted though. They have a program for freshmen/sophomore's, and another for juniors/seniors/grads. Funny you mention it, just this weekend I ran across on online Marine Times feature story on OCS Class #186, taking you completely from first day through TBS graduation, complete with videos and articles. I would strongly suggest you check it out, it's very informative and gives you a bit of an idea of what to expect. It's not as hard as bootcamp in some ways, but harder in other ways (such as leadership, obviously). Actually from what my daughter told me, her Marine Corps bootcamp was easier than my Army bootcamp back in the 80's. We did a lot of nasty stuff they apparently don't do anymore. It's a "kindler, gentler" military nowadays. Although you as a civilian probably couldn't tell that from watching these videos, I can see it quite clearly. ;)

Clicky -> Class 186 The Making of a Marine Officer[=http//www.marinecorpstimes.com/class186/videos.php]Class 186 The Making of a Marine Officer (also read the stories that go along with the video sections)

To get your pick of MOS, you have to graduate at or near the top of your class in TBS (The Basic School), after you graduate OCS and get the commission. Otherwise, they'll assign you the job they think you're better qualified for, based upon your OCS and TBS performance. So just because you want to go, say Intel, doesn't mean you'll get it. It's not like enlisting where you can choose you MOS up front. And remember that with both Marines and Army, you're an infantry grunt first and foremost, and that's how you're initially trained. At any time you can be deployed in an infantry role no matter the job, and right now chances are high that you'll be deployed to a hot zone. Nothing wrong with that, just be prepared. When my cavalry unit was ordered to deploy to Gulf War I, we had a view dickheads who chickened out and suddenly claimed conscientious objector status -- the cowards. They were fine with signing on the line and taking the oath, as long as they were never called to do what they were trained to do. Please don't be one of those idiots. Otherwise you have my greatest respect, as fellow vets are near & dear to my heart. ;)

Marine Corps
Go interesting places
Meet interesting people
and kill them

[quoteafca352c8a="dmorris68"]Army vet here, but my oldest daughter is Marine Corps Reserves. Enlisted.

If you want to go to Marine OCS, you have to be in college but do not have to have a degree yet. You do have to apply and be accepted though. They have a program for freshmen/sophomore's, and another for juniors/seniors/grads. Funny you mention it, just this weekend I ran across on online Marine Times feature story on OCS Class #186, taking you completely from first day through TBS graduation, complete with videos and articles. I would strongly suggest you check it out, it's very informative and gives you a bit of an idea of what to expect. It's not as hard as bootcamp in some ways, but harder in other ways (such as leadership, obviously). Actually from what my daughter told me, her Marine Corps bootcamp was easier than my Army bootcamp back in the 80's. We did a lot of nasty stuff they apparently don't do anymore. It's a "kindler, gentler" military nowadays. Although you as a civilian probably couldn't tell that from watching these videos, I can see it quite clearly. ;)

Clicky -> Class 186 The Making of a Marine Officer[=http//www.marinecorpstimes.com/class186/videos.php]Class 186 The Making of a Marine Officer (also read the stories that go along with the video sections)

To get your pick of MOS, you have to graduate at or near the top of your class in TBS (The Basic School), after you graduate OCS and get the commission. Otherwise, they'll assign you the job they think you're better qualified for, based upon your OCS and TBS performance. So just because you want to go, say Intel, doesn't mean you'll get it. It's not like enlisting where you can choose you MOS up front. And remember that with both Marines and Army, you're an infantry grunt first and foremost, and that's how you're initially trained. At any time you can be deployed in an infantry role no matter the job, and right now chances are high that you'll be deployed to a hot zone. Nothing wrong with that, just be prepared. When my cavalry unit was ordered to deploy to Gulf War I, we had a view dickheads who chickened out and suddenly claimed conscientious objector status -- the cowards. They were fine with signing on the line and taking the oath, as long as they were never called to do what they were trained to do. Please don't be one of those idiots. Otherwise you have my greatest respect, as fellow vets are near & dear to my heart. ;)[/quoteafca352c8a]


Thanks alot for the link +k. That didn't look too bad at all to be honest. I've seen plenty of "liberal anti-military" videos from my older brother (huge lib) showing drill instructors beating up recruits during basic to really find anything surprising or shocking. I do understand what you mean by this being a "gentler" military.

Out of curiosity dmorris, what was your rank when you left the army?

[quotee9ea20855b="JordanE"]Out of curiosity dmorris, what was your rank when you left the army?[/quotee9ea20855b]
E4(P). I passed the E5 (sergeant) promotion board while deployed to Iraq in GW1 and was placed in an E5 job slot when we returned to Germany. Then my unit was flagged for deactivation and redeployment to the states, and Bush Sr. had initiated a big defense downsizing. Since I had just a few months remaining on my enlistment, I qualified for a voluntary early-out which I took, because by that time I had a family and the military life was just too hard on us.

Thanks. If you did it all over again would try to be an Officer or would you stick to Enlisted?

[quote4995903236="JordanE"]Thanks. If you did it all over again would try to be an Officer or would you stick to Enlisted?[/quote4995903236]
Probably enlisted. I've seen what officers have to deal with, and I wouldn't want it. Then again when I was young I liked getting my hands dirty. As the enlisted creedo goes "we work for a living." ) Now that I'm older and have spent a few years in management roles I might think differently, but I still don't know that I'd want to deal with what military officers have to put up with. There is so much politics at the officer level it isn't even funny, and that's a game I don't play well in (although I have had to learn to deal with a lot of corporate politics in my recent years).

You can grow up to be like this guy. )

http//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/odd_pickpocket_pummeled;_ylt=Ak1QMN0igyfhR1H6x8Kw.cwE1vAI

[quoteecb62c8116="aviendha47"]You can grow up to be like this guy. )

http//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/odd_pickpocket_pummeled;_ylt=Ak1QMN0igyfhR1H6x8Kw.cwE1vAI[/quoteecb62c8116]

HA HA!! That's great...you just don't GET tougher than a boxer/marine/iron worker wink

two cents now's not the best time for the marines. A lot of crap happening overseas that's just not making the news back here.

Had a family member go overseas this year with the marines. He wasn't issued something to sleep on or under, so he only had a couple of 2x4s they called a bunk. We had to ship him (and some other guys in his unit) blankets and pillows, etc.

He was deployed in the middle of no where, and they occasionally wouldn't get their supplies delivered. He had to go three days on sunflower seeds once. Luckily, they had surplus sunflower seeds, but that was all they had for three days.

Also, the people in charge of delivering his unit's "care packages" from home would usually take them off the truck and sell them to the natives along the delivery route. Out of over 40 care packages we sent him, only 2 ever made it to him. TWO!

And, of course, naturally, there's censorship. With the exception of the request for blankets, he couldn't tell us how bad it really was over there until after he got home.

While I'm not opposed to the military in general, with the way they are treating their soldiers right now, I could not in good faith recommend [b8c8528abff]anyone [/b8c8528abff]go into the service.

[quote8f95f10f24="tmberwolff"]two cents now's not the best time for the marines. A lot of crap happening overseas that's just not making the news back here.

Had a family member go overseas this year with the marines. He wasn't issued something to sleep on or under, so he only had a couple of 2x4s they called a bunk. We had to ship him (and some other guys in his unit) blankets and pillows, etc.

He was deployed in the middle of no where, and they occasionally wouldn't get their supplies delivered. He had to go three days on sunflower seeds once. Luckily, they had surplus sunflower seeds, but that was all they had for three days.

Also, the people in charge of delivering his unit's "care packages" from home would usually take them off the truck and sell them to the natives along the delivery route. Out of over 40 care packages we sent him, only 2 ever made it to him. TWO!

And, of course, naturally, there's censorship. With the exception of the request for blankets, he couldn't tell us how bad it really was over there until after he got home.

While I'm not opposed to the military in general, with the way they are treating their soldiers right now, I could not in good faith recommend [b8f95f10f24]anyone [/b8f95f10f24]go into the service.[/quote8f95f10f24]

WOW! I had no idea it was that bad. I never even thought twice about joining the military.

[quote3f3e8abd2a="tmberwolff"]two cents now's not the best time for the marines. A lot of crap happening overseas that's just not making the news back here.

Had a family member go overseas this year with the marines. He wasn't issued something to sleep on or under, so he only had a couple of 2x4s they called a bunk. We had to ship him (and some other guys in his unit) blankets and pillows, etc.

He was deployed in the middle of no where, and they occasionally wouldn't get their supplies delivered. He had to go three days on sunflower seeds once. Luckily, they had surplus sunflower seeds, but that was all they had for three days.

Also, the people in charge of delivering his unit's "care packages" from home would usually take them off the truck and sell them to the natives along the delivery route. Out of over 40 care packages we sent him, only 2 ever made it to him. TWO!

And, of course, naturally, there's censorship. With the exception of the request for blankets, he couldn't tell us how bad it really was over there until after he got home.

While I'm not opposed to the military in general, with the way they are treating their soldiers right now, I could not in good faith recommend [b3f3e8abd2a]anyone [/b3f3e8abd2a]go into the service.[/quote3f3e8abd2a]

Thanks for the heads up. I have two family members in marines right now. One in Iraq the other due to go back in the fall. I will [b3f3e8abd2a]not[/b3f3e8abd2a] be joining on my 18th birthday (october) I wont be joining untill i'm out of college. Probably 4-5 years out. I will also be an Officer so I don't think my conditions will be as rough (though you never know, they may be worst) But theres also a good chance that by the time I become a full Marine Corps Officer there wont even be a war going on.

Thats not to be taken as fear. I honestly have very little fear of going to war. I know how bad it can get. My family has a long history of military service. Mostly marines.

[quoteb9b331ac39="tmberwolff"]two cents now's not the best time for the marines. A lot of crap happening overseas that's just not making the news back here.

Had a family member go overseas this year with the marines. He wasn't issued something to sleep on or under, so he only had a couple of 2x4s they called a bunk. We had to ship him (and some other guys in his unit) blankets and pillows, etc.

He was deployed in the middle of no where, and they occasionally wouldn't get their supplies delivered. He had to go three days on sunflower seeds once. Luckily, they had surplus sunflower seeds, but that was all they had for three days.

Also, the people in charge of delivering his unit's "care packages" from home would usually take them off the truck and sell them to the natives along the delivery route. Out of over 40 care packages we sent him, only 2 ever made it to him. TWO!

And, of course, naturally, there's censorship. With the exception of the request for blankets, he couldn't tell us how bad it really was over there until after he got home.

While I'm not opposed to the military in general, with the way they are treating their soldiers right now, I could not in good faith recommend [bb9b331ac39]anyone [/bb9b331ac39]go into the service.[/quoteb9b331ac39]
FYI, I'd call this "life in the military." Particularly for the ground-pounding branches like Marines & Army. I remember many similar scenarios when I was in the Army, as I'm sure most any combat vet would. Actually from what I've seen & heard, most of the guys over there now are much better taken care of than in past combat engagements.

The military isn't all parades and pressed uniforms. It's a tough job, but very rewarding. It ain't for everyone either, you've really got to be mentally prepared to handle the stress, but that's what bootcamp is for. ;)

Ok. . . I'm not trying to flame or be rude here, but I have a little problem with this.

You are unsure of whether or not you believe gay marriage should be legal because you are christian and the church believes that the act of homosexuality is a sin.

But you want to voluntarily go into the marines to kill people?? Last I heard the church was against killing. I know that it is for your country and they church doesn't have that much of a hard time with it if it's not straight out murder. But I mean I just can't understand how you can look past killing somebody but not past two same gender people having sex.

And again I'm not trying to flame here. I think it's great that you are willing to make that sacrafice and go fight for our country. I know they only way I'd have the balls to do that is if I was drafted. But I'm just a little confused here. . .

[quote55a6559791="stueybaby17"]Ok. . . I'm not trying to flame or be rude here, but I have a little problem with this.

You are unsure of whether or not you believe gay marriage should be legal because you are christian and the church believes that the act of homosexuality is a sin.

But you want to voluntarily go into the marines to kill people?? Last I heard the church was against killing. I know that it is for your country and they church doesn't have that much of a hard time with it if it's not straight out murder. But I mean I just can't understand how you can look past killing somebody but not past two same gender people having sex.

And again I'm not trying to flame here. I think it's great that you are willing to make that sacrafice and go fight for our country. I know they only way I'd have the balls to do that is if I was drafted. But I'm just a little confused here. . .[/quote55a6559791]

The Bible doesn't condemn killing in war, fighting for your country. In fact, there's plenty of examples of God's chosen people going to war, and God giving them the victory.

The Bible condemns homosexuality, it doesn't condemn fighting in your country's military.

[quote5850165f9e="CollidgeGraduit"][quote5850165f9e="stueybaby17"]Ok. . . I'm not trying to flame or be rude here, but I have a little problem with this.

You are unsure of whether or not you believe gay marriage should be legal because you are christian and the church believes that the act of homosexuality is a sin.

But you want to voluntarily go into the marines to kill people?? Last I heard the church was against killing. I know that it is for your country and they church doesn't have that much of a hard time with it if it's not straight out murder. But I mean I just can't understand how you can look past killing somebody but not past two same gender people having sex.

And again I'm not trying to flame here. I think it's great that you are willing to make that sacrafice and go fight for our country. I know they only way I'd have the balls to do that is if I was drafted. But I'm just a little confused here. . .[/quote5850165f9e]

The Bible doesn't condemn killing in war, fighting for your country. In fact, there's plenty of examples of God's chosen people going to war, and God giving them the victory.

The Bible condemns homosexuality, it doesn't condemn fighting in your country's military.[/quote5850165f9e]
Yep. The bible condemns murder (homicide), or just killing for no cause just in cold-blood. It doesn't condemn going to war to fight for your country.

[quotea54d35fa9c="stueybaby17"]Ok. . . I'm not trying to flame or be rude here, but I have a little problem with this.

You are unsure of whether or not you believe gay marriage should be legal because you are christian and the church believes that the act of homosexuality is a sin.

But you want to voluntarily go into the marines to kill people?? Last I heard the church was against killing. I know that it is for your country and they church doesn't have that much of a hard time with it if it's not straight out murder. But I mean I just can't understand how you can look past killing somebody but not past two same gender people having sex.

And again I'm not trying to flame here. I think it's great that you are willing to make that sacrafice and go fight for our country. I know they only way I'd have the balls to do that is if I was drafted. But I'm just a little confused here. . .[/quotea54d35fa9c]


Not olny dose the bible support war. Many of the more memorable stories in bible take place during war. The biggest of which i would say is David and Goliath.

There are also like 8 verses in bible justifying the use of capital punishment. Really the olny form of killing the bible condemns is murder.

Since I fear this thread and the gay marriage thread are heading towords my infumis "$20" thread from last summer, i'm gonna please ask that we not disscuess abortion.

The Church doesn't say you can fight for your country whenever you want. There are just war principles, and I'm pretty sure America didn't/isn't paying much attention to them...

[quote928abf3f9e="CollidgeGraduit"][quote928abf3f9e="stueybaby17"]Ok. . . I'm not trying to flame or be rude here, but I have a little problem with this.

You are unsure of whether or not you believe gay marriage should be legal because you are christian and the church believes that the act of homosexuality is a sin.

But you want to voluntarily go into the marines to kill people?? Last I heard the church was against killing. I know that it is for your country and they church doesn't have that much of a hard time with it if it's not straight out murder. But I mean I just can't understand how you can look past killing somebody but not past two same gender people having sex.

And again I'm not trying to flame here. I think it's great that you are willing to make that sacrafice and go fight for our country. I know they only way I'd have the balls to do that is if I was drafted. But I'm just a little confused here. . .[/quote928abf3f9e]

The Bible doesn't condemn killing in war, fighting for your country. In fact, there's plenty of examples of God's chosen people going to war, and God giving them the victory.

The Bible condemns homosexuality, it doesn't condemn fighting in your country's military.[/quote928abf3f9e]

I know that the bible does not condemn war. But I just still dont' understand the situation. . . it is still killing a person. I mean it's not murder, and it's not wrong to kill in war when you have to but still. I mean can you at least see my point a little bit?

And the bible may condemn homosexuality (I didnt' do much bible study) but I know that the church does not condemn homosexuality but only the act of homosexuality.

[quote7c6631b4a8="stueybaby17"][quote7c6631b4a8="CollidgeGraduit"][quote7c6631b4a8="stueybaby17"]Ok. . . I'm not trying to flame or be rude here, but I have a little problem with this.

You are unsure of whether or not you believe gay marriage should be legal because you are christian and the church believes that the act of homosexuality is a sin.

But you want to voluntarily go into the marines to kill people?? Last I heard the church was against killing. I know that it is for your country and they church doesn't have that much of a hard time with it if it's not straight out murder. But I mean I just can't understand how you can look past killing somebody but not past two same gender people having sex.

And again I'm not trying to flame here. I think it's great that you are willing to make that sacrafice and go fight for our country. I know they only way I'd have the balls to do that is if I was drafted. But I'm just a little confused here. . .[/quote7c6631b4a8]

The Bible doesn't condemn killing in war, fighting for your country. In fact, there's plenty of examples of God's chosen people going to war, and God giving them the victory.

The Bible condemns homosexuality, it doesn't condemn fighting in your country's military.[/quote7c6631b4a8]

I know that the bible does not condemn war. But I just still dont' understand the situation. . . it is still killing a person. I mean it's not murder, and it's not wrong to kill in war when you have to but still. I mean can you at least see my point a little bit?

And the bible may condemn homosexuality (I didnt' do much bible study) but I know that the church does not condemn homosexuality but only the act of homosexuality.[/quote7c6631b4a8]

The act of homosexuality would be any sexual attraction towards the same gender -- not just sexual acts with the same gender. The Bible condemns ALL homosexuality. It says the people aren't evil, but the sin is.

[quote21e1d8aa7f="CollidgeGraduit"][quote21e1d8aa7f="stueybaby17"][quote21e1d8aa7f="CollidgeGraduit"][quote21e1d8aa7f="stueybaby17"]Ok. . . I'm not trying to flame or be rude here, but I have a little problem with this.

You are unsure of whether or not you believe gay marriage should be legal because you are christian and the church believes that the act of homosexuality is a sin.

But you want to voluntarily go into the marines to kill people?? Last I heard the church was against killing. I know that it is for your country and they church doesn't have that much of a hard time with it if it's not straight out murder. But I mean I just can't understand how you can look past killing somebody but not past two same gender people having sex.

And again I'm not trying to flame here. I think it's great that you are willing to make that sacrafice and go fight for our country. I know they only way I'd have the balls to do that is if I was drafted. But I'm just a little confused here. . .[/quote21e1d8aa7f]

The Bible doesn't condemn killing in war, fighting for your country. In fact, there's plenty of examples of God's chosen people going to war, and God giving them the victory.

The Bible condemns homosexuality, it doesn't condemn fighting in your country's military.[/quote21e1d8aa7f]

I know that the bible does not condemn war. But I just still dont' understand the situation. . . it is still killing a person. I mean it's not murder, and it's not wrong to kill in war when you have to but still. I mean can you at least see my point a little bit?

And the bible may condemn homosexuality (I didnt' do much bible study) but I know that the church does not condemn homosexuality but only the act of homosexuality.[/quote21e1d8aa7f]

The act of homosexuality would be any sexual attraction towards the same gender -- not just sexual acts with the same gender. The Bible condemns ALL homosexuality. It says the people aren't evil, but the sin is.[/quote21e1d8aa7f]

Ok, like I said before. The bible itself may condem homosexuality, I'm not too scholarly with the bible. But the actual catholic church does not condem the sexual attraction towards the same gender. It condems the act of sex between a same sex couple. Or this was what I was told by at least 3 vowed religous peoples, and 1 religion teacher.