good luck to you. Maybe see you around someday soon
Thoughts about joining
- Thread starter Mustang71
- Start date
good luck to you. Maybe see you around someday soon
i think you just made chesty puller shed a tear.
:lol: :rollseyes
Yeah. If it wasnt anything more than a job to you then why didnt you retire from it?
OP dont buy into the USMC is the be all end all shit. They do the same shit the Army does except they have a higher advertising budget. Either way whatever branch you choose youll be a part of less than 1% of Americans. That in itself is something to be proud of if nothing else.
Pick Combat Engineer for the Army though if thats the branch you decide. If you go Infantry you wont get to do all the cool shit the Sappers get to do, we do the same exact shit infantry does except were more specialized for certain jobs and get to be jacks of all trades if you will.
Been researching all the different branches for the past two weeks now and i just wanted to throw this out there, what do you guys know about the Coast Guard? It's probably the one branch I don't know a whole lot on other than it protects the countries waterways. Is it true there is a very long waiting list to get into the Coast Guard?
Everything I read is that they are over manned.
PM type911 and he might be able to help you.
My input.. Im in the army currently in afghanistan. My job deployed we work beside the infantry. Its always a good site seeing the Sappers clearing the roads for us : ) and EOD. Im a 31B Military police and have been in for 2years. I joined out of HS and have a twin bro, it was tough at first. The guys you work with become your brothers. Its been a wild ride but i dont regret a second of it. Ive seen some things IE fort hood shooting I was there, stationed at hood. You learn alot about yourself. Im all for combat MOS you get to do alot more. I like my job as an MP because I also have a job back stateside patrolling the base. My advice is dont sign for too many years to start and bonus money for signing up is always nice : ).
thanks for the input. i definately have to pick your brain as i leave on 20110207 for Ft leonard wood for 31B as well. be good to get some info from another MP. i see your new so i cant PM you yet but maybe i can email you.
awsome yeah i will send you a email. cant wait to be a fellow MP!
I know the thread is a little old but no sense in starting a new one.
This semester is almost over and i still think about joining the military but I have a few more questions, The questions that keep bugging me are
1. Why when i look for personal stories about peoples experiences, there are a majority of people who look at their time in the military(primarily Marines and Army) as a negative one? is it because they joined for the wrong reasons or they were "lied" to by their recruiter or what?
2. Why do most people get out after 1 enlistment? is their experience that bad or is it they just want to move on and do something different with their life?
Thanks again, and I know some of you will say go speak with a recruiter but I think most of my questions would be better suited from people who have been there done that
thanks again and Happy Veterans day to all those who are serving and have served I know i am a little late on the holiday
This semester is almost over and i still think about joining the military but I have a few more questions, The questions that keep bugging me are
1. Why when i look for personal stories about peoples experiences, there are a majority of people who look at their time in the military(primarily Marines and Army) as a negative one? is it because they joined for the wrong reasons or they were "lied" to by their recruiter or what?
2. Why do most people get out after 1 enlistment? is their experience that bad or is it they just want to move on and do something different with their life?
Thanks again, and I know some of you will say go speak with a recruiter but I think most of my questions would be better suited from people who have been there done that
thanks again and Happy Veterans day to all those who are serving and have served I know i am a little late on the holiday
Ok I'm not in the Marines(yet) but I have plenty of friends in the military(every branch) so from all their stories maybe I can help you a bit with the MOS thing. I have a lot of friends who are infantry(Marines and Army) and they have ALL said the same thing. People portray the infantry as this badass run n gun always doing something job. Yes you are out there doing that stuff but thats not ALL you're doing. What I'm saying is don't think that infantry life consists of you getting into firefights every day and stuff. My buddy was in the Marines for 5 years he enlisted with a security forces contract and spent 2 years on the F.A.S.T team and then spent 3 years as an infantry grunt and I got a lot of advice/stories from him. He went on 3 deployments and he said he saw/did more in 1 deployment than he did in the other 2 combined. It's all gonna depend on what providence you get shipped to and what your companys mission is. They all said they love the grunt life, but don't think of it as how movies and tv shows portray it, because it's not that.
Combat engineer, I have friends who have this MOS and they love it. This is actually the MOS I will probably chose also. You will learn a whole variety of skills, skills that can be transfered into civilain life. That's something to think about. With CE you have a chance of being attached to an infantry unit and get to work with the grunts, or you could be air wing witch means you'll mainly be working on base/the airfield.
There's a lot of great MOS's but the important thing to remember is this is 4 years of YOUR life. Pick something that you can see yourself doing/think you'll be happy with for a full 4 years.
Have you been to MEPS yet?
Another thing, don't let your recruiter try pressuring you into an MOS that HE wants you to do. Mine tried pressuring me into going into Motor T because he needed to fill his slot for that. Stand your ground and say no. They'll also tell you bullshit like "well if you sign up for this MOS you can change it as many times as you want before boot camp incase you change your mind." No, don't listen to this. My brother was a Marine recruiter after he was honorably discharged and he told to never listen to that shit.
Getting your degree first is very smart, this is what I'm currently doing also. The best thing is to probably actually talk to Marines/Soldiers in person and get their stories and their advice. That's what I did.
good luck!
Combat engineer, I have friends who have this MOS and they love it. This is actually the MOS I will probably chose also. You will learn a whole variety of skills, skills that can be transfered into civilain life. That's something to think about. With CE you have a chance of being attached to an infantry unit and get to work with the grunts, or you could be air wing witch means you'll mainly be working on base/the airfield.
There's a lot of great MOS's but the important thing to remember is this is 4 years of YOUR life. Pick something that you can see yourself doing/think you'll be happy with for a full 4 years.
Have you been to MEPS yet?
Another thing, don't let your recruiter try pressuring you into an MOS that HE wants you to do. Mine tried pressuring me into going into Motor T because he needed to fill his slot for that. Stand your ground and say no. They'll also tell you bullshit like "well if you sign up for this MOS you can change it as many times as you want before boot camp incase you change your mind." No, don't listen to this. My brother was a Marine recruiter after he was honorably discharged and he told to never listen to that shit.
Getting your degree first is very smart, this is what I'm currently doing also. The best thing is to probably actually talk to Marines/Soldiers in person and get their stories and their advice. That's what I did.
good luck!
thanks for the input. I have not been to MEPS yet and I want to get as much advice as i can get before speaking to recuriters from the branches but i have spoken to Marine recruiters my senior year of high school but I was not mentally ready to take the plunge.
Two of my very good friends are joining the military, one is in Parris Island right now and another is going to BT for Army within the next few months and I won't have to make a decision until summer time, well after they are done with initial training. BUt as of right now I am on Marines and Army bandwagon. Everyone says go Air Force but i just don't think I want that lifestyle and it doesn't fit me personally. people also say pick a job that will transfer to civilian side and something I'd want to do after military. I have ZERO ideas what i would do in civilian side as of right now. Thats why i am getting my degree in liberal arts. if i pick a job it will be one that will be exiciting and worthwhile for me WHILE im in the military and if i get out after my first enlistment, if i join, then I still have time to finish school and go another route.
Best of luck to you man ! thanks again
yeah the AF would be a completely different lifestyle than the Marines or Army. Also, take deployments into account here. In the Marines you can expect to do 2 seperate 7 month deployments in 4 years, Army deployments are typically 10+months.
if infantry is what you really want, then by all means do it. Just know what it is that you'll actually be doing in the infantry beforehand. A lot of people have a misconception of what the infantry does and what a day is like and then they enlist and are like "wtf this isn't what I'd thought it be", that's typically usually younger guys though(17-20 years old). LOL I remember I was at MEPS and this kid next to me told me his MOS was "recon". I laughed and said "you do know that you can't enlist in recon right? You have an infantry contract with a UZ option to try out for recon, if you don't make the cut(which is VERY possible) you'll be dropped to infantry." He refused to believe what I said and said "no man I enlisted in recon." I don't know if his ignorance was due to himself or if his recruiter was just telling him a bunch of bullshit. Take everything a recruiter tells you with a grain of salt. Some recruiters are great and will give you the facts and the truth and others will say what they need to get you to sign that dotted line so they can meet their numbers for that month. Like I said, your best bet is to talk to a Marine or a Solider in person(not a recruiter) and have them answer some questions for you, and if possible bring them to the recruiter with you.
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