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Hi everyone, im looking for advice from as many people as i can, especially if you are a marine or any kind of service member yourself.
I have always wanted to be a marine, and at the moment im a second year college student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Ive made the decision to to go on a military leave and enlist in the marine corps and continue college after my service. Through out my 1st year at Cal Poly Ive held many jobs but basically at least 2 at a time... I rarely hang out with friends, go to parties, or even take a minute to rest...I work so many jobs to pay for fixing my car, food and housing, other than that i am collecting loans. I came to college instead of enlisting right away to get the college lifestyle at a younger age, but as of right now its not what i expected. I'm not complaining about my life because i know many more people have it allot worse off than me. I feel that since i was planning on enlisting after college anyway, i could do just do it now, and then when i head back to college i can continue my classes and studying with support of the military behind me. Service in the military will also support my future career interests as a law enforcement park ranger, game warden, fire fighter or maybe even FBI or something. I feel Im making the right choice, I want to serve my country, i know the risk Im taking and i am willing to accept it.
Any advice, comments, opinions, or criticisms are gladly accepted.
Tony A.

Have you considered ROTC? You are already two years into college, or at the very least finish college and join. They won't be mad that you have an education.

Why don't you do ROTC and go in as an officer?

What they said, let the Marines pick up the tab for college in advance, granted it aint easy to get picked up as a Marine option through NROTC (or so I've been told, I had an offer handed to me by the NROTC unit XO at my school after I dropped AFROTC but turned it down due to other circumstances, regret it now), but if you can go in as an officer, go in as an officer...

Finding NROTC schools is tough. Army ROTC programs are a dime a dozen, at least in the region I live, but NROTC's a lot harder to find.

What do you want to do in the Marines?

^Be all he can be?

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
^Be all he can be?

That's the (old) Army.

Considering the site we're on, my guess is he wants to purge the galaxy of xenos in the name of the Emperor, but yknow, thats just my guess...

My school had all three programs (one of the few that does from what I understand), a lot of students from nearby (and some not so nearby) schools did cross-town ROTC programs (in other words youre enrolled at an ROTC program at a school other than the one you attend, and commute there several times a week for drill, classes, PT, etc.)

Best of luck in the marines.

I agree with the others. I enlisted halfway through college for similar reasons (I also wanted the life expierence and other longer term benefits like VA home loan). Afterward I found myself wishing that I had done ROTC as I could have continued with college and still have received all of the same benefits, not to mention the challanges and prestige of being an officer. Dont' get me wrong, junior officers had as many crap jobs to do as the enlisted did, and butter bars in paticular had to work really hard to get any respect, but still, I regret not having gone for a commission instead of enlisting.

Also, I always felt out of place a little bit having had some college when I enlisted compared to my fellow soilders who many just barely finished high school or held G.E.D.s In many cases I felt like I had to act dumb to fit in and avoid being labled an egghead. The last thing you wanted to happen, especially during basic, was for your DI's to think you thought you were smarter than them.

 Seaward wrote:

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
^Be all he can be?

That's the (old) Army.

He wants to kill more people by 6 am than most people kill all day!

Oh wait that was the army too.

He wants to be the first kid on his block with a confirmed kill.

Marine Corps ROTC is in fact hard to find. I wanted to join, but they didn't have it at my University, just Army and Air force.

OP: Good luck! I've always wanted to join the Corps. Show em what SLO boys are all about!

Go over your contract before you sign it and make sure you have no lingering questions before you signed it. Afterwards make a copy of everything and I mean everything from awards to medical documents. Once your in the word "quit" is removed from your existence. Its replaced by succeed

 Jihadin wrote:
Go over your contract before you sign it and make sure you have no lingering questions before you signed it. Afterwards make a copy of everything and I mean everything from awards to medical documents. Once your in the word "quit" is removed from your existence. Its replaced by succeed

Or "Dishonorable discharge" people do quit the Marines.

I didn't realize it was so hard to find NROTC, I guess I just got lucky. Of course that was years ago so things may be different now.

I spent 5 years in the UK army - Royal Engineers. Would I recommend it to anyone? No I would not - I wish I stayed in university. That being said, good luck with whatever you choose to do.

I've not served, so I can only offer you the same bit of advice my dad (who did serve) gave me regarding the military when I was 18:

1. Don't do it.
2. Don't trust the recruiter.
3. Be very careful what you sign.

Of course, that was immediately after 9/11, so I suppose he wasn't keen on me running off with my non-collegebound buddies and getting PTSD from running over kids in the desert.

Met up with some of them after they got back. One of them was pretty messed up.

At any rate, good luck.

 daedalus wrote:
2. Don't trust the recruiter.

My wife's ex was a USMC recruiter for many years, and he would happily give you the same advice when not in uniform.

Its not the recruiters you idjits They make it sound high speed and low drag. Its the person across the desk at MEPPS that "helps" you choose your MOS. The USMC I strongly believe has a open contract unless one specifies the MOS they want in their contract. Hence I strongly recommend going over the contract before signing.

+1 for don't trust the recruiter.

I didn't serve in the US military, but I did serve in the IDF. It's the same gak, different location, and at least you (US Servicemen) make a respectable wage. It has its ups and downs, but it's not fun and it's not like Battlefield or Call of Duty.

By the way, you should read your contract very carefully before you sign. You may think that you're in and out in three years. That's a lie. Read EVERYTHING.

Don't trust the recruiter OR anyone at MEPS. Read everything before you sign it. Go in with a college degree if you can. There are programs (more than one, usually) in order to get the military to foot part or all of the bill for your education, and you will get so much more out of your military stint if you go in as an officer, or at the very least, with a college degree. (The marines are very much in favor of that, actually, they have the highest percentage of college degrees among the US service branches, if I recall correctly.)

I'll second the ROTC.

If you are going to join he army and are also going to college, you might as well start off as an Officer. Cal Poly has a great ROTC program from what I hear. Not sure if they have Navy though. But I'll wager that an Officer in the Army is better than a grunt in the Navy.

 Andrew1975 wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:
Go over your contract before you sign it and make sure you have no lingering questions before you signed it. Afterwards make a copy of everything and I mean everything from awards to medical documents. Once your in the word "quit" is removed from your existence. Its replaced by succeed

Or "Dishonorable discharge" people do quit the Marines.

That's not quitting. That's being forcefully ejected, as well as receiving the same status as a felon for the rest of your life. Not exactly a sound choice que aff?


Any way, on point, Marine here, if your school has NROTC or does cross town with another school to provide it, it's honestly your best choice when you're already half way through school.... IF you know for sure what degree you want and what you want to do with your life. If you don't know however and that's part of the reason you want to take a break then enlisting is a perfectly good option. Do your homework in advance, before you go to the recruiter. Like these guys said don't trust the recruiter, or the MEPS guys. You will be able to select a specific MOS (Open contracts are reserved for morons, and if you're at Cal Poly, you don't have to worry about that). Some MOS codes will have bonuses attached, for example last I heard they're screaming for Crew Chiefs on all aviation platforms right now. If you're up for a challenge and some absolutely brutal training even by Marine Corps standards then go for it. Once you're set on an MOS'n what not you're in boot camp prep time. If you aren't working out start now, focus on runs and strength training, if you can't climb a rope learn. If you've never hiked with a pack on before see if you can borrow a friend's gear and try backpacking out. Since you're older and have school, the DIs will look to you first for recruit leadership positions. Give yourself a leg up and lead the pack. Continue to do so whether you serve 4 years or 40.

Feel free to PM me with any questions.

That's not quitting. That's being forcefully ejected, as well as receiving the same status as a felon for the rest of your life. Not exactly a sound choice que aff?

Oh, it sucks for sure. I don't think some people really understand. You may look at it as weakness being forced out, but there are people that quit. You better be pretty resourceful at that point, because basically you are going to have to be self employed.

I'll always recommend officer if you've got the educational requirements/can find a decent pipeline program, unless you wanted to do a very specific range of jobs. Since it sounds like you just want experience for a few years, I'll assume you're not intending to try and wind up doing MARSOC snake eater stuff.

My recommendation based on my own (Navy rather than Marines) experience would be naval aviation, simply because it's the best goddamn job in the fleet, and you're not screwed in the Marines if you wind up not getting to select jets. A lot longer commitment, on the other hand, but it can be worth it.

As a person who spent ten years in the Corps, I strongly recommend ROTC/Officer Candidate School over enlistment.

chaos0xomega wrote:
Considering the site we're on, my guess is he wants to purge the galaxy of xenos in the name of the Emperor, but yknow, thats just my guess...

My school had all three programs (one of the few that does from what I understand), a lot of students from nearby (and some not so nearby) schools did cross-town ROTC programs (in other words youre enrolled at an ROTC program at a school other than the one you attend, and commute there several times a week for drill, classes, PT, etc.)

This is the OT forum where we all hate each other, 40k has no business in this thread.

As with what everyone else is saying join ROTC, finish your degree and go in as an officer.

Marine OCS is in San Diego right?

 pities2004 wrote:
Marine OCS is in San Diego right?

Quantico.

I suggest ROTC. It will help later on as well. Just enlisting will not help as much as ROTC.

ROTC has a lot more benefits but is fairly difficult.

If you can't handle ROTC, you shouldn't be going into the Marine Corps anyway.