PDA

View Full Version : Future of Marine Corps



Applicant
08-17-11, 05:48 PM
Hi there dear fellow Marines

I been doing some research online and reading up some news in Afghan and would like to get a few opinions from fellow Marines if that's ok with you guys since I am just a wannabe.
With all the rumors of downsizing the Corps and Afghan combat actions dimming down, is the Corps still deploying troops out to Afghan at this moment? Are overseas jobs pretty limited at this time?

Thank you very much for your time in advance

hussaf
08-17-11, 06:52 PM
It's Afghanistan; an Afghan is an oddly quilted blanket, or a person. FYI, an Afghani is a unit of money.

Combat actions are not dimming down in Afghanistan. Maybe during the nesh, but that's been over with for two months. Certainly not in Helmand Province.

There are still deployment rotations to Afghanistan, and Marines are still responsible for Helmand Province.

What type of overseas jobs and in which locations?

Mxzero
08-17-11, 10:26 PM
We're still deploying to Afghanistan and should be at least through 2014 in significant numbers. They want to reduce the number of troops deployed in general, so that number may change rather quickly. They're trying to get the Corps down to 186,000 within the next few years, basically around what it was at before 2001. Nothing too bad, but it'll be harder to get in and re enlist soon but that's expected with less space available.

Applicant
08-18-11, 12:43 AM
It's Afghanistan; an Afghan is an oddly quilted blanket, or a person. FYI, an Afghani is a unit of money.

Combat actions are not dimming down in Afghanistan. Maybe during the nesh, but that's been over with for two months. Certainly not in Helmand Province.

There are still deployment rotations to Afghanistan, and Marines are still responsible for Helmand Province.

What type of overseas jobs and in which locations?

Thank you very much for your input sir and excuse my poor spelling
Well what I meant by overseas jobs such as being stationed in Okinawa or Mainland Japan as such is what I meant. But again thanks for the info, I just need a reassurance from a fellow Marine becuz I am looking to re-apply to join and with all the rumors spreading around I just want to ask for some advise.



Don't make the downsizing of the USMC out to be something it is not. The USMC wants to go back to where they were a few years ago, so things really wont change.

Leaving a country like Afghanistan takes years. So even if the USMC announced they are pulling out today, it takes several years to go through with it.


Thank you for your time to reply my post Sir, greatly appreciate it.
Come to think of it, fighting insurgency does take years and for the fact that they don't give up easily (or ever), the reason I brought it up is becuz I wanna re-apply to join and with everythings going on these days, I just want some reassurance from a fellow marine so again thank you for your info sir.



We're still deploying to Afghanistan and should be at least through 2014 in significant numbers. They want to reduce the number of troops deployed in general, so that number may change rather quickly. They're trying to get the Corps down to 186,000 within the next few years, basically around what it was at before 2001. Nothing too bad, but it'll be harder to get in and re enlist soon but that's expected with less space available.

[b]Thank you for your reply Sir, I just want to get some advise from a fellow Marine due to the fact that I been reading up a lot of news on the reducing in numbers and I wanted to re-apply to join. [b]

m14ed
08-18-11, 01:31 AM
from a fellow Marine
becuz I am looking to re-apply to join
and with all the rumors spreading around I just want to ask for some advise.





Thank you for your time to reply my post Sir, greatly appreciate it.
Come to think of it, fighting insurgency does take years and for the fact that they don't give up easily (or ever), the reason I brought it up is becuz I wanna re-apply to join and with everythings going on these days, I just want some reassurance from
a fellow marine
so again thank you for your info sir.




[b]Thank you for your reply Sir, I just want to get some advise from
a fellow Marine due
to the fact that I been reading up a lot of news on the reducing in numbers and I wanted to re-apply to join. [b]


Swee-pea,,,
Your PROFILE didn't show that you earned the title of MARINE
Just how do you figure you are our brother ??????

Applicant
08-18-11, 11:11 AM
Swee-pea,,,
Your PROFILE didn't show that you earned the title of MARINE
Just how do you figure you are our brother ??????


Sorry if my words are miss leading Sir, what I meant by Re-Apply is becuz I got DQ'd back in March when I was being processed the whole 9 yards.
Should of said Re-Try instead of Re-Apply, again sorry for the confusion.

Lisa 23
08-18-11, 11:21 AM
I believe what m14ed meant, and he can correct me on this if I'm wrong, is your referrence to "Hi there fellow Marines".
Since you have not earned the title Marine, you shouldn't be calling us your fellow Marines, you should've just simply said......"Hi there Marines."

Lisa 23
08-18-11, 11:45 AM
Forgot to include this post also......



Thank you very much for your input sir and excuse my poor spelling
Well what I meant by overseas jobs such as being stationed in Okinawa or Mainland Japan as such is what I meant. But again thanks for the info, I just need a reassurance from a fellow Marine becuz I am looking to re-apply to join and with all the rumors spreading around I just want to ask for some advise.





Thank you for your time to reply my post Sir, greatly appreciate it.
Come to think of it, fighting insurgency does take years and for the fact that they don't give up easily (or ever), the reason I brought it up is becuz I wanna re-apply to join and with everythings going on these days, I just want some reassurance from a fellow marine so again thank you for your info sir.




Thank you for your reply Sir, [B]I just want to get some advise from a fellow Marine due to the fact that I been reading up a lot of news on the reducing in numbers and I wanted to re-apply to join. [b]

Applicant
08-18-11, 12:01 PM
I believe what m14ed meant, and he can correct me on this if I'm wrong, is your referrence to "Hi there fellow Marines".
Since you have not earned the title Marine, you shouldn't be calling us your fellow Marines, you should've just simply said......"Hi there Marines."

Understood Ma'am, sorry about that I just didn't know better. Thanks for the clarification.

Tennessee Top
08-18-11, 12:07 PM
We are not dear Marines (we are members of the world's finest fighting force).

Since you are not one of us, you cannot be a fellow Marine. Get a clue.

Our current commandant wants to get back to our roots as a small but lethal forward-deployed Naval expeditionay force and leave the large drawn-out operations to the Army. Too many Marines today have never been aboard ship and he wants to change that.

Applicant
08-18-11, 12:19 PM
We are not dear Marines (we are members of the world's finest fighting force).

Since you are not one of us, you cannot be a fellow Marine. Get a clue.

Our current commandant wants to get back to our roots as a small but lethal forward-deployed Naval expeditionay force and leave the large drawn-out operations to the Army. Too many Marines today have never been aboard ship and he wants to change that.

Thank you for your input sir
As I apologized many times already that I didn't know better and all i wanted to is to show respect. Have a nice day.

Applicant
08-18-11, 12:25 PM
For those of you Marines who took extreme offense to my post, I apologize for that. All I wanted was to show some respect here, and I didn't know any better. With that being off my chest, thanks for all the informantion.

Swampfox
08-18-11, 12:47 PM
For those of you Marines who took extreme offense to my post, I apologize for that. All I wanted was to show some respect here, and I didn't know any better. With that being off my chest, thanks for all the informantion.

These guys can be a little touchy sometimes but I can assure you that most have pretty thick skins. I'm pretty sure nobody was EXTREMELY offended by anything you said. Just make sure you use proper etiquette before you post. Good luck to you young man.

Applicant
08-18-11, 12:54 PM
These guys can be a little touchy sometimes but I can assure you that most have pretty thick skins. I'm pretty sure nobody was EXTREMELY offended by anything you said. Just make sure you use proper etiquette before you post. Good luck to you young man.

Thank you for your understanding and advise Sir, you have a nice day.

03Mike
08-18-11, 01:21 PM
Just some perspective here from my experiences:

1. During and immediately following a period of "drawdown" commitments of Marine units to overseas contingency operations usually increase.

2. No one has a crystal ball that can predict when or where Marines will be called upon to conduct combat operations.

3. The Middle East and portions of Africa are experiencng times of immense turmoil.

The current administration is beginning to take a hardline stance with Syria. The situation in Libya is in flux. Who knows how things will settle out in Egypt. Yemen has experienced much unrest and repression. The so-called "Arab Spring" is moving into the "Arab Summer" and is more likely headed to brush-fire season. The newly formed nation of South Sudan is liable to be challenged in the coming years. Somalia is as big a disaster as it has ever been, except during this famine the al-Shabab militia is already armed and exerting its influence against UN and African-Union forces. Mind you, there is still North Korea, Iran, China and a whole host of other items that don't make the headlines or the President's Daily Intel Briefing.

If you enlist today and ship to MCRD tomorrow, you will probably get to the fleet in time to still deploy to Afghanistan. If not, I'm confident that before the end of your initial enlistment you'll be deployed to another unfriendly location where certain local elements would love to put rounds down range at you.

Applicant
08-18-11, 03:14 PM
Just some perspective here from my experiences:

1. During and immediately following a period of "drawdown" commitments of Marine units to overseas contingency operations usually increase.

2. No one has a crystal ball that can predict when or where Marines will be called upon to conduct combat operations.

3. The Middle East and portions of Africa are experiencng times of immense turmoil.

The current administration is beginning to take a hardline stance with Syria. The situation in Libya is in flux. Who knows how things will settle out in Egypt. Yemen has experienced much unrest and repression. The so-called "Arab Spring" is moving into the "Arab Summer" and is more likely headed to brush-fire season. The newly formed nation of South Sudan is liable to be challenged in the coming years. Somalia is as big a disaster as it has ever been, except during this famine the al-Shabab militia is already armed and exerting its influence against UN and African-Union forces. Mind you, there is still North Korea, Iran, China and a whole host of other items that don't make the headlines or the President's Daily Intel Briefing.

If you enlist today and ship to MCRD tomorrow, you will probably get to the fleet in time to still deploy to Afghanistan. If not, I'm confident that before the end of your initial enlistment you'll be deployed to another unfriendly location where certain local elements would love to put rounds down range at you.

03Mike, your input has a great amount of intelligence and clarification for my questions and you've answered them all. For that, I greatly appreciate it for your time and info Sir.

hussaf
08-18-11, 03:50 PM
Hey OP,

The overseas jobs you are speaking of will, more or less, still be there. There is an entire Marine Corps force stationed there, including pretty much all occupational specialities in the Marine Corp. Its not something most people do on a temp level, like a deployment...its considered a duty station, meaning you can spend an elistment there. Mostly that will include Okinawa, unless they move that base as has been discussed for years.

If you really want to be a Marine, there will be something for you to do. Depending on your job in the Corps, you may very well spend some time abroad. As others have said, the current intent if to streamline the Marine Corps and return it to an amphibious organization. Meaning, a lot of Marines are going to be spending time serving aboard ships, and the various ports they stop at, to conduct training or missions.

Applicant
08-18-11, 04:21 PM
Hey OP,

The overseas jobs you are speaking of will, more or less, still be there. There is an entire Marine Corps force stationed there, including pretty much all occupational specialities in the Marine Corp. Its not something most people do on a temp level, like a deployment...its considered a duty station, meaning you can spend an elistment there. Mostly that will include Okinawa, unless they move that base as has been discussed for years.

If you really want to be a Marine, there will be something for you to do. Depending on your job in the Corps, you may very well spend some time abroad. As others have said, the current intent if to streamline the Marine Corps and return it to an amphibious organization. Meaning, a lot of Marines are going to be spending time serving aboard ships, and the various ports they stop at, to conduct training or missions.

First off hussaf, thank you for not taking any offense from my OP lol
and I do appreciate your great amount of info here, I am just kind of bummed out that I got DQ'd at the initial process to join. Definitely will retry just the waivers are so hard to come by now a days.

Lisa 23
08-18-11, 05:13 PM
First off hussaf, thank you for not taking any offense from my OP lol
and I do appreciate your great amount of info here, I am just kind of bummed out that I got DQ'd at the initial process to join. Definitely will retry just the waivers are so hard to come by now a days.

What were you dq'd for, that seemed to require a waiver, at your initial process to join?

wilsontc11
08-18-11, 06:03 PM
As of now, units are still deploying to go to Afghanistan. I am deploying to go there next year.

Though, if you were to enlist, wait X months to go to boot camp, and by the time you're done with training and in the fleet we might not be sending anymore units to afghanistan

Applicant
08-18-11, 06:33 PM
What were you dq'd for, that seemed to require a waiver, at your initial process to join?

I got DQ'd for alcohol abuse becuz I disclosed that I was hospitalized one night in ER for drinking too much (Didn't get alcohol poisioned which was disclosed on my med rec)
As well as I disclosed I experimented E one time.
On paper, it says Permanent DQ for Alcohol reason and needs a waiver for the one time drug use.
I need 2 waivers, as far as I'm concerned.
Thank you for your reply Ma'am

Applicant
08-18-11, 06:49 PM
As of now, units are still deploying to go to Afghanistan. I am deploying to go there next year.

Though, if you were to enlist, wait X months to go to boot camp, and by the time you're done with training and in the fleet we might not be sending anymore units to afghanistan

Thank you for your reply Sir
If you don't mind me ask, when are you getting deployed next year?

thewookie
08-18-11, 06:54 PM
is the Corps still deploying troops out to Afghan at this moment?

My future brother-in-law is in Cali right now preparing to deploy in the next week. He's a reservist. So, I would say yeah, at least for the time being.

By the way, the future of the Marine Corps is just as good as it was last year, and the year before, and the year before. There will always be azzes around the world that need to be kicked. And Marines kick azz.

MOS4429
08-18-11, 07:07 PM
Maybe it's different now than it was 25-30 years ago, but it was a serious situation to disclose/talk about when units deployed. I notice several talking about unit deployment and when they will deploy.

Has that changed, that Marines are not to discuss when they/units deploy?

Mxzero
08-18-11, 07:28 PM
They're not supposed to, it's still Confidential classified, possibly secret, but some people are just dumb about that. General knowledge of "my X is deploying soon" isn't exactly classified, but stuff like specific dates and units going out are.

MOS4429
08-18-11, 07:44 PM
Okay. Well, that's what I thought, and with the ability at one's fingertips to find out what unit a person is with, such as putting them on profiles on this site, even a general knowledge response I suppose would not take much research to make it specific.

This was something that was always considered serious and we had to go through training periodically on it.

thewookie
08-18-11, 08:18 PM
Okay. Well, that's what I thought, and with the ability at one's fingertips to find out what unit a person is with, such as putting them on profiles on this site, even a general knowledge response I suppose would not take much research to make it specific.

This was something that was always considered serious and we had to go through training periodically on it.

I didn't see anyone violating any OPSEC, maybe I missed something.

Anyone mention unit names and/or dates of deployments?

Applicant
08-18-11, 08:59 PM
They're not supposed to, it's still Confidential classified, possibly secret, but some people are just dumb about that. General knowledge of "my X is deploying soon" isn't exactly classified, but stuff like specific dates and units going out are.

Read and Understood, thank you for the info Sir

Applicant
08-18-11, 09:00 PM
My future brother-in-law is in Cali right now preparing to deploy in the next week. He's a reservist. So, I would say yeah, at least for the time being.

By the way, the future of the Marine Corps is just as good as it was last year, and the year before, and the year before. There will always be azzes around the world that need to be kicked. And Marines kick azz.

Thank you Sir, can't agree with you more :thumbup: