MOS Change

[jdeel92]

first i just wanted to say thanks to all marines and the families. i have a the most respect for you.

i plan on carrying on that proud tradition as take my initial first go to meps on sunday and enlist.

i just wanted to ask one question and if im not asking this in the correct way please let me know.

as of right now my plans are reserve, i do go to college and that's the biggest reasons for the reserve as of right now.but im not for sure if i will be able to have the oppurtunity for school next fall. and i wont know for sure until the end of this semester

my boot camp is probably going to be in september.

but anyways what if i want to go active?

do i have to make my mind up before i enlist on monday?

or will i have the whole summer before i go the island to switch to active?

so basically make a long story short can i switch from reserve to active while im in the DEP program and before i go to boot?

thanks everyone i apologize for the lengthiness

[jp2usmc]

It isn't always that easy going active, from what I remember. The reservist groups seem to have quotas to keep, and they don't always want to let you go.

[jdeel92]

i havnt enlisted yet, so i think i am going to switch to active i may just have to redo some paper work

[Nichols]

Don't go to boot camp as a reservist if you're wanting to be active. Tell your recruiter what it is that you want and don't leave for boot camp until you're able to get it.

[jdeel92]

so i enlisted on 31st on a reserve contract with the mos of motor t operator. but i talked to some Marines and it seems like all they do is convoy duty or something similar. i would rather have an infantry mos if at all possible. but since ive already sworn in. is there no chance of a switch? i still have till october before i even go to parris island.

thanks Marines

[Lisa 23]

I merged your topic.....reserve/active/DEP...... with this one.


I'm sure another Marine will come along and better answer your questions than I could.

Yes, this does bother me. How about some basic sentence structure, capital letters at beginning of sentences, capitalize the letter "I", and punctuation marks were needed.

[Zulu 36]

so i enlisted on 31st on a reserve contract with the mos of motor t operator. but i talked to some Marines and it seems like all they do is convoy duty or something similar. i would rather have an infantry mos if at all possible. but since ive already sworn in. is there no chance of a switch? i still have till october before i even go to parris island.

thanks Marines


Seriously, what do you think Motor Vehicle Operators do? They drive trucks. In a combat zone, trucks usually move in convoys for mutual protection. Convoy ops are not that easy, especially at night in blackout conditions.

When I was in Vietnam I drove in one convoy. The rest of the time I was a single or maybe in a double. But things were different then. Did I get shot at? Yes. They frequently get shot at in Afghanistan too.

During Vietnam, truck drivers had one of the highest casualty rates behind infantry. Most of the instructors in my MOS school had Purple Hearts. I don't know what the ratio is now.

Does the unit you're joining have infantry slots? Or is there a nearby infantry unit? If your reserve unit doesn't have the MOS on their Table of Organization (and have an open slot), you can't get it. I suggest you talk to your recruiter about this issue.

[jdeel92]

Thanks for information. i have pool function on Thursday with my recruiter I will speak with him then.

[Radiofantry]

I posted this in your other thread originally but it didn't cross over with the merge...

In addition, do not ship to boot camp with any contract other than an 03 contract if you want to be infantry. It is extremely hard to lat move into the 03 fields from another MOS and you're better off being patient and waiting a few months now than trying later after four years in an MOS you never wanted, especially since you will likely be an NCO after your first enlistment and it is even harder to move into the 03 field as an NCO.
---

Absolutely do -NOT- ship Reserve if your goal is to go Active. It is extremely difficult to jump Reserve to Active, especially with the economy the way it is, and not only are there no guarantees but I will tell you right now that you're almost guaranteed not to get it.

There are a lot of guys, with experience and MOS credibility, trying to go Active from the Reserves, especially with Iraq being over and Afghanistan heading that way. A lot of guys trying to get one last taste of battle.

In summary:

Wait to ship. Do not, under any circumstances, do what you're talking about doing. You will end up in the Reserves. Trust me on this. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

[jdeel92]

For all Marines who have posted on my thread thank you. I talked to my recruiter today and apparently any 03 mos will not be available to me in my reserve unit (which is combat engineering unit). I do believe he is going to talk to Staff Sergeant and get a list of all MOS's that are available to me in my unit. And go over them with me so I may stick with motor t operator or something else if it stands out to me. I am satisfied with motor t and earning the title is whats most important. But making sure isn't bad either if any Marines have any comments on an MOS that they are in or know about feel free to educate me. Just trying to make sure I get a MOS that i will enjoy with my duration in the Corps.

Thanks!

[Radiofantry]

You really need to decide 100% on the active/reserve question before there is any point in answering your other questions, to be completely honest.

Your first post makes it sound like you are wavering between Reserve/Active. I would decide within the next week what you want to do, and then we can give you information on the MOS's that are available to you.

[jdeel92]

You really need to decide 100% on the active/reserve question before there is any point in answering your other questions, to be completely honest.

Your first post makes it sound like you are wavering between Reserve/Active. I would decide within the next week what you want to do, and then we can give you information on the MOS's that are available to you.

I'm going reserves. I'm 2 years into college as we speak and with some tuition assistance from the military after my initial training i may as well knock two or 3 more years and get my bachelors degree.