PDA

View Full Version : Re-enlistment time & lateral moves



Warzik
06-16-18, 12:49 PM
Just touching my 3 year mark
currently an 0352 Cpl. About to pick up SGT.
I’m
I have a reenlistment package ready for
EOD

im also looking at helicopter crew chief

I have my roots set down pretty good on the east coast, would hope to stay here but know how the corps works.

Weighing on the benefits of staying in and lat move or following through with state highway patrol.

What do you think?

Tennessee Top
06-17-18, 10:20 AM
Will add my two cents, for what they're worth. Remember, my views are as a retired/career Staff NCO who reenlisted 5 times. I retired in 1995 during the "don't ask/don't tell" era and have no concept of what life in todays Corps is like during the open gay and open transgender era; if that has any bearing at all on your decision to stay or go (would like to know).

Getting out is over rated. I did it after my first contract and coming off the MSG program as a watchstander. If I had stayed in, there is a good chance I would be a retired MGySgt instead of a MSgt (lost all TIS and TIG while I was out). My friends who stayed in when I got out are retired SgtMaj's, CWO's, and LDO's (major). We see former Marines all the time here regretting their decision to get out for myriad reasons (they quickly discover civilian life is not all it's cracked up to be), trying desperately to get back in, and having no success (the USMC is not interested in them). The State Highway Patrol is a gamble.

After retiring, I went into civilian healthcare (patient care at a teaching hospital). Made good money with excellent benefits and had job security. I can tell you from personal experience having worked as a career civilian and a career Marine. There is NO better job than leading Marines. You have the opportunity to do that and should take advantage of it while you can - don't throw that opportunity away.

Looking to the future when you're no longer a Marine. There is some need for EOD techs in the civilian market. But, far more opportunities in civilian aviation (my BS degree is in aviation management). Imagine there is a significant reenlistment bonus for EOD but aviation MOS's also offer decent reenlistment bonuses. Point is, give some thought about what you most likely will be doing after the USMC, and how your future MOS will benefit that.

There is some movement within the DOD to cut down on PCS moves for myriad reasons (cut down on travel costs, maintain unit cohesion, better for families, etc). Obviously, you'd be heading to MOS school somewhere shortly after reenlistment. Don't know where EOD school is but most aviation schools are in Pensacola, FL. Aviation school would be much longer than EOD school. Regardless, you should expect to be heading to Okinawa soon after graduating. Camp LeJeune was my first duty station out of MOS school. To get the full "Marine experience", you owe it to yourself to spend time on the West Coast, at Quantico VA, on OKI, in HI, or at Iwakuni Japan. Expanding your horizons is a huge part of being a Marine - take advantage of that.

Good luck Devil.