Torn between options..

[Charles107]

I am scheduled to ship on the 22nd of this month. My recruiter knows to call me if they need a shipper earlier than that. I've already thrown away/gave away 99% of my possessions, moved out of my apartment, said goodbye to college friends, etc. I'm back in Houston (at my dads house) with very little to do other than run (I plan to destroy the PFT). The only thing I have to do before I leave is, of course, choose my MOS. Herein lies the problem:

I'm 21 years old with 72 hours of college credit. I want to be an officer in the Marine Corps., but decided that instead of wasting away, admittedly undisciplined, in college, I would fill the shoes of an enlisted man. How could I be a good leader if I don't know what it's like to follow, right? Finishing my degree is obviously necessary. However, I want to get my hands dirty in the Corps. I made a 95 on my ASVAB and all of my line scores are excellent. I initially figured I would go infantry, but so many current and former Marines have warned me against it. Mostly, I get things like, "Oh, you can do something else with those scores." Granted, I could, but do I really want to? I can't be sure, and even browsing through the giant MOS list doesn't help.

First and foremost I want to earn the title of United States Marine. Second, I want to serve as a Marine to the best of my ability and in the most beneficial position for Corps and country.

Seeing as I want to eventually go OCS and I have good scores, but I also want to get dirty, does anyone have any advice?



Charles

[smoking gunz]

If you want to go infantry do it. I was a 0331 and liked it a lot. Right if you want to get dirty then infantry is the best job for that.Before your enlistment is up go to the career planner and tell him you want to re enlist and be put into the meseps program. This program keeps you in the Corps and sends you home to go to college. The g.i. bill and the program will pretty much take care of the costs. Once you finish the degree you go to ocs. Then you will gain a little more respect from enlisted for bein a mustang(an officer who was enlisted). That way you get dirty as enlisted and you can have the Corps pay for your degree and become an officer.Then as an officer you can stay with the grunts or go to another mos.

[TJR1070]

If you want to go infantry then go for it. I know a lot of incredibly smart Marines that are/were in the 03 field and their intelligence only ever helped them and their unit. You will also meet plenty of other smart men in the combat arms so don't sell our trigger pulling Brothers short. Also the most sought after job in the officer ranks is Platoon Leader (aka. Grunt Officer) and is very competitive. So choose the MOS that you want not what everyone else wants for you.

[Merc6432]

I agree. After serving my first enlistment in Avionics I realized I had done what my parents had wanted me to do not what I wanted to do. Therefore I wasn't thrilled with my first enlistment but I loved the Corps so this time around, I will definately be going infantry. :marine: