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junebug
01-14-08, 05:50 PM
In searching for info to help our son make the right decision for him, I ran across your site. It looks like a great source of information direct from the people who know the most! Let me start off by saying that my father was a Marine before I was born, but he talked about the Corps all the time, he even made us sing "From the Halls of Montezuma" while on car trips! He has passed on now and I regret that I never talked to him about what he did while he was in the corps.
My son is giving serious thought to joining the corps and I support whatever decision to which he eventually comes. He is in college now. We have talked with the recruiter about all of his various options/ benefits/etc. I am still a little confused. We would like our son to finish school first and apply to the Platoon Leaders Course while still in college. He has two years of school left. His recruiter was first trying to convince him that he should enlist immediatedly and the Corps would pay for him to finish school while on active duty. This appealed to my son because he really wants to go to boot camp. He wants to challenge himself in that way, go through the Crucilble, although his eventual goal is to be an officer. Now his recruiter says that perhaps he should enlist in the reserves, go to boot camp over the summer, and then go back to school, apply to PLC and become an officer after he finishes school. I admit that this does sound like a good route to go. However, my hesitation comes from the fact that I am finding it difficult to find information online about this career path. I know it is highly unusual to go to both boot camp and then do the PLC. According to his recruiter there is no chance of him being deployed until after he finishes college because he won't have been to MOS training yet. Also, the only MOS available in our area is rifleman.
What I would like him to do is think about the whole thing, and go to MEPS during Spring break, when he comes home for a week and a half. The recruiter wants him to go to MEPS next week because "the slots are filling up" I don't quite buy that. I know the recruiter has a certain number of recruits to reach.
Sorry for the long intial post, any advice or insight anyone has to offer is sincerely appreciated.

yellowwing
01-14-08, 06:00 PM
Sounds like a lot of decisions to make. The overall assessment and conclusion will be up to him. Judgement is one of our Marine Corps Leadership Traits.

The slots are filling up refers to the complete training cycles. Rifleman is a popular selection for new Recruits. Once a Rifleman MOS Marine completes Boot Camp, the School Of Infantry (SOI) must have a training seat available. The Marine Corps is thinking ahead on this one.

Welcome aboard and feel free to ask more questions. We have a huge knowledge base available.

kbs95125
01-14-08, 06:02 PM
92-Reserve progam (more information about it in the Poolee Hall section of the forum)

If he only has 2 years left in school it would probably be in his best interest to finish school first, just in case something does come up. I bet with a little hard work those 2 years could be alot shorter.

junebug
01-15-08, 10:45 AM
Thanks to you both for your answers. I agree that the ultimate decsion and judgement are up to him, I just want to help guide him to the best possible decision. His father and I consider it to be of the utmost importance that he finish college first. Even if he then decided to join as an enlisted person.

Marines have the reputation as being the most intellectual of all of the service branches and in our family education is the most important thing. I hope everything the recruiter is telling us is true, so any more insight into his proposed career path of reserves/ bootcamp/PLC/active duty is most appreciated.

I especially appreciate the time you current and former Marines are taking to encourage the young men and women about to embark on their journeys. Thanks!