xpaz
01-18-08, 10:10 PM
Hey guys, been lurking around here for some time soaking everything in, without much of my own to ask or contribute. For what it's worth, this is a great resource and a knowledgeable community and I hope to contribute, participate, or at least learn much more from it.
I'm a 23 year old 2006 graduate of the University of Arizona with a somewhat useless degree (but a degree nonetheless) in Media Arts. I've been considering the military (not necessarily only the Marines, in truth) since early high school.
But as everyone says, if you have the means to go to college, it's generally a good idea to do so. So I did the college thing and now I'm back in the same spot, with a few new options.
First off let me say that I'm about 90% decided against OCS. I don't believe that the same argument for college applies to becoming an Officer in the Marine Corps (or any branch for that matter). Many have told me "You have a degree; you should be an officer." I don't give much credence to this, as I feel it would do a disservice to the Marines that would be under my command for me to only be there because I had a degree and a desire for a higher pay grade. I think the enlisted ranks would have a lot to offer me towards becoming a better officer in the future, should my decision ever come to that. I'm more than happy to hear other suggestions of why one in my situation should attempt OCS. I've briefly spoken on the phone with my local OSO, but have not had time during the week to actually get in and ask questions yet.
On that note, I was recently informed by my recruiter that OCS is a voluntary course, in that there is no real signed contract going into it. In other words, he said that if you don't make it through OCS, you can throw your arms up in the air and say "FORGET IT!" with no further obligations to the Marine Corps. Is this true? Just curious.
Moving on... I have a considerable amount of MOS-related questions that I'd love to ask, but they are questions that I know won't have very definitive answers, so for the time being I will refrain.
I do, however, have a handful that I've done some searching for and just haven't found a clear-cut answer to. The closest thread I found was:
http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58638&highlight=meps+contract
When discussing the enlistment process with my recruiter a few days ago, my understanding of the process went something like this:
Talk to recruiter
Go to MEPS for medical and ASVAB
Swear in while at MEPS; sign a contract (?)
Return to recruiter and discuss MOS/OccFld optionsBefore everyone jumps the gun with the "needs of the Marines first" stuff, I'm aware of it, and to some degree agree with it. My question is basically what am I actually committing to while at MEPS, before returning to discuss my MOS/OccFld options with my recruiter. Contrary to what my recruiter told me, I've read in a few places that you actually commit to your MOS/OccFlds while at MEPS and not with your recruiter.
It's my understanding that after MEPS I'd be a Poolee. Would I have a set ship date at this point? What I'd prefer to avoid is returning from MEPS with a full-blown committment and essentially an "open contract." Please correct me if this interpretation is incorrect. The impression that I got is that at MEPS I would basically say "I do solemnly swear..." and put that in writing.
Then I'd return to my recruiter and discuss my three preferred OccFlds. What happens if none of my preferred OccFlds are available? This seems highly unlikely. I basically don't want to return to my recruiter, with a ship date or some other committment, then say "I'd really like Military Police," only to have him respond "Sorry, not gonna happen; pick something else," until I end up picking something that he (not personally) agrees with.
In other words, how much bearing do my "three preferences" in my contract actually have if I've already committed myself to service while at MEPS? Don't get me wrong, I want to be a Marine to be a Marine. But I feel people tend to do better jobs when their job is something that holds at least some interest to them.
Or is it the case that coming out of MEPS I'd be in DEP and have no set ship date? I'm just a little bit lost as to how DEP works, I guess. I've seen some posts on here where some will say "I just got back from MEPS. They didn't have openings in my MOS so I postponed my ship date." I didn't know that was even possible. Does your time in DEP expire at some point where you will be forced to ship with a MOS of their choosing? Or do you sit in DEP until your MEPS committment expires, at which point you have to go through MEPS again?
Or at MEPS do I just sign a general service contract of some sort? I think I remember reading (maybe even on these boards) that the stuff signed at MEPS could technically pertain to any branch or service. e.g. I could meet with my Marine Corps recruiter, go to MEPS, take the tests, take the oath, and then go and enlist in the Army. Is that correct?
I'd generally like to be able to declare my preferred OccFlds before taking an oath or signing anything. I know that from there I'll get whatever the Corps needs, but assuming I qualify for the things I've listed, I'd like to have them in my contract before I actually make a committment. Is this impossible in the Marine Corps?
I'd really appreciate some clarification, as everything I've read ends up being contradictory. I had a prepared list of questions for my recruiter, and only thought of this after I had left the office.
I apologize for the length of the read/stream of consciousness. If you haven't read this far, no hard feelings; I should work on being more concise. If you don't have answers to all of the questions, I'd still appreciate at least a more specific rundown of how DEP works as far as what you sign, when you sign it, and what your options are. Feel free to set me straight on anything I've totally butchered.
Thanks guys.
I'm a 23 year old 2006 graduate of the University of Arizona with a somewhat useless degree (but a degree nonetheless) in Media Arts. I've been considering the military (not necessarily only the Marines, in truth) since early high school.
But as everyone says, if you have the means to go to college, it's generally a good idea to do so. So I did the college thing and now I'm back in the same spot, with a few new options.
First off let me say that I'm about 90% decided against OCS. I don't believe that the same argument for college applies to becoming an Officer in the Marine Corps (or any branch for that matter). Many have told me "You have a degree; you should be an officer." I don't give much credence to this, as I feel it would do a disservice to the Marines that would be under my command for me to only be there because I had a degree and a desire for a higher pay grade. I think the enlisted ranks would have a lot to offer me towards becoming a better officer in the future, should my decision ever come to that. I'm more than happy to hear other suggestions of why one in my situation should attempt OCS. I've briefly spoken on the phone with my local OSO, but have not had time during the week to actually get in and ask questions yet.
On that note, I was recently informed by my recruiter that OCS is a voluntary course, in that there is no real signed contract going into it. In other words, he said that if you don't make it through OCS, you can throw your arms up in the air and say "FORGET IT!" with no further obligations to the Marine Corps. Is this true? Just curious.
Moving on... I have a considerable amount of MOS-related questions that I'd love to ask, but they are questions that I know won't have very definitive answers, so for the time being I will refrain.
I do, however, have a handful that I've done some searching for and just haven't found a clear-cut answer to. The closest thread I found was:
http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58638&highlight=meps+contract
When discussing the enlistment process with my recruiter a few days ago, my understanding of the process went something like this:
Talk to recruiter
Go to MEPS for medical and ASVAB
Swear in while at MEPS; sign a contract (?)
Return to recruiter and discuss MOS/OccFld optionsBefore everyone jumps the gun with the "needs of the Marines first" stuff, I'm aware of it, and to some degree agree with it. My question is basically what am I actually committing to while at MEPS, before returning to discuss my MOS/OccFld options with my recruiter. Contrary to what my recruiter told me, I've read in a few places that you actually commit to your MOS/OccFlds while at MEPS and not with your recruiter.
It's my understanding that after MEPS I'd be a Poolee. Would I have a set ship date at this point? What I'd prefer to avoid is returning from MEPS with a full-blown committment and essentially an "open contract." Please correct me if this interpretation is incorrect. The impression that I got is that at MEPS I would basically say "I do solemnly swear..." and put that in writing.
Then I'd return to my recruiter and discuss my three preferred OccFlds. What happens if none of my preferred OccFlds are available? This seems highly unlikely. I basically don't want to return to my recruiter, with a ship date or some other committment, then say "I'd really like Military Police," only to have him respond "Sorry, not gonna happen; pick something else," until I end up picking something that he (not personally) agrees with.
In other words, how much bearing do my "three preferences" in my contract actually have if I've already committed myself to service while at MEPS? Don't get me wrong, I want to be a Marine to be a Marine. But I feel people tend to do better jobs when their job is something that holds at least some interest to them.
Or is it the case that coming out of MEPS I'd be in DEP and have no set ship date? I'm just a little bit lost as to how DEP works, I guess. I've seen some posts on here where some will say "I just got back from MEPS. They didn't have openings in my MOS so I postponed my ship date." I didn't know that was even possible. Does your time in DEP expire at some point where you will be forced to ship with a MOS of their choosing? Or do you sit in DEP until your MEPS committment expires, at which point you have to go through MEPS again?
Or at MEPS do I just sign a general service contract of some sort? I think I remember reading (maybe even on these boards) that the stuff signed at MEPS could technically pertain to any branch or service. e.g. I could meet with my Marine Corps recruiter, go to MEPS, take the tests, take the oath, and then go and enlist in the Army. Is that correct?
I'd generally like to be able to declare my preferred OccFlds before taking an oath or signing anything. I know that from there I'll get whatever the Corps needs, but assuming I qualify for the things I've listed, I'd like to have them in my contract before I actually make a committment. Is this impossible in the Marine Corps?
I'd really appreciate some clarification, as everything I've read ends up being contradictory. I had a prepared list of questions for my recruiter, and only thought of this after I had left the office.
I apologize for the length of the read/stream of consciousness. If you haven't read this far, no hard feelings; I should work on being more concise. If you don't have answers to all of the questions, I'd still appreciate at least a more specific rundown of how DEP works as far as what you sign, when you sign it, and what your options are. Feel free to set me straight on anything I've totally butchered.
Thanks guys.