Few questions. (Fairly long.)

[BrianMc223]

I just DEP'd in a couple weeks back after spending a long time waffling about what I wanted.

(Irrelevant to question: I finally decided that being a Marine was more important to me than what I would actually be doing, and that the standard of living differences weren't enough to stop me from what I wanted. I have also decided that I'm not going to be ready to go for a Special Ops job right out of boot and never would be on my own. I was looking at the PJ's in the Airforce for awhile and I might attempt to lat move into 0321 after a few years, but going for it out of boot, especially the way I'm going into boot, would just be futile.)

My ship date is 2009/01/06 for MCRD Paris Island. I have a CJ Contract booked which is Logistics or Ammunition, but I really wanted to fly. My recruiter is telling me that because I'm already a High School grad I have to ship within 90 days off depping in. (Which makes the date I'm leaving the last possible date. The only ship date in February is the 11th which is past 90 days.)

I tried to search but couldn't find anything concrete on whether the 90 day thing is a real policy or just a suggestion type of thing. It sounds like my recruiter just doesn't trust I've made a firm decision about my path and wants to ship me before I have a lot of time on my hands to reconsider. (And is his defense I do have a history of changing my mind.)

He's saying it's possible but unlikely, and I'm wondering how much is him and how much trouble command would be giving him. (And basically if anyone has spent more than 90 days in DEP as a grad.) Thanks in advance.



(Failing at that: I can't find much information on what Logistics guys or ammo tech do. I'm not going to refuse to go if I can't get my way, and it might make me more enthusiastic about jobs that just don't sound particularly appealing to me.)

(99 AFQT, 138 GT, 138MM, 138 EL, 136 CL if that would in any way effect anything other than qualifying for the jobs. I also passed the Depth Perception and Color Vision test.)

[thewookie]

Parris Island - on your trip to the Depot, when your azz is frogs azz water tight, and your knees are shaking - make sure you look up at the sign and see how it is spelled.:evilgrin:

Good luck, have fun.

[sparkie]

I'm happy I didn't read that

[ecom]

Something doesn't sound right because you can be in DEP up to 1 year before shipping. I DEP'd in about a week before Thanksgiving and shipped in May so that's 6 months and I was in college at the time. My original ship date was 2 weeks prior to the semester ending because I didn't know when it was when I DEP'd so I told the recruiter at the end of May but he made it in the middle. When I found out when the semester ended, my recruiter was a bit hesitant to change it but he was able to change it to two weeks later.

Given the ASVAB scores, maybe he just doesn't want to let you get away...You are pretty much qualified for any job you want with those test scores. My scores were similar to yours and I opted to go into a technical field because that was what I was interested in.

[BrianMc223]

ecom: My mistake by omission. I'm not in college. They can let you wait to finish a semester but apparently not if you are just a bum.

thewookie: I didn't think that was correct, but when your spelling is as bad as mine is you don't argue with the spell check feature. Thanks for pointing it out and the, ahh, encouraging words Sergeant.

sparkie: As you would Sergeant. Not entirely sure as to why you would go to the effort of posting such a statement though.

[ecom]

ecom: My mistake by omission. I'm not in college. They can let you wait to finish a semester but apparently not if you are just a bum.


I never assumed you were in college. Regardless of college or not, you should be able to DEP in up to 1 year prior to your ship date. I only mentioned college because that's what I was doing at the time. Your recruiter might be under some pressure to fill a quota which might be why he's telling your the 90 day thing.

Given your ASVAB scores, you definitely qualify for some MOS that have bonuses of $4000 or more. I did not enlist expecting a bonus, it came a surprise to me when my recruiter told me about it.

I'm not sure how current or accurate the links here are, but it might be something to look into.
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/marinebonuses/Marine_Corps_Enlistment_and_ReEnlistment_Bonuses.h tm

[BrianMc223]

The fact that it might be something he wants and not a rule is what made me suspicious in the first place. (Just the way he phrased it a couple of times.)

Honestly while I wouldn't say no to a bonus a couple of grand either way isn't going to influence my decision at all. The AJ contract I was originally supposed to sign for was a five year enlistment with something like a 5k bonus.

Does anyone actually know where I could find some sort of rules for this program in writing? Would it be covered in a MARADMIN or something else that I'm unaware of? Google isn't coming up with anything. (Not surprising considering I don't really know what I'm looking for.) I can't find anything that says anything other than you have a max of 365 days.

If it come right down to it I will ship CJ on the 6th, though I would have waited the month to DEP in if I had known about this. (He conveniently didn't mention it until it was screwing me out of the job I wanted.)

I'm assuming this wouldn't have any predictable chance of working: What about going in open general and tossing the dice? Would high test scores give me a decent chance of getting the job I want? (I'd really like Crew Chief or Loadmaster.)

[ecom]

DEP is no obligation program. You are free to go if you desire but it will be the recruiter's job to talk you out of it and he will give you a hard time about it. The recruiter is not supposed to threaten you, but it's not unheard of for recruiters to threaten poolees with things like brig time. If you decide to come back in later, then you will need a waiver if you are joining the same branch of service. Since you haven't shipped yet and the job you want isn't available, consider waiting until it becomes available.

Once you ship, there is nothing you can do to change your job despite what your recruiter might tell you. The only way to change would be if you fail out at MOS school or lat move once you complete your first enlistment.

Remember that this is your enlistment and life. You don't want to spend the next four or five years regretting this decision.