considering joining USMC (24y/o college grad)

[dalingh]

I am strongly considering joining the USMC. I'm at at point where I need a dramatic change in life. I have a college degree from the University of Kansas (business administration and management). I am 24 years old. I have not yet spoken with a recruiting officer, but I plan on doing so next week. What would be my options for enlistment? I know that I want to go into the USMC. I'm looking for some advice on how my career would progress being a 24 year old. I read somewhere that said that in reality you are enlisting for 8 years not 4, can anyone please expand on that statement. I've been in the working world for 2 years now and I really do not enjoy it. I've always thought about being in a Marine. I have a great job, it pays well, but it is not for me. By doing this I would break my families hearts, but I've got to do this for myself.

Drew

[rvillac2]

You need to do a thorough read through the Poolee Hall threads. You can find more info with more google searches, too.
You should also look into the Marine Officer websites.

[dalingh]

MARINE officer is something that I have considered. I'm in great shape as it is, I live a fairly healthy lifestyle, so I've got half of that battle won.

One concern that I have is that I wear contact lenses. I know that if you wear glasses you are required to wear MARINE provided glasses. What are the rules for contact lenses? Would I be allowed to wear them or would I be required to wear glasses?

How strict are the rules on for a police record WAIVER? I had a couple of arrests while in college, no felonies, just misdemeanors, also a handful of speeding tickets while in high school. My character is not a question, IMO, but the USMC may think differently.

[Pete0331]

One concern that I have is that I wear contact lenses. I know that if you wear glasses you are required to wear MARINE provided glasses. What are the rules for contact lenses? Would I be allowed to wear them or would I be required to wear glasses?

For training you would wear glasses.
One you earn the title you can wear contacts.




How strict are the rules on for a police record WAIVER? I had a couple of arrests while in college, no felonies, just misdemeanors, also a handful of speeding tickets while in high school. My character is not a question, IMO, but the USMC may think differently.

This may be a factor if you go the officer route.
If you go enlisted it most likely will not be a problem.

Go the officer route!
It may take some time since you will need waivers so start now.

[0231Marine]

Don't quote me on this but I believe for officers, the 8 year contract obligation refers to your time served. As an officer, depending on your MOS, you'll be required to serve 4 years at a minimum, possibly 6 if you're a pilot. After those 4 years, you can resign your commission or go to the reserves for another 4 years.

It's been said already but to reitterate. I wear contacts also. In bootcamp or in your case TBS, you'll have to wear the prescribed glasses issued to you once you arrive. Following graduation, you can go back to contacts.

[thewookie]

I am strongly considering joining the USMC. I'm at at point where I need a dramatic change in life. I have a college degree from the University of Kansas (business administration and management). I am 24 years old. I have not yet spoken with a recruiting officer, but I plan on doing so next week. What would be my options for enlistment? I know that I want to go into the USMC. I'm looking for some advice on how my career would progress being a 24 year old. I read somewhere that said that in reality you are enlisting for 8 years not 4, can anyone please expand on that statement. I've been in the working world for 2 years now and I really do not enjoy it. I've always thought about being in a Marine. I have a great job, it pays well, but it is not for me. By doing this I would break my families hearts, but I've got to do this for myself.

Drew

If you're already at a jumping off point, and it sounds like you are, then why not just do it.

You have a degree and it will still be good in 4 or 8 years, but if you give your time to the Marine Corps, that degree and everything else you do in the future will be enhanced. (BTW, I would count on an 8 year obligation at minimum, might not all be active, but that's typical)

You can always jump back on the civilian track, but if you never leave your comfort zone then how will you know what you're really made of?

Your family will forgive you if they support you, and what YOU want.

You will never regret it.

[Rocky C]

I am strongly considering joining the USMC. I'm at at point where I need a dramatic change in life. I have a college degree from the University of Kansas (business administration and management). I am 24 years old. I have not yet spoken with a recruiting officer, but I plan on doing so next week. What would be my options for enlistment? I know that I want to go into the USMC. I'm looking for some advice on how my career would progress being a 24 year old. I read somewhere that said that in reality you are enlisting for 8 years not 4, can anyone please expand on that statement. I've been in the working world for 2 years now and I really do not enjoy it. I've always thought about being in a Marine. I have a great job, it pays well, but it is not for me. By doing this I would break my families hearts, but I've got to do this for myself.

Drew

Drew, Do your research and follow your Heart...... I too broke my families heart by passing up a 4 year Football Scholarship and enlisted. Best move I ever made.
I hear the Marines are looking for a few good men... I think they are talking about "YOU"....
Good Luck,
Rocky

[awbrown1462]

go for it you don't want to live with "what if " for the rest of your life

[Taylor0861]

I would suggest also looking into the Marine Corps Reserve. I joined after two years in college and have never regretted it.

One advantage that you have is maturity. A lot of recruits struggle as they are straight out of high school and haven't had a lot of time on their own. At 24 you are still young enough to hold your own on the physical aspect. My rack-mate in boot camp was 30, and it definitly was a little tougher for him.

[dalingh]

Thank you for the responses and support gentlemen. Tomorrow I will be going to meet with a recruiting officer. I'll keep you all posted on how it goes.

Something I'm strongly considering doing prior to enlisting is having Lasic surgery completed. Depending on how long it takes to get my waivers fulfilled, this may be something that I will have completed to avoid wearing glasses. I do not know why, but this is something that I want to avoid at ALL costs.

[NoRemorse]

Thank you for the responses and support gentlemen. Tomorrow I will be going to meet with a recruiting officer. I'll keep you all posted on how it goes.

Something I'm strongly considering doing prior to enlisting is having Lasic surgery completed. Depending on how long it takes to get my waivers fulfilled, this may be something that I will have completed to avoid wearing glasses. I do not know why, but this is something that I want to avoid at ALL costs.

Unless it's changed you'll have to wait 6 months after a LASIK procedure.

[Marine84]

I've been in the working world for 2 years now and I really do not enjoy it.

And you think you'll like the military better? Just exactly what do you think the military does?

[dalingh]

And you think you'll like the military better? Just exactly what do you think the military does?

What I meant by that statement is that I don't feel fulfilled in life. Things have came easily to me in life. To me, becoming a MARINE is something that no one can ever take away from you. This would be the hardest thing I ever will have worked for in my life and I'm ready to put myself up to that challenge.

I grew up in an affluent family, basically having my every wish and desire granted to me. This does not mean that I do not have a work ethic, but I just had a better situation to succeed than most in life.

I do not believe that joining the USMC will be an easy task. With my skill set and physical abilities, I believe that the MARINES are a perfect fit for me, I've just never had the balls to enlist. Now, I'm at a jumping off point.

[Gunner 0313]

Now, I'm at a jumping off point.

:flag:Quit talking about it and JUMP !!!!

[xpaz]

Drew,

First off, sorry in advance for the length of this post -- I tend to get pretty wordy.

3 months ago I was in the exact same position that you are in now. I'm 24 years old, with a BA (2006 from the University of Arizona), and fresh out of Boot (MCRD SD) as of the 23rd. I had a VERY well-paying job in the computer industry, and by most standards, my life was just near perfect -- but... not by my standards. I took the leap and jumped in.

I learned a lot about myself in Recruit Training. It was a miserable experience, as expected, but worth the investment and torment. Don't live with regrets, and do what you feel is necessary for you.

In response to your questions:

All military service is comprised of a total of 8 years of service. Your typical Marine Corps contract will probably look something like 4 years of active service, followed by 4 years in the Inactive Ready Reserves (IRR). The IRR is just what it sounds like -- an inactive reserve force, capable of being called back to active status should the needs of the nation warrant it. As far as I know, none have been called out of the IRR in recent history, but I could be wrong. In any case, the total time of enlistment/service is 8 years. Depending on your MOS, your time in active duty may vary -- my occ field is Avionics, and I'm on a 5 year contract at the moment (so ~3 years in the IRR, minus the few months I was in the DEP).

Moving on... a few suggestions from someone who knows exactly where you're coming from.

I gave serious, serious thought to going for a commission before enlisting. I met with my local OSO and discussed my options. Ultimately I decided that the Officer route did not fit my plans, capabilities, or confidence levels at the time. So I decided to enlist. Now that I'm out of Boot Camp, I am once again considering pursuing a commission.

My Pros/Cons were good coming out of Recruit Training (squad leader for all but 2 weeks of Phase 1), 284 PFT. All-in-all, I'm probably a decent candidate for ECP, and with some luck, hopefully they will select me for OCS. I have much more confidence in my abilities now, and would be a lot more "comfortable" going for a commission now than I was before Recruit Training.

With that said, the lengthy, difficult process of commissioning is a very daunting task to look at after immediately coming out of 3 months of hard Recruit Training. It's not easy to say to yourself: "Ok, I'm done with enlisted Boot Camp -- now on to several more months of Officer schools!"

If you are confident in your leadership skills, your physical fitness, and all of that stuff, you may want to consider OCS. Looking back now, I regret not having at least attempted it right off the bat. Not to say that I am at all disappointed with the enlisted side so far, but as I said before, it's a daunting obstacle to go straight to more "boot camp" right after Recruit Training is over.

If you ever would consider pursuing a commission in your career in the Corps, I would strongly recommend you attempt to get it now. Don't short-change yourself by not living up to your abilities and standards. The enlisted side is what makes the Corps, but there can never be too many good, qualified leaders.

So my $0.02 is that you see what you think about pursuing a commission before you take the plunge and enlist. There's nothing wrong with going enlisted whatsoever, as long as you're not short-changing yourself or doing it with any regrets.

Feel free to PM me any questions. I'm a new Boot, so my experience in the Corps pales in comparison to many who have already responded, but being in such a similar position as you, I'll do my best to help further if I can.

Best of luck.

Oh, and one more thing -- realize that at 24, you're starting to inch up on some of the lower age barriers. I was probably the oldest in my company. Nothing wrong with that, but bear in mind that the cut-off for OCS is 28 years old, I think (though I'm sure they grant waivers). Marines, please correct me if I'm wrong.

[yellowwing]

When you do talk to the Recruiter or OSO Officer, do not hold anything back about the tickets and misdemeanors. They'll work with you and do everything they can and go the extra mile for you.

But if you screw'em and leave some info out, you'll get busted and they won't give you the time of day.

[dalingh]

I met with the recruiters twice this weekend. They know everything about me. The only issue that I'm having at this point is that I have an eye condition called "duane's syndrome" that may prohibit me from joining the Marines. I am having my medical records sent to the Marine doctor to see if it is even worth my while to go in for the physical and take the ASVAP. I took the practice and scored an 87, so I'm able to have any job in the Marines. I told the recruiter that the only way I'll sign my contract is if it has 03XX on it. My goal is to try out for a recon position. At this point I'm just praying that I'll even have the opportunity to join the Marines.