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View Full Version : And the Doors Are Closed Gents!!



Meistro
05-17-10, 12:43 AM
I got out of the Marine Corps. about a year and a half ago. Many tours. So i got out. I was just tired of deploying, I spent almost a whole enlistment in Iraq. Im really glad I got out, because it gave me a better look on life. But I really miss the Corps. And if you dont know already, the Marine Corps. is not letting any prior service back in unless your a staff NCO "basically". But my question is this: Once a Marine, Always A Marine right? Or "The Marine Corps. stands by its Marines". OK ok ok ok, I turned my back on the Corps. to get out. But I think Marines that have gotten out and wanna come back in are some of the best Marines (that ive seen). Alot of first term Marines do not respect the Marine corps. theyre just too busy *****ing about their life and havent even deployed once. Anyways, I just feel that the Marine Corps. has turned its back on me and many other Marines. A recruiter told me that they will take new recruits all day, but wouldnt the Marine Corps. want Marines who have had boots in sand for over a few years time. Especially in a time of war??!! If someone can tell me im Fu**ed up for thinking these things. Then tell me.

Also, does anyone know if the doors are ever gonna open back up?? And when??:flag::evilgrin::nerd:

gwamo1
05-17-10, 07:38 AM
I know, it sucks. I'm being forced to either join the reserves or the active reserve side. I'm trying everything in the world to stay on the active duty side, but it's just not working out. Good luck though.

Dragonscript
05-17-10, 08:23 AM
Meistro (http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/member.php?u=74062), here is a little info on me, and maybe i can provide some info.

I was active duty from 1995 till 1999, i went to boot camp before the Crucible FYI. I got out for several reason, none of which matter to this conversation. For last several years i've been working on getting back in. First i had to get knee surgery. Later i lost my job, company restructuring, and had to get that fixed; i wanted to go reserves so i knew my employment had to be there before i went into the reserves. After getting the new job i had to get another surgery, while at a gun range i had a round explode in the chamber and took two pieces of metal into my right hand. I got that all fixed and my hand works just as well at it did before.

Last November i contacted a prior service recruiter and on Jan 14th of this year i re-enlisted after being out for over 10 years. I lat moved from 1341 to 1371, which i'm going to school for this summer and the only contract i could get was a 3 year IRR, so i got no re-enlistment bonuses. I had to get a waiver for my age, I'm 32 right now, but other than that i didn't need anything else. My tattoos weren't an issue, a doc approved them as being within regulation. Currently i'm drilling with my local reserve unit.

If you want to go active duty then a path, maybe not the best one but it is a path, is to get an IRR contract, activate yourself to the reserves and then try to active duty if you wish.

If you have any questions about it just let me know.

gungygal48
05-17-10, 11:09 AM
I don't think you are jacked up for having an opinion that is different from mine - but here it is from my perspective. A recruiter's job is to enlist civilians - his quota is based on it and his job and career depend on it. He gets no credit for you and as I understand it there is alot of time and effort involved with working a prior. Hindsight is 20/20 Bro where might you be had you stayed in? Are you going to quit again? Why be bitter at the Corps? - you chose to get out. To make matters worse the Corps worked to ramp up the forces to 202K by like 2015 and they have already exceeded those numbers. Frankly, as bad as it might sound they don't need you. It's just really a bad time right now to try to get back in - even when it ain't a bad time it ain't easy. That's how I see it. Best of luck to you. I'm not trying to bust your bubble. Just trying to keep it real... Semper Fi.

Meistro
05-17-10, 01:21 PM
No i completely agree with you gungy, and yeah im a pretty bitter toward the MC but it makes sense. And im not gonna talk down the MC in the civvy world, because I do respect the MC. Im in "MY" situation because of "MYSELF", not the MC or anyone else. And dragonscript, yeah i did the whole reserves to go AR thing for like 2 months. And honest to god, this is nothing against reservists. I met some really good people while i was there, but every reservist knows that prior active Marines do not do well in there. And I had a retarded career counselor who was just F-ing off, and never wanted to help me go AR. And Gwamo, please watch your 6 before you join a reserve unit. Some of these reserve units around the country, dont really have alot of prior active guys which basically means more experience. Not at any fault of reservists, they just do it once a month when we do it in and out every day. But ive noticed that reserve units will not want to let you go, they need to retain those numbers even when the MC numbers are high. It took me a month to get out of the reserves and I was only there for 2 drills!!! One month!! So watch yourself, and be ready for something you have never seen. The reserves are gonna blow your freakin mind.

AAV Crewchief
05-17-10, 02:02 PM
No i completely agree with you gungy, and yeah im a pretty bitter toward the MC but it makes sense. And im not gonna talk down the MC in the civvy world, because I do respect the MC. Im in "MY" situation because of "MYSELF", not the MC or anyone else. And dragonscript, yeah i did the whole reserves to go AR thing for like 2 months. And honest to god, this is nothing against reservists. I met some really good people while i was there, but every reservist knows that prior active Marines do not do well in there. And I had a retarded career counselor who was just F-ing off, and never wanted to help me go AR. And Gwamo, please watch your 6 before you join a reserve unit. Some of these reserve units around the country, dont really have alot of prior active guys which basically means more experience. Not at any fault of reservists, they just do it once a month when we do it in and out every day. But ive noticed that reserve units will not want to let you go, they need to retain those numbers even when the MC numbers are high. It took me a month to get out of the reserves and I was only there for 2 drills!!! One month!! So watch yourself, and be ready for something you have never seen. The reserves are gonna blow your freakin mind.


Hating on reservists? LOL. If you came off of AD to a reserve unit they would have been begging you to join and stay. Lots of AD guys get out and go into the reserves with no problem whatsoever. I was one of them. I chose to stop drilling with my unit in Mobile because I was trying to finish my degree at UWF. Those 5 and 6 drill weekends are hell on exam prep for a Monday morning test at school.

Dragonscript
05-17-10, 03:00 PM
A recruiter's job is to enlist civilians - his quota is based on it and his job and career depend on it. He gets no credit for you and as I understand it there is alot of time and effort involved with working a prior.

That's not completely true gungygal, prior service does not go through regular recruiters but special prior service recruiters who's job are nothing but getting prior service people back in. They have their own set of quotas that are separate from regular quotas.

gungygal48
05-17-10, 03:23 PM
roger that Dragon, I didn't know that - but most go to regular recruiter's and when they don't get any help they usually **** and moan - another thing is there are periods of time where quotas are closed to priors.

Meistro
05-17-10, 05:15 PM
yeah, but most recruiters do get a point or two for prior service re-enlistments. My buddy is a recruiter and he tried to get me back in through a few loop holes and he said he gets like 1-3 points depending on certain things. And to reiterate, im not hating on reservists im just saying its a different type of "Marine Corps." That I was not partial to, especially coming from a grunt infested battalion. :evilgrin:

Dragonscript
05-18-10, 07:20 AM
gungygal: NP, when i was trying to get back in i went to a regular recruiter first but somehow i found out about the prior service recruiters and got hold of him myself.

meistro: I like AR, but then i also liked active duty as well. Each has its good points and bad, one is not better than the other, just different.

Personally, i have found AR to be tougher than AD.

jarhead-0311
05-18-10, 07:34 AM
That's not completely true gungygal, prior service does not go through regular recruiters but special prior service recruiters who's job are nothing but getting prior service people back in. They have their own set of quotas that are separate from regular quotas.

i got out in 03 i cameback in 08 i went to a normal recruiter who helped me out he had me back in the marine corps in month and he got full credit for me as he would for any normal civilian ....

Dragonscript
05-18-10, 07:42 AM
i got out in 03 i cameback in 08 i went to a normal recruiter who helped me out he had me back in the marine corps in month and he got full credit for me as he would for any normal civilian ....
The regular recruiter i met up with was a one man operation in an area that covered several towns so he was a bit too busy to help me out, but he pointed me in the prior service's direction, which is how i got back in. Most of my info comes from my conversations with the prior service recruiter that helped me get back in, so it could be wrong.

gungygal48
05-19-10, 05:42 AM
Meistro, below is info I got from a recruiter friend of mine. These are his words not mine. He is an officer recruiter but he discussed the situation with an enlisted recruiter he went to recruiting school with...

This is him talking -
"I asked an enlisted recruiter today and he told me they haven't had any mission or spots available for prior service for several months now. I called a SSgt I went to school with that specializes in prior service, but she wasn't in the office. Last I heard we were over our max by almost 3000, the Marine Corps is actually considering letting more Marines out a few months early to attend college so we can get below or closer to 202 sooner rather then later. This is just my theory, but if you let PS Marines in, they come back the same rank or maybe a rank lower then when they left, so if we let a **** load in there'd be to many chiefs and not enough indians. Just my theory.

Oh, and the enlisted recruiters don't get credit for them, so they're in no real hurry to go out of their way to help them as it's still hard trying to find qualified people to enlist now with reduced numbers. If someone wants back in they're probably going to have to do most if not all of the leg work on there own.

How I kind of look at it is that his/her dumbass shouldn't have gotten out in the first place. I know if I were an enlisted recruiter that dealt with PS Marines trying to come back in I wouldn't exert too much energy. They bust there ass as it is trying to find good people to enlist, and they get credit for them, but why put in the effort for something that is not going to really help you as a recruiter move forward? I mean like I said, they squandered the opportunity in the first place and got out. But more then likely I'm just a dick."

That seems to be the harsh reality of it. Hope that gives you some perspective on why you are having a difficult time trying to get back in. Best of luck to you. Gungy