View Full Version : Does length of active duty vary with MOS?
My son is now at MCRD after one year in DEP. He went to boot thinking he would be serving 4 years active duty and then 3 in the reserves to complete his total of 8 years. I recently got a letter from him saying that he has now been told that his MOS requires 5 years active duty, not 4 like his recruiter told him.
Can anybody shead some light here?
Zulu 36
07-28-10, 05:52 PM
My son is now at MCRD after one year in DEP. He went to boot thinking he would be serving 4 years active duty and then 3 in the reserves to complete his total of 8 years. I recently got a letter from him saying that he has now been told that his MOS requires 5 years active duty, not 4 like his recruiter told him.
Can anybody shead some light here?
Site rules require a profile prior to posting.
However, yes, some MOS' do require a five-year active duty enlistment.
Rocky C
07-28-10, 05:54 PM
When did 4 + 3 = 8 ???
When did 4 + 3 = 8 ???When you add one year in DEP.
Rocky C
07-28-10, 06:14 PM
When you add one year in DEP.
Got it. I must have missed that in your post.
Yes, some MOS' require 5 years Active Duty.
Lisa 23
07-28-10, 07:46 PM
When you add one year in DEP.
Last I knew, being in the DEP does not count towards you military contract at all.
Phantom Blooper
07-28-10, 07:58 PM
Last I knew, being in the DEP does not count towards you military contract at all.
Does the 9 months spent in the womb...count towards your chronological age?:evilgrin:
thezero
07-28-10, 08:09 PM
Yes, depending on your MOS your active duty contract can be extended. Normally because the schooling is so long. I signed for 4+4 but because of my job, but now have a 5 year contract. I want to say it depends on how long the schooling takes for that MOS, I will be done with my MOS school just under my year mark. Just out of curiosity is your son signed up in the aviation field? A lot of friends of mine in various air wing jobs all have 5 except the crew chiefs.
I was at the meeting with my son's recruiter when he said the year in DEP counted as one of the reserve years, so one in DEP, four in active duty, and three in reserves made the requred eight as I and my son understood it when he signed up.
There's some unnecessary attitude in some of the responses here.
Kyle40Air
07-28-10, 09:14 PM
well for me as a reservist being in the DEP waiting to go to boot counts towards my inactive reserve time.. just my $.02.... SEMPER FI MARINES
foreverproud
07-28-10, 09:43 PM
ttkt57,
I just wanted to stop by to say that my son's MOS also requires 5 years active duty.
I know as a mom when I first was told it would be an extra year I was bit surprised and had to do a readjustment to my mental time clock and "wow, that's a long time" mom-type worry. But, you know the time really seems to go faster than you think it will. In a couple of months my son will be at the half-way point of his active duty and yet sometimes it does seem like he just walked out the door to boot camp, even with all that has happened in between. Of course, I can't speak for my son ... I have no idea whether it feels like a year or ten years to him... he's never brought that up.
So, if you are feeling a little concerned about that 5th year, I'd just say it will all work out. If his MOS requires schooling than that 5th year is I would assume very necessary. I just want to say too ... and please understand that I do not mean to seem harsh in anyway ... but it's something as a Marine mom you've got to learn about the whole roller coaster ride ....and that is ... All things concerned about your Recruit's path is out of your hands, and squarely in the hands of the young man or woman who stood on those yellow footprints. It will remain that way for the next 8 years. I understand sometimes it is hard, but that's the way it's meant to be.
It's going to take a little while to feel comfortable with that new mind set perhaps ...
God Bless and the very best to you and your son.
His recruiter should have known this unless its a new requirement...but I doubt it is. If the MOS school is 12 months or more I would say for certain (although I am no authority on this) it will be a five year active service req.
Four or five years goes by in the blink of an eye...I'm approaching ten and it seems like I joined a few months ago.
Your son will be in the Inactive Ready Reserves (IRR) after his active time requirement is satisfied. Not to be confused with the Select Marine Corps Reserves (SMCR) which is commonly referred to as the "reserves." This is the whole "weekend a month" deal (although that is misleading)...reservists typically sign a 6x2 contract where they do 6 years actively drilling in the SMCR and two years in the IRR (see below). The most common lingo used for the post active duty (AD) is the IRR...as in "he dropped to the IRR" or something like that. The requirement in the IRR is that he just show up to get looked at physically maybe once a year (I'm not sure as I'm still in)...should be easy to google or ask around here for specifics though. He can get called back up while in the IRR, but that's not happening as much these days as it did in the 2003-2005 era.
I'm thinking if his AD requirement is 5 years he should only have 3 years in the IRR...depending on if his DEP time counts toward IRR (I'm not sure if it does or not).
Cheers,
A
Does the 9 months spent in the womb...count towards your chronological age?:evilgrin:
In Korea...yes ;)
His son is going to FAST when he completes MCRD - SOI - MCSF.
Me thinks his son is just getting unindated with new information and he doesn't have complete S/A yet.
There's some unnecessary attitude in some of the responses here.
Bill, don't take it personal....fill in your member data so that everyone knows you're not some Smuckatelli coming in here trying to cause problems.
When did 4 + 3 = 8 ???
When you've taken the MCI 'Math for Marines' :D
My last 18 months was as a course writer there so I'm taking a stab at myself;)
Lisa 23
07-28-10, 11:17 PM
Does the 9 months spent in the womb...count towards your chronological age?:evilgrin:
Ok, Ok...you got me. I just thought I read it somewhere that being in the DEP didn't count towards your contract.
Carry on everyone!
Dep time does count towards IRR time. The time in DEP reduces the amount of time spent in IRR. If he re enlists the IRR requirement is voided. There was a time where DEP time counted as TIS for pay. It doesn't any more.
I just figured out how to provide some profile info.
Thanks for everybody's help.
Phantom Blooper
07-29-10, 07:32 AM
Bill,
Don't mind me......
45% of my posts are like this when I have nothing else to say.
I signed the dotted line...a week later I went to boot camp....had an enlistment for four years and if I didn't re up and got out....I would have had two more years on inactive reserves....
When I first went in....you signed for 2-3-4 years...then the rest was inactive reserves...until your 6 was over.
So this is all new to me.....
Good luck to your son!:evilgrin:
Bill, don't take it personal....fill in your member data so that everyone knows you're not some Smuckatelli coming in here trying to cause problems.What's a Smuckatelli?
Phantom Blooper
07-29-10, 09:43 AM
What's a Smuckatelli?
This I know....
A Smuckatelli is slang....his first name is usally Joe....
It can be used for a number of things....
Someone who wears a uniform and looks like a bag of worms...
A malingerer.....
A poser....
Usally said to somene...."Quit acting like Joe Smuckatelli and square your shiat away!"
There are probally other definitions from the years...but these should get you started.:evilgrin:
Good start from Phantom Blooper.
Here's a wiki with Smuck mentioned:
Schmuckatelli — generic, unnamed junior Marine, from the Yiddish (http://www.leatherneck.com/wiki/Yiddish_language) pejorative "schmuck (http://www.leatherneck.com/wiki/Schmuck_(pejorative))".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Marine_Corps_acronyms_and_ex pressions
Phantom Blooper
07-29-10, 11:20 AM
Also....Joe Shiat The Rag Man
The generic screw up or an un-squared away Marine. :evilgrin:
PurplePatch
08-18-10, 08:45 AM
When you've taken the MCI 'Math for Marines' :D
My last 18 months was as a course writer there so I'm taking a stab at myself;)
Funny! :D
My son's SOU has the five years listed for his Program Code as well. No MOS as of yet.
Old Marine
08-18-10, 09:52 AM
I was at the meeting with my son's recruiter when he said the year in DEP counted as one of the reserve years, so one in DEP, four in active duty, and three in reserves made the requred eight as I and my son understood it when he signed up.
There's some unnecessary attitude in some of the responses here.
If you son is going to be spending 5 years on active duty and you are going to be hitting the Marine Forums, I would suggest you get used to the attitude and grow some thick skin. Marines are full of attitude......:evilgrin:
kschmidt
08-18-10, 10:57 AM
My son graduated boot camp 12/11/09. After SOI and BSG, he was assigned to FAST. His MOS (I believe it is 8251) requires a 5 year enlistment, which we knew about the day he signed his DEP contract. Check your contract and see what it says. If your boy is hoping for FAST, he'll spend two years in FAST and the rest of his 5 in the fleet.
I'm just a mom and I have learned to be willing to stand corrected!
I'm just a mom and I have learned to be willing to stand corrected!
Yeah...right, solid copy.
I can smell an ambush an internet mile away.
One of the first lessons that I learned BC (Before Corps) was never ever correct a mom in public.
It starts like this: :angel:
A correction and mom gets like this: :call:
Next step for mom: :mad:
Then mom turns to this: :devious:
Corrector starts this: :cry:
And finally the corrector is like this: :( for the rest of his life.
I ain't the sharpest tool in the toolshed but I have survived up to this point by avoiding correcting a mom in public.
SGT7477
08-22-10, 12:31 AM
Ok, Ok...you got me. I just thought I read it somewhere that being in the DEP didn't count towards your contract.
Carry on everyone!
I believe it does count, Semper Fidelis.:flag: