Serving your country and SERVING your country?

[Tlabel360]

Iv been dealing with this problem for a while through out the process in my head of choosing the job that I desire in the Marine Corps. Now I want to start form the beginning. I came to the decision to join the Marines my freshman year in high school, that was coming up on three years ago. Now I have recently DEP'ed in the last week of May. The reason that I enlisted in was because I have always wanted to serve my country(plus I am sick of sitting in a classroom for 7 hours out of the day), I thought to myself if I am going to take this road I want to take it in the best way possible and that is the Marines. Now my main point illustrated by my topic is that in my opinion there is a fine line between serving your country and actually SERVING your country. Now I strongly emphasize this is MY opinion and I don't want to start a big argument over it, just want to see other peoples view on it. Since the second that I walked out of MEPS that Monday evening I have been thinking about the job that I want to do, my mind has wondered from infantry, tanker, recon, intell, and now I have come to my conclusion with a air crew contract because I love to fly, plus I absolutely love working on things mechanically plus I want a job skill that will carry over into the civilian transfer if I decide to leave that will have really good pay cause i'v always wanted a good house on the beach haha. So in conclusion my strong belief is that the people who are actually doing most of the "serving" are the grunts. I have mad respect for them also I do understand that every role in the Corps is a must and is needed for them to function as a strong unit. But if I end up with helicopter mech I would have a issue with some one coming up to me and saying "thank you for your service" even though a bullet or bomb never passed over me.

For thoughts on responses has anyone ever felt this was or had these kind of thoughts on choosing jobs?

AGAIN MY PERSONAL OPINION, AND DO NOT MEAN TO INSULT ANY SERVICE MEMBER IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM. ALSO I AM NOT SAYING THAT ANY OTHER SERVICE MEN OR WOMEN OTHER THAN GRUNTS HAVE'NT DONE THEIR COUNTRY A GREAT DEED.

[Nichols]

Even if a "bullet or a bomb" never passes you with the job you end up choosing for the Marine Corps, or any other branch of service for that matter, still has a huge role in ensuring that we keep our freedom.

[dotKev]

I hear what you're saying, but I agree with Alexander here; I feel all Marines have served their country regardless of MOS or whether they have been in combat or not.

[Tlabel360]

Yeah, very true thank you for your guys thoughts. I just had to get this off my chest it was messing with the ability to make a wise choice for my MOS.

Here's another thing to take into account maybe a valid topic for discussion. Okay so my contract is AG and that's crew chief now before I came to that conclusion I had always wanted to be infantry, Now this is something i'm worried about so obviously a lot of things that happen in boot camp resemble combat environments in some way with the weapons and gear and exercises. And after boot camp and the 10 day leave there's MCT and that is basically combat training for "POGS" what if some point along these steps I say to myself hey I like all this combat stuff and hauling around a 70lb pack all day haha and I wish I had rather done infantry... On the other hand if I hate and and am glad I chose the MOS I did. I'm just trying to make the right decision for my current life and possible future.

[PNW2011]

You raised your right hand and swore an oath to protect and defend this country and it's constitution after we have been at war for 10 years already. That is plenty enough, don't buy into that inferiority complex that if you're not shooting people that you're not serving your country.

If you are qualified to be a crew chief, go for it. It's program code AG, and it's the ONLY contract that guarantees the job. They don't homegrow anymore from flightline mechs. Are you a good swimmer? And you've got perfect color vision? That's basically all you need.

[Buhler]

I had the EXACT same problem as you, and was actually at one point caught between air crew and infantry.

I can tell you this: It all comes down to what YOU want, although air crew might give you a much more fun experience in the Corps, infantry might give you more of a sense of fulfillment during and after the fact.

Its all up to your priorities I guess.


As for me, my problem was solved when they took my air crew contract away, so I didn't actually have to deal with this dilemma lol.

In any case, good luck, and feel confident that whatever choice you make is the right one for you.

[Tlabel360]

Yeah it does come all down to what I want, and what will serve me best as my time in and out.

But why did they take away your Air Crew contract?
Were you DEP'd in late or something and someone with priority wanted the contract?

[Tlabel360]

You raised your right hand and swore an oath to protect and defend this country and it's constitution after we have been at war for 10 years already. That is plenty enough, don't buy into that inferiority complex that if you're not shooting people that you're not serving your country.

If you are qualified to be a crew chief, go for it. It's program code AG, and it's the ONLY contract that guarantees the job. They don't homegrow anymore from flightline mechs. Are you a good swimmer? And you've got perfect color vision? That's basically all you need.

Yeah I guess I sorta bought into that complex haha, but I just needed a little backing from you guys to tell me other wise.

And as for the Air Crew thing yeah I have normal color vision 20/20 non-corrected and my MM score is 111 and that job just seems so sweet haha.

[Nichols]

Just think real hard before you leave for boot camp and if you need to talk to your recruiter for his opinion

[93Reaper]

My .2cents about the statement when you said a bullet has never passed you by and you would feel like someone saying thank you for your service is wrong. Well you are supporting the infantry/tanker/aircrew people by being a mechanic and helping keep their equipment functioning at 100%. When their equipment in at 100% then they (in my mind) have a lesser risk of dying because a equipment malfunctions because YOU helped with the upkeep. So in part you are serving your country but not in the sense of being on the front lines and all that "stuff". Again just my .2cents.

[Tlabel360]

Kuzmics, that's a really good example and I never thought about it that way, It must be all the propaganda from the grunts about if your not infantry you suck and the corps doesn't want you. But that's their view and they are entitled to it. Personally all the 03's that I have run into hate and love their job and my personal opinion is that all they are doing is displacing their anger from the "suck" onto the POG's and future POG's

[PNW2011]

As aircrew you might be landing in a hot LZ slaying bodies with a 240 to drop off Marines, medevac them, get them supplies, etc. You're certainly relevant to combat operations.

Don't worry about what grunts think of you, do your job to the best of your ability. A lot of the discontent with POGs is that they live better, even if they go out with the infantry and get shot at.

[MunkyVsRobot]

You raised your right hand and swore an oath to protect and defend this country and it's constitution after we have been at war for 10 years already. That is plenty enough, don't buy into that inferiority complex that if you're not shooting people that you're not serving your country.

If you are qualified to be a crew chief, go for it. It's program code AG, and it's the ONLY contract that guarantees the job. They don't homegrow anymore from flightline mechs. Are you a good swimmer? And you've got perfect color vision? That's basically all you need.

Spoken perfectly, that simple act alone puts you in a 1% category. That is the percentage of americans that pick up the phone when the call is made.

[Tlabel360]

Spoken perfectly, that simple act alone puts you in a 1% category. That is the percentage of americans that pick up the phone when the call is made.

Lovin' it guys thank you for the support, now I dont feel as negitive toward my choice

[Nichols]

For some reason I wasn't able to edit my post and my phone posted it before I was even finished. Also, make sure that the job that you want is actually on your contract before you ship to boot camp or else you'll be stuck with that MOS until you're able to lat move to another field. (Which I'm not sure exactly how/when you're even able to do that) Don't rush into picking your job but i suggest that you try to get the job you end up wanting sometime after in October because that's when the jobs free up for the next year. I hope you figure out what exactly it is that you want and keep us updated whenever possible.