Couple Questions....

[Soni]

Well Im thinking of enlisting in the Marines now, and Im not too sure if I have my birth certificate with me or not, I was born in Gujarat, India, so not too sure on how to get it, Im going over there this August but I really want to enlist by end of July...I become an American citizen on July 15, and am very proud of it, my parents who I talked to about enlisting when I was 17 were very against me joining the Marines, but lately they have been very "patriotic", so I hope, and pray to God that their opinion about me joining has changed. If not then Gods will, because I sure have my heart set on this, and can't even think about doing something else at the moment.

basically my recruiter said I would need my:
1. birth certificate(I was born in another country)
2. Social Security Card
3. Green Card(but I will be a US citizen so they take it away in the ceremony)

is that all I will need? Im not sure what documents they give you at the ceremony to state that I became a citizen, maybe I take those with me to MEPS?

another Q(sorry for the long read) how long is the wait usually between getting into DEP, and shipping off, Im 20 by the way...

[Soni]

Thank you, I can't wait, such an honor to be a citizen, my parents worked very hard to achieve everything here, and we can safely assume we are living the American dream(business, and creating job opportunity for others as opposed to taking jobs), so I believe I owe it to this country, even though we have to pay over 150k+ in taxes a year....

I also need advice on how to explain to my parents what the difference between the Marine Corps, and other branches of the military, they don't know the difference between the Marine Corps and other branches too well, since they have no knowledge of the military at all, everyone in my family as far as I can trace it back to hundreds of years have been business owners, so this is very new to them.

Also they don't like the fact, that US is allied with Pakistan, back when I was around 8(2 years before I came to the states) India had a war with Pakistan, and we lived somewhat close to the border(north-west India), and we are instilled with deep hatred for Islam, and Pakistan from birth, especially the region where I'm from in the country, we had couple anti-muslim riots where we would burn anything muslim, and muslim people alive, I personally don't hate anyone based on their nationality, and religion beliefs but my parents have spent the majority of their life in that kind of environment...just today, back in India they had a bomb blasts from the mujahideen's, so you can tell how much we hate them, ever since birth of Islam we have fought them.....

so I need advice on how to explain to my parents the difference between Marine Corps, and the other branches, without trying to scare them, and advice on how to deal with US-Pakistan relationship...

I found out they give you a certificate of citizenship, and thats what I take to MEPS...

Thank you for taking the time to read over this and giving me advice.