Questions about MECEP/Intel
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  1. #1

    Questions about MECEP/Intel

    Hello Marines. I am currently a poolee and will be swearing in October 1st. My original plan was to commission in the Marines first. But, after some time and thought, I saw it to be beneficial to enlist first and attempt becoming a Mustang if all goes as planned with college/MECEP/OCS etc.

    A little bit about myself: I recently graduated high school in June. I am currently 18 years old and have seriously been considering the Corps for nearly 5 years now. I have been quite the "leader" throughout my life and never exactly a "follower". But, that does not mean I cannot be one.

    I have recently taken the ASVAB at MEPS a couple weeks ago and I scored a 101 on the GT section qualifying me for Intelligence which is the field I am most interested in. BUT, my mother is currently not a citizen. We actually have an appointment on the 14th to set up her application and all the works, so it's en route to happen. But, from what I know, all immediate family members are required to be US citizens to be eligible for Intelligence. I spoke to a military liason who is a Marine for Congressmen Brad Sherman and she told me as long as she is in the process, it won't be a problem when your getting your MOS. I am not too sure if that is true or not.

    1) Should I let my recruiter know she is in the process to have it in my package since originally it was not in there she is not a citizen and not in the process?



    Because of referalls, I will be heading to boot camp with the rank of PFC. I am in hopes, as many others, to become an Honor Grad/Platoon Guide to come out as a Lance Corporal. I have read the Intel field can rank up a little quicker than other MOS's.

    2) Would being in Intel come to my adantage when applying for MECEP such as faster promotions to Corporal for eligibility requirements from MECEP and if I exceed in that field? Or is it the same for any other MOS is regards to "prestige" when it comes to what you do in the Corps?



    From the looks of what the responsibilites of the Intelligence field are, I love it. (Doing lots of reading/research, putting together powerpoints and presentations for briefings/de-briefings, occasioanlly going out into the field to understand the field better, etc.) I have a feeling I am really going to enjoy it. Only if I make it enjoyable!

    3) For any intel guys out there, what is it like? What is Intel school like in Virgina Beach? What do you do when you are stationed after Intel school? Any details on the "life" on an Intel Specialist preferably would be greatly appreciated. I have read the thread "0231 Marine" posted which helped tremedously, but, maybe there are some other intel guys out there who have more to say!

    Lastly, I have filled out my profile to the utmost of my ability. If there is anything I have missed, I would appreciate it if you would let me know so I can get to fixing it! Thanks a lot for ANY help/advice/information you all can give.

    - Kevin


  2. #2
    Kevin,
    Thank you for being able to write in complete sentences and use paragraphs.

    Before launching into answers, I want to point out a few things that I got from your post. For one, you seem ambitious. It reminds me of myself right before I enlisted. There is nothing wrong with ambition, particularly if you let it fuel you as a drive to excellence, but I want to touch on it briefly.
    It is easy for an outsider looking in to view the rank structure as a ladder, which is there to be climbed, without having a real understanding of what the ranks are and what they mean. Many enter with a mindset of “how quickly can I race to the top”, and the more intelligent young men and women follow up with “what is the best way to game the system in order to do that”. To you it’s just pay grades, E-1 through E-9, O-1 through O-10.
    One of the things I love about the military is how much you can instantly tell about a person simply from meeting them in uniform. Whether they have deployed, whether they ever got in trouble, how long they’ve been in, if they’ve been to sea or done an independent duty. And at the foundation of all that is their rank. Perhaps things aren’t this way in the other branches, but in the Marine Corps ranks say a great deal about the bearer on a very fundamental level. There are the exceptions and the ones who slipped through the cracks on the way up, but mostly it is true that when you meet a senior Lance Corporal, you know you have a solid professional who has competence in the core of his job; that when you meet a Sergeant of Marines, you know you have a highly independent leader who you can task with an end-state and then fire and forget with confidence; and that when you meet a Gunnery Sergeant you know you have a mature repository of knowledge that can form the rock that members of a small unit can lean upon for mentorship and experience. In the civilian world, when you meet a guy in a suit, you’ve met a guy in a suit, and who knows if he is even suited for his position.
    A rank is less a reward you are given, or a plateau that you climb to, than a reflection of what you already are. You act the rank, BE the rank, before you receive it. In other words, rank progression represents a progression in your own maturity as a Marine, as a leader, and as a professional.

    So don’t worry about gaming the system. If you are a natural leader, a competent professional, and a mature young man, then rank will come quickly by its self. I’ve seen it happen, even in notoriously “slow promoting” MOSs. When a Marine is just READY for his next rank, you can tell. Everyone around them can tell. It will be reflected in everything they do. And your leaders will launch you forward.

    More important than worrying about “fast” or “slow” promoting MOSs, or which ones carry “prestige”, is worry about what MOS you genuinely want to DO. Job satisfaction; wanting to be there, is incredibly key to your morale as a Marine. In order to be a good leader you need to radiate enthusiasm in order to inspire the people around you to be enthusiastic too. Enthusiasm is contagious, and so is apathy.

    So you want to be an officer.
    What is it that caused you to decide to defer becoming an officer until later? Are you still going to be motivated to go back to a college environment 5 or 6 years from now? Make sure you know what you are getting in to, and you understand your reasons for the choices you are making.
    I am not trying to discourage you from either becoming an officer, or from doing so via the MECEP program through service as an enlisted man first. It’s actually the exact same path I am taking. It is my intention to utilize the MECEP as soon as my current tour on the independent duty as a Marine Embassy Security Guard is finished two years from now. I am glad I took the route I did because there were things I needed to learn and experience as an enlisted Marine and now a Non Commissioned Officer that have shaped and improved me as a person and a leader. But it is not the best route for everyone and make sure you aren’t making the decision frivolously or because you think going enlisted first will rate you more respect, or even worse because you really deep down just don’t want to go to college right now in your life and this is your way of avoiding it without explicitly doing so.

    To answer some of your questions directly:
    -non-citizen immediately family members are NOT a disqualifying factor for receiving a security clearance. I work with fellow Marines and civilians who have even Top Secret and higher clearances who have non-citizens as their spouses or immediate family.
    -The most important thing you should do is ensure you are giving full disclosure to your a)Recruiter, and b)Security Investigator (whoever interviews you regarding a clearance. The second most important thing to do is Stop Making Assumptions.
    -While it’s good to have goals, don’t go into boot camp with too many grand illusions about Company Honor Grad or things like that. Those kind of billets are ultimately extremely random and arbitrary because the Drill Instructors and later MOS school instructors don’t have the opportunity to know you well enough to pass any broad judgments that are truly fair. Just focus on doing your best, and if you shine out, you’ll shine out. But don’t intentionally focus on any of that. Nothing that happens in the pipeline training really matters much in the long run.
    -MOS doesn’t matter for selection to MECEP. Proficiency IN your MOS and as a leader WITHIN your MOS does. Pick an occupational field based on your talents and where you feel you will succeed.
    -Life as an 0231 varies mainly based on the unit you are assigned to; whether it is air wing verses a victor unit, whether you are at the company level verses the group or MEF level, whether you alternatively end up in a dedicated Radio Battalion.

    It seems like you are doing a lot of research on your own, which is good. Initiative will serve you well as a Marine. But make sure you are circling back around and bringing it back to your Recruiter. They are the one that is working for you here and the one that can actually make things happen. Don’t let yourself start running around calling congressmen based on some bad info that you didn’t realize was false because you never went back and talked to the Sergeant sitting there trying to help you out.

    Let me know if you have any more questions, and feel free to PM me any time if you need mentorship or advice. I remember when I was where you are at now, and it wasn’t so long ago.
    Good luck.


  3. #3
    After a long response to your reply, it's get deleted.... Thanks for the reply Corporal. Much appreciated and I will most definately take you up on your offer for help.


  4. #4
    Haha, that happened to me quite a bit when I first started posting here.

    If you plan on writing long responses, it's generally best to write them in a Microsoft Word document and then copy/paste them over.


  5. #5
    Well said Beltayn. Best and most concise response I've seen in nary a while.


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