20 years of service

[SC13]

The amount of info out there for us wannabes is unbelievable and this website is a great example. I am so great I found it. Thank you Marines for your answers and thanks Zulu for answering my last question.

[elliscraig12]

I'm with Zulu on that one. I didn't know anything about the Corps when I went in, just a bunch of old sea stories. Everything I learned was on the fly. The Corps not going to let you fail, unless that's what you want. They'll give you the tools to succeed, it's just a matter of what you do with the tools you're given.

[Zulu 36]

Anyone with reasonable intelligence will be able to pickup the knowledge even without prior exposure. Marines did it that way for years and years.

I actually did have some knowledge (ranks, rank comparisons between services, etc), but that was from years of gleaning info from books, almanacs, and pumping my father for info. Despite the relative dearth of previous info, I aced both of my written tests and practicals.

The DIs and the subject matter instructors give you plenty of info and the DIs provide opportunities to study in groups (school circles, chanting knowledge over and over again). It soaks in. In my day, they also had "Dumb Squads" for the academically weak to be tutored by other recruits doing well academically. I was the squad leader of our Dumb Squad, but I concentrated on helping Privates with their reading skills while the other tutors worked on the subject knowledge. We had a 100% pass rate for the second written exam and on the practical.

[SC13]

That's what I have always heard that no matter what you think the DIs motives are, they are there to help you and want you to succeed. I have done so much research on every branch and all the MOSs that I am interested in and there is a ton of info and personal experiences to read and gain knowledge from. This is one thing that really irks me. Is with all this info there are still young wannabes and poolees who ask questions like "I want to be a (fill in this blank with any sort of Spec Ops or Elite unit) how do I do I become one because I want to do black ops stuff and be a sniper cuz I can shoot good ." It just makes me shake my head because they don't advantage of all this info that is available to them. If they did look at some info before making their decision off of a video game or movie they would see that it takes a special type of person and skill set to be apart of one of these elite units. I just really wish they would take advantage of all this and learn something before they try to do something they are not prepared for and fail out and are stuck with a crappy MOS for the rest of there tour.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

1: There was no local Marine Reserve unit at the time 'back home', so I went army. Later on, I moved, and there was a USMCR unit, so reenlisted with them.

2: My last 'tour' with the Air Guard? Too old and broken to do the Marine Corps stuff anymore. I was realistic enough to realize that. The Air Guard didn't care but it was a near thing for me to enlist with them (due to hearing loss).

3: I studied my hindquarters off prior to going to Recruit Training, really didn't know much about the Corps prior to enlisting, then I just 'crammed'. But all the books in the world don't help once you get there, you just have to live it.

[SC13]

I figured most reasons for switching would be due to an injury or physical. This has been a great forum for me and I greatly appreciate all the answers Marines.

[USNAviator]

To add my two cents. I signed up for the PLC program during the winter of my junior year in college '77. That summer I went to Quantico for the 10 week course (boot camp lite) When I graduated in May of '78 I had wanted a contract for Marine Air but none were available but the Navy had a few open slots. And as they say the rest was history. The day after I graduated, I had my Ensign butter bars pinned on me and I was on my way to P Cola. I knew because of the career path I had chosen I was obligated to serve for at least 8-10 years. But at the beginning of my training 20 years seemed so far away but it flew by, no pun intended.

[SC13]

USNAviator did you spend all 20 years in the Navy and what type aircraft did you pilot?

Like I said I don't know if I want to make the Corps or, the military in general, a career or not. I have wanted to become a Marine since I first found out about The Marines and I juat can't wait to finish school and join and have a shot at earning The Title.

[USNAviator]

USNAviator did you spend all 20 years in the Navy and what type aircraft did you pilot?

Like I said I don't know if I want to make the Corps or, the military in general, a career or not. I have wanted to become a Marine since I first found out about The Marines and I juat can't wait to finish school and join and have a shot at earning The Title.

Yes I spent all 20 years in the Navy. I flew an EA-6 (Prowler) and retired in '98 as a full Commander (O-5 pay grade) I had thoughts of staying at least 5 more years, retiring as a Captain but our 2 daughters were entering into the teen age years we decided it would be best for all concerned if Dad was home on a full time basis. Looking back on it now it was the right decision

[SC13]

Yes I spent all 20 years in the Navy. I flew an EA-6 (Prowler)

The EA-6 is a pretty nifty aircraft. How was what you piloted chosen?