Hate the Reserves, need help

[Surf121]

I may get some comments to stop *****ing and whining, but please listen.

I was basically "forced" to sign a reserve contract by my recruiter. I was dumb and still a civilian and new nothing about the Marines. I needed a waiver to get in and he said my only option was to go reserve because of my waiver (I believed him). I was just very motivated and wanted to be a marine. I believed all thag crap he fed me about being able to switch to active ASAP, request deployments, etc. None of that is true.

It is impossible to switch to active, reserves are not deploying, and I have no career choices basically as a reservist. I dreamed of experiencing the "real" Marine Corps and want to be AD more than anything.

Right now, the fastest way to go active it seems for me is OCS, but I still have 3 1/2 years of college to go. I am basically stuck as a reservist and hate it. I wish I could rewind tome and tell my recruiter to stop bull****ting me.

Why I hate the reserves you ask?
1- The leadership is horrible, my NCOs and officers are all out of shape, clueless when it comes to actually doing there jobs, and basically have no experiences as the last time my unit deployed was 2004, so most of them are just as boot as me.

2- I am a PFC and know my job better as an artilleryman better than majority of the unmotivated, nasty "Marines" in my unit. They are all so content with civilian life and being a reservist, its disgusting.

3- We ran pft/cft last drill, I scored 300 on both while running the 3 miles, majority of the Marines
finished at 23+.

I can ***** all day about this. My questions are, how can I go AD, or any options I have. As of now I feel I made the worst decision of my life joining the reserves and feel as I am not a Marine, but yet a part time Marine. I am even considering mid-service transfer to try and
get into the SEALs. I run perfect fitness scores and am a squared away Marine. Somebody help me please.

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[josephd]

I hate to say it but you really have no options, especially as a PFC and boot Lance. Once you're an NCO your options open up a bit more.

I know it sucks but trust me when I tell you it is no different on the active duty side. Keep yourself in shape and keep it at for a few years once you know how things run step in and make it better for not only you but some of your peers and new guys.

[JimEnglish]

It's a long shot, but you might try getting into Anapolis (U. S. Naval Academy). When I was in, one of my OIC's wanted to send me to NAPS, the Navel Academy Prepratory School. I don't know if it still exists or if it's open to reservists. It was a program where you would attend a Marine Corps run prep school for several months and then transfer to the USNA. I didn't go for it because it's a 9+ year commitment, assuming that you graduate.
Or, if you've got connections, you could get your congressperson to nominate you.
Like I said, it's a longshot.

[hump_drop]

Short answer - you're a ****ing dumbass for backing out of the active 03xx contract. Your recruiter decided he didn't want to waste his time on a proven quitter, and gave you something less than you wanted.

Long (less harsh) answer - you clearly have proven yourself physically capable of handling the rigors of training. That translates little into real world combat, it only proves that you are physically ready to train.

I was active duty from 96-00 and left to pursue a civilian career. I came back in 2006 to the Reserve side. I agree, there are some turds in the Reserve, and some of the Marines I have met and served with do not hold a candle to the Marines I served with on the active duty side. It sucks that you have had this experience, but after quitting on your first contract before even getting on the bus, maybe this is what you need.

Your best option is to suck it up, become a leader, and change what you can in your sphere of influence. If you get more Marines to PT with you, their physical fitness will improve. There is just no changing some Marines in the Reserve, they will always think like Reservists, and it is infuriating. Wait until you are a Staff NCO like me dealing with other Staff NCOs with less total time wearing a uniform than many boot Lance Corporals on the active side. If they have been a Reservist their entire career, they just think differently.

Keep checking with the recruiter for opportunities to go active. Try for MarSOC, it sounds like you're a PT stud, I'm sure they would love to have you, and right now there are opportunities for Reservists to go active by that route.

Plan to keep going to college and ultimately OCS, that is a good route also if you have the mind to be an officer.

Short term: MarSOC. Long term: commission. Lessons learned: Decisiveness is not just a word you memorized to get through tests at recruit training. You should have stuck to your decision to join earlier. Enthusiasam is something you work on now because you're stuck in a Reserve unit you do not like. There are professionals around you, it is up to you to emulate their drive, or create your own. Endurance is what you need in order to see this through. If it is something that you want badly enough, you will find that you can suck it up and deal with your peers in the Reserve unit until you get a way out.

Talk to your squad leader/section leader about IMA billets. Sometimes they need Arty fags to come and do things long term. If they don't know how to look up IMA/AR billets they suck and need to be schooled, so ask them to take you to your platoon sergeant and all of you will learn something. If he does not know, all three of you go see your company Gunny or 1stSgt. It is up to you to follow up on this ****, stop being a PFC and be a Marine in charge of his own career.

In between the time that I was active and when I came back to the Marine Corps, I spent 6 years in the Army National Guard. Worst time of my life, and I felt the exact way you are feeling. Only I did something about it. My squad was in shape or went UA because they knew that any squad leader time was going to be spent on PT - squatting MRE boxes and water cans, running hills, or doing something besides sitting on their fat asses smoking cigarettes. That is where I learned all of the lessons that I spelled out to you above.

One last note: if you really think that active duty is going to be so much different, you may be disappointed. On active duty, there are lots of fat ****s, lazy ****s, and stupid fat lazy leaders. The Reserve has shown me a high caliber of Lance Corporal because typically they have a life they manage on their own outside of drill time. Active duty LCpls live off the government tit and do not worry about anything, since their living expenses are paid for by the Marine Corps. There are exceptions to this rule, and many of them are squared away. Many Reserve LCpls can't manage money or independence. My point is that Marines are Marines, I found more Reserve LCpls to be better organized than their active counterparts, but exceptions exist. All LCpls ***** about their situation. You won't find a bunch of hard chargers on the active side talking about how much they just love being a Marine while giving each other horseshoe haircuts and drawing the Eagle Globe and Anchor into their float books.