A Young Man's Concerns

[Yohan]

Hi, I'm new here and I've been lurking for a bit looking through old threads. Now I have some questions that I'd appreciate if someone could answer. I just want some shed on some stuff, because I'm kind of freaking out right now.

Anyways, I decided to join the Marine Corps and follow a long line of family tradition with the military. Of course, being young and foolish, I joined on a whim on the get-go and didn't read a single thing I signed and decided as long as I was a Marine I'd get to kick some butts! Well, now that I took the ASVAB and scored an 85, spent three days at MEPS and the provided hotel, and come home well-rested, I fear I may have made a critical error.

I got an MOS I do not want at all. I want either 0300, 1300, or 0200. Instead, I got 0600. Now, the recruiter says that I can change this and get a wishlist that will give me a new guaranteed MOS. I did some research and apparently you get a new contract with your top three MOS's on your wishlist? Is this true? Can I see this wishlist /before/ I ship out? This is four years of my life and I really want to do something I want/like, not something someone else chose for me. Don't get me wrong, I want to be a Marine, but I'd rather not be assigned Fecal Salvage for four years. Not to disrespect anyone, though.

Another question. Can I pick a very specific MOS? I understand you can pick an MOS field like 1300, 0200, 0300, etc. What if I wanted something like 1371 or 0341? Would that be at all possible? I understand that with the budget cuts, the downsizing, and all that other crazy stuff I could end up in something I didn't even imagine. What are the chances of me getting my number one wish on the wishlist?

One more question, infantry is not open to me right now, because of the availability and whatnot. Could I just wait and pick infantry as soon as it is available again? If I did this, what would be the chances of me going to boot camp and being taken out of infantry and thrown into something else altogether? Since recon is the only 0300 MOS field that I have available to me now, should I just pick recon and hope for the best? Being a raw recruit fresh out of boot camp I'll probably get thrown into regular infantry right?

I'm sorry for the wall of text, I just really want to know these things. It's dawning on me that I'm going to be leaving home and selling four years of my life to the USA. Figured I could get what I want out of it at least. I would absolutely appreciate you mates answering any question to the very best of your ability of course. I'm just trying to make sure I see all the sides of the story, because I have that tingling sense that my recruiter is pulling my leg a bit here and there.

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[irpat54]

well I have never heard of changing your MOS after you have shipped off to boot camp.. I do know that after you have been in your primary MOS for 1 year, you can apply for a lateral move to a new MOS, providing your cutting scores are high enough,, and then if there is an opening you can get a secondary MOS, but when I was in I could not change my primary MOS. but that was many moons ago so you might be able to now,, things change..

good luck..

[MunkyVsRobot]

Not to sound like a douche but i hope you dont get to switch your MOS serves you right for not reading a contract that signs away a minimum of 4 years of your life.

There is a possibility to change your contract but it is a lot of work to do so and it will most likely change your ship date to boot camp that is also if there is a contract available for what it is that you want to do.

The only way to pick a specific specialty MOS instead of broad is to go reserves then you can choose just about any MOS you want because you will only be doing it part time and the Marine Corps will only be paing you on your drill weekends. The catch to that is if you want to stay in your area of residence your local reserve unit must have the MOS you are looking for not all reserve units have every mos at it.

If infantry is closed to you, you can wait to see if a contract becomes available. But first id talk to my recruiter and see if he is willing to do all the work to get me a new contract seeing as I had signed one already.

[Yohan]

I'm asking if I can change it before I ship out for boot camp. If I'm understanding this correctly, you get a contract when you sign into the DEP that is open contract, and then a second one the day you ship out that has the MOS you wanted with the recruiter?

[Huklebuk]

Not to sound like a douche but i hope you dont get to switch your MOS serves you right for not reading a contract that signs away a minimum of 4 years of your life.

There is a possibility to change your contract but it is a lot of work to do so and it will most likely change your ship date to boot camp that is also if there is a contract available for what it is that you want to do.

The only way to pick a specific specialty MOS instead of broad is to go reserves then you can choose just about any MOS you want because you will only be doing it part time and the Marine Corps will only be paing you on your drill weekends. The catch to that is if you want to stay in your area of residence your local reserve unit must have the MOS you are looking for not all reserve units have every mos at it.

If infantry is closed to you, you can wait to see if a contract becomes available. But first id talk to my recruiter and see if he is willing to do all the work to get me a new contract seeing as I had signed one already.

1. Stop being a douche 2. If you cant answer correctly, don't answer.

Its easy to switch a program, its just an extra piece of paper to fill out. The programs go by month, so as long as the program is available in the month you ship out, you can get that program.

Now the wishlist you speak of, that is your top three choices for program assignment. You most likely will get one of those assigned to you. They can be switched up until the day you ship to bootcamp.

To answer your other questions, you cannot get a specific mos, only the program. The "open contract" you sign when you dep in is an administrative open contract. It does not mean you are assigned open contract. You just havent been assigned a program yet. Does that clear things up?

[Yohan]

1. Stop being a douche 2. If you cant answer correctly, don't answer.

Its easy to switch a program, its just an extra piece of paper to fill out. The programs go by month, so as long as the program is available in the month you ship out, you can get that program.

Now the wishlist you speak of, that is your top three choices for program assignment. You most likely will get one of those assigned to you. They can be switched up until the day you ship to bootcamp.

To answer your other questions, you cannot get a specific mos, only the program. The "open contract" you sign when you dep in is an administrative open contract. It does not mean you are assigned open contract. You just havent been assigned a program yet. Does that clear things up?

Yes, it does clear things up a little. Thank you. Is there any way to find out when the infantry option becomes available? I'm deadset on going infantry right now.

[irpat54]

1. Stop being a douche 2. If you cant answer correctly, don't answer.

Its easy to switch a program, its just an extra piece of paper to fill out. The programs go by month, so as long as the program is available in the month you ship out, you can get that program.

Now the wishlist you speak of, that is your top three choices for program assignment. You most likely will get one of those assigned to you. They can be switched up until the day you ship to bootcamp.

To answer your other questions, you cannot get a specific mos, only the program. The "open contract" you sign when you dep in is an administrative open contract. It does not mean you are assigned open contract. You just havent been assigned a program yet. Does that clear things up?

lol,, it does for me Huklebuk anyway,,, my how times have changed,, sure glad your around...