Is Marine Corps Infantry Right For Me?

[LordViper]

I was 0311. Went to Camp Geiger ITS (Infantry Training School) is what it was called back in the 80's. My unit was the first to be assigned the SAW M249. Infantry is hardest work you'll ever do. We worked 100 hours per week minimum. Humped everywhere, always trained in the rain and mud Lejune. Came back to the barracks covered in chiggers, ticks and leaches. Smelled like a sewer, looked like sh!t and hated and loved every minute of it. I was so f**king strong, so proud and I felt so lethal. I was deployed to Europe and trained with Delta Force, CIA, Navy Seals, British Royals Marines, French Foreign Legionnaires and did some fantastic stuff that only an infantry Marine will ever do. The heart of the Marines is in the infantry. The infantry is not for every Marine. Are you infantry material? If you hit yourself with a hammer because it feels good when you stop, maybe your are. If you thrive on pain and discomfort, then the infantry has plenty of it. When I got out I spent 6 months living in the woods just to decompress before I went back home to Michigan. I would not trade it for anything in the world. Life is so much easier after the infantry. Nearly 30 years later I still have the huge calf muscles that I got from carrying that 45 lbs ALICE pack and PRC 77 Radio through the mountains of Europe and the swamps of Lejune. 0311 Go Devil Dogs!!!

[DaShadow]

I was 0311. I was deployed to Europe and trained with Delta Force, CIA, Navy Seals, British Royals Marines, French Foreign Legionnaires and did some fantastic stuff that only an infantry Marine will ever do. 0311 Go Devil Dogs!!!

Well, I'd guess you take the "High Speed - Low Drag" award for this year.....LOL

[LordViper]

Well, it was a lot fun - but it was also a safer time, not like today. I suppose it is nothing compared to what Marines have been doing for the last decade and half. For me it was a rush. For the Marines of today, perhaps it would be a snooze by comparison. My point is that the infantry allowed me to do things that I would not have been able to do in another MOS.

SF

[M Ali]

At SOI West at the moment so maybe I can offer better insight to your recon questions, I can also ask my SoG as he was a combat instructor and other combat instructors around me. I'm 03XX, I saw the guys that were contract 0321's from my company in bootcamp, they separated the recons from the general 03's upon arrival at ITB and by the end of their reception week we had people returning to us. To the best of my knowledge the way it works is the first 4 weeks are MCT that 03XX's and 0321's do. After the 4 weeks 03XX's continue with their respective training in regards to what specific MOS they have. Whereas the 0321's do not continue "Infantry" training so to speak like the 03XX's, they instead continue more advanced "Recon" training. If a 0321 drops out of during their "Recon" training, they are reclassified into a non 03 mos because they didnt complete "Infantry" training. If they drop out before "Recon" training, during the 4 weeks of MCT training, their chances are high that they would be reclassified into an 03 mos provided a training company is available to pick them up. At the moment training companies are backed up and Marine's are waiting in reception to pick up with a training company.