Secondary jobs within the 03 field

[Jprez556]

Hey everyone, I have a question. I've been doing some research and I stumbled across Marine awards. I found out there is a combatant diver pin, and when I'm eligible to talk to a recruiter, i know Ill find out more about specific jobs, etc. But my MOS in the future preferably be in the 03 field, and if anyone knows about how an infantry Marine would be able to be a combatant diver, this would be extremely helpful so I can prepare for this. Thanks

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[Tennessee Top]

Never heard of it - but that does not mean it doesn't exist. Exactly where did you stumble across this pin? Sounds more like something Navy divers wear. Marines are not big on pins like the Army is. I know RECON Marines are scuba qualified (MARSOC probably is too but not sure) but, never heard of dive qualified Marines.

Besides the shooting badges and ribbons on our uniforms, anything else is called a "device" (not pin). This is a RECON Marine below. We know that, because he is wearing his scuba mask and jump wings devices above his ribbons.

[03GyRene]

Start doing your homework on Reconnaissance Marine, MOS 0321 and 0324. Combat diving is their bread and butter.

[Tennessee Top]

[Tennessee Top]

[Tennessee Top]

[03GyRene]

Hey Top, from what I have read, that Combatant Diver badge is relatively new...I think it replaces the old silver SCUBA badge but I don't know much about it.

[Jprez556]

Yeah I found this on Wikipedia, but I've seen it several other places.

[03GyRene]

That's a pretty nifty badge, but trust me when I tell you, you'll have to work damned hard to earn it. If you are not comfortable in the water, you need to BECOME comfortable in the water.

"The basic dive course is very demanding. Thirty-five training days, 292 hours of instruction and a total of about 35 miles of swimming produce the basic Marine combatant diver. “They do 14 open-circuit or scuba dives, 24 MK 25 dives, 10 open-water swims of 500 to 10,000 yards each, ground and water PT daily plus the academic hours,” (quoted from the article below).


https://www.mca-marines.org/leathern...-dive-training

[Tennessee Top]

Looks a lot like the current scuba mask badge but gold instead of silver. And, you still have to be in a RECON battalion to be eligible for the training (not an infantry/0311 battalion).

You can get a RECON contract from your recruiter (IF they have any available). Talk to your recruiter about this. Sometimes, all they have are reserve contracts so that's all they can offer you.

[Jprez556]

Ok, thanks master sergeant, would you know if someone was to fail RECON training and you were to get there with a contract, would that person be an open contract? Or would it be possible for them to get a infantry contract? Or on top of that would it be the safest option to get an infantry contract, go to SOI, then I heard people can volunteer for RECON and would be placed in a MART platoon? and if they were to fail the BRPC would they fall back on their infantry contract?

[Tennessee Top]

You need to discuss this scenario with your recruiter. The way I understand it is, if you go in with a RECON contract and are dropped for any reason, you are automatically reclassified as open contract and will be assigned a MOS based on the needs of the USMC at that time. If you volunteer from a grunt battalion and get dropped, would imagine you'd just go back to the same battalion and not get reclassified as open contract (but not 100% sure). Everyone is subject to being placed in a Marines Awaiting Recon Training (MART) platoon regardless of how they got there. A class cannot pick up till it's full so if you get there too early you'll have to wait along with everyone else.

Again, your recruiter can explain how all this works. There are no recruiters here on this page. When do you plan on meeting with one?

03 contracts are hard to come by because everybody wants one. And, they're being given to females now too which means they'll disappear even faster (recruiters only get so many). Don't be surprised when your recruiter tells you they don't have an 03 contract to offer you. Happens all the time. You have to go into the meeting with your recruiter with plans B and C. You can always just wait it out, in hopes that one will open up later - but that could be months away.

[Jprez556]

I go to the recruiter when I'm of age, since I'm only 16, my brithst is at the end of August so I still got a ways to go, and I plan on starting my enlistment process next year during senior year, so hopefully I can get an infantry contract and if not, wait it out through my last year of school and most likely until one comes available. Even if that means after highschool coming into the winter of 2019 etc. I am looking into other MOS' though so if I do become denied, I will have some backup options

[Tennessee Top]

Until you become eligible to talk to a recruiter, you need to spend as much time as you can in the pool until being in the water is second nature to you. Majority of drops at BRC happen in the pool. Work up to swimming 2K meters. You need to become comfortable with swimming with fins on - and climbing ladders with them on as well. You'll want to build up to being able to tread water with both your hands and feet bound. One test you have to pass is fending off an attacker in the water after being fatigued (long swim). And don't shy away from cold water training. RECON Marines don't get to pick-n-choose what climate they train/fight in.

[crazymjb]

Have fun with that haha. I know how good the military is at making fun things suck. Having merely a NAUI open water cert, its easy to see how diving in low/no visability would not only be physically exhausting, but mentally exhausting. God bless the guys who do it.

WSQ on the other hand was a lot of fun.

Mike