Swedish dual citizen planning to become a marine

[Olof31]

Hi, I have dual citizenship, American and Swedish. I'm born and raised in Sweden but because my mom is American I have an American citizenship. I'm currently 17 years old and I'm planning to join the USMC when I've finished school in less then one year. Won't be able to talk to a recruiter until then. I'm here to ask what kind of stuff I need to prepare before I go. I've never lived in the US so I'm just wondering if there is a bunch of paperwork I need to fix in beforehand. For example American identification other then my passport or an American bank account. I Just want the process from stepping of the plane to stepping on the yellow footprints to be as short a possible.

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[Zulu 36]

Well, I would suggest getting a driver's license in whatever state you choose as your home of record. I think if you have a Swedish license you might be able to get by with just taking the written portion of the license exam, but you would have to check the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) or Secretary of State of that state to be certain. A driver's license is perfectly common and adequate ID anywhere inside the US. Plus, you may need to get one anyway depending on Marine Corps needs. You won't be able to get the license until you establish residency here and there is a bunch of stuff you will need to prove who you are. Make sure you bring your birth certificate, any passports, Swedish driver's license, etc, with you when you move over here. They will all be needed at some point.

You will have to discuss your enlistment with a recruiter, of course. You will have to take an aptitude exam (called the ASVAB) and get a physical exam at MEPS (Military Entrance and Processing Station). Assuming all that goes well, and you've selected an MOS that has vacancies, your recruiter can set a ship date to boot camp. However, before you ship, the recruiter has to administer a physical fitness test to ensure you are fit enough to start recruit training. You have plenty of time to work on your fitness between now and then. Running, pullups, crunches, pushups, burpees, and other exercises are good. The test given by the recruiter will test running, pullups, and crunches. But the other exercises will be used at boot camp. In my day, burpees (then called bends and thrusts) were drill instructor favorites for punishment.

How fast you can get a ship date will depend on several factors. First, assuming you do well on the ASVAB and pass the physical, your MOS selection will be a big determiner in ship date. The Marine Corps has to plan all of this training out well in advance and you've got boot camp and school of infantry to get through first before MOS school. It could be just a couple of months, or it could be more.

Just so you know how the government here works, the fiscal year starts on October 1st. The new allocations for MOS slots come out then too. So if you try to enlist late in a fiscal year, MOS availability may be limited. Discuss this with a recruiter when you get here. He/she will be able to tell you everything you need to do much better than I can.

Your written English seems very good (better than a lot of Americans actually). However, make certain your spoken English is good too. Drill instructors only use very loud English and especially while calling drill commands, it can sound like a different language. Also, if you have a Swedish accent on your English, expect to be picked on a little by the DIs for that. They find a thing for every recruit, so you won't be special there.

You may need a need a bank account depending on how long it is before shipping. However, once you get to boot camp, you will have to get one at the recruit depot bank as all paychecks are direct deposit and you will be issued a debit card for all of your expenses at boot camp (toiletries, haircuts, etc). After boot camp, you can change banks if you want to. There are a number of banks and credit unions that particularly serve military members and are useful because they know the how mixed up things can get moving from base to base. Every base has a bank branch or credit union branch (or both).

Good luck.

[irpat54]

Zulu 36 covered it perfectly

[Olof31]

Thank you so much. This helped a lot.

[Zulu 36]

One other thing occurred to me. Make sure you also bring all of your high school documents: diploma, transcripts, any college transcripts, etc. They will have to be evaluated to ensure you have at least the equivalent of a high school diploma here. I'm sure you probably won't have a problem, but they will be needed.

[oldtop]

I believe the driver's license problem can be solved by getting an "International Driver's License", which is valid everywhere in the world, including the US...

[Zulu 36]

Initially, for driving, that would work. But if he should have to fly he would need either a US Passport or a US driver's license/ID Card. Likely the Corps will require a driver's license if he is to be trained on military vehicles.