how do you join the marines

[Bachle]

I know this is kind of like my last question but I dont think my post was specific enough. Here is my situation: I am a 17 year old highschool graduate, my parents dont want to have anything to do with me joining the military (totally unsupportive) and wont let me sign up until the day I turn 18 (november 8th) I currently live in saudi arabia (going to live with friends in canada in a month) so it is expensive as hell calling recruiters and asking for information. Can I just take a bus to paris island anytime, sign up and start bootcamp after I take all the physicals/fill out forms or is there some ammount of time that this stuff needs to be processed or are there certain time blocks that you get sent to bootcamp after you sign up. I appriciate your help guys thanks a lot

Jordan

[GySgtRet]

NO you were not very clear at all. In oder to help we need some facts here bukeroo. Let me get this straight you live in Saudi with the mom and the dad? You will be leaving there for Toronto.? What are you doing in Toronto? Are you trying to avoid your parents wishes? This is your business. If you are going to turn 18 November 8th don't worry about it. Nothing is stopping you from going to a recruiter once you get to North American soil. Things that you will need: Birth Certificate, Social Security Card, High School Diploma, a permenant address, the Marine Corps doesn't want any drifters. If you go to see a recruiter when you get here you can do the ASVAB and everything short of enlisting, that is why you either have to have parental consent or wait till you are 18 in November. If there is anything else that you have left out you may as well get it out now. There are active duty and retired Marines on the site.

Good luck

[Marine84]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Take a bus to PI? Are you kidding me? I'm sorry............that was just funny to me.

No honey, you cannot just take a bus to PI and fill out paperwork and trash and go right to training from the front gate. Just make sure you have everything that Gunny said to bring when you go see that recruiter.

And aaaaaaaa..................fill out your profile please, we like knowing to whom we're talking.

[Stanley Hroszow]

Before you leave home, I would suggest that you wait and make things right with your family first, before any thing. Family is very important, even for men in the Marines, and more so if you have to go to war. It would be very important to have their support if possible.

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

I don't know, but would living in Saudi Arabia make it difficult to join the Marines? It seems that, at a minimum, it would be almost impossible to get a security clearance if needed for a particular MOS.

I don't know, just thinking "outloud"

[Bachle]

I don't know, but would living in Saudi Arabia make it difficult to join the Marines? It seems that, at a minimum, it would be almost impossible to get a security clearance if needed for a particular MOS.

I don't know, just thinking "outloud"

I kind of see where you are comeing from that one, but the only reason we are here is because my dad is working for this oil company saudi aramco, and besides my dad almost all of my family has been american or canadian military as far back as the revolution (or in canadas case the war of 1812)

[Sixguns]

Sage advice Gunny. Follow those instructions young man!

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

Bachle, I am not trying to question your intentions. I have no doubt that you are a good person, and not anything we would need to worry about. I just don't know what all the rules are about joining and/or getting access to classified information if you have lived in the middle east recently.

[Bachle]

so assumeing I show up with my birth cirtificate, my social security card, and my highschool diploma plus an adress where I live is there a way for me to ask to get shipped to bootcamp imediately or would I have to wait for a designated ship out date?

[Marine84]

you can ALWAYS ask anything - weather you get it or not is a totally different story.

Why are you wanting to move soooooooo fast?

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

You aren't going to walk into a recruiter's office and leave that day. You will have to take the ASVAB, your physical, etc and they will have to find a date for you to ship. Now, you could get lucky and leave very quickly, or it could take a while, just depends on what is open at that time.

[GySgtRet]

Son I do not know what your hurry is...??? The Marines Corps wants you and has been around for 230 years 231 this coming November 10th. Cool your jets, get with what everybody is advising you and things will be fine. Trust us. The Marine Corps will have trust in you, don't be in such a hurry.

We have all been your age before impetuous and impatient. Relax, breathe, trigger control. Oh dang I just gave a way a secret of succesfull shooting. That will be a requirement by the way.

Hang in there we will guide you through this.

[Bachle]

I dont wanna miss the war, and I heard that by mid 2007 they would already be drawing the forces down to 100,000 and they were hopeing for an almost complete withdrawl by late 2008

[Marine84]

You don't want to miss the war? Would it matter if there wasn't one going on now - would you still want to be a Marine?

Why do you want to go to war so bad?

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

Bachle, it is impossible at this time to tell when the troop reductions in Iraq will begin. Many thought that there would be few troops left at this point, and that hasn't been the case. Looking at a situation like this a year or two down the road is difficult, at best. It should also be considered that there are other trouble spots in the world. As of right now, I expect there to be action in Iran in the near future. There are also concerns with North Korea, Syria, and we still haven't found bin Laden. There will be plenty of things for you to do.