Security Forces?

[kevinkrej]

I just graduated bootcamp , and im going to SOI in 7 days, my MOS is security forces, i was just wondering if anyone could explain what i am going to be expecting, because no one i ask is giving me a clear answer, including my recruiter. And i have been searching a lot online, but even that is confusing. i know that it isnt a garunteed MOS and i can loose it very easily, but i dont know how it works after SOI, do i go straight to the security forces school, and if so where is that? how long is it? is it extremely hard? where are the most common places i might be stationed, and what is a regular day consist of being in security forces? Is it possble to stay in the mos my entire 5 years, or will i get attatched to a grunt unit after two years? does the school have any relation to marine securty guard school? and is it possible to get embassy duty with this MOS? if anyone could give me some help with all my questions, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Accord]

I just graduated bootcamp , and im going to SOI in 7 days, my MOS is security forces, i was just wondering if anyone could explain what i am going to be expecting, because no one i ask is giving me a clear answer, including my recruiter. And i have been searching a lot online, but even that is confusing. i know that it isnt a garunteed MOS and i can loose it very easily, but i dont know how it works after SOI, do i go straight to the security forces school, and if so where is that? how long is it? is it extremely hard? where are the most common places i might be stationed, and what is a regular day consist of being in security forces? Is it possble to stay in the mos my entire 5 years, or will i get attatched to a grunt unit after two years? does the school have any relation to marine securty guard school? and is it possible to get embassy duty with this MOS? if anyone could give me some help with all my questions, it would be greatly appreciated.

Jesus, Joseph, and doggystyle Mary. Wow. Just wow. You really should have asked these questions before becoming a Marine. Not to rip into you or get ****ed, but this is a classic example of why there are so many Marines who hate the Corps, hate their job, and are counting down the days, minutes, hours, and seconds until they EAS - all because they didn't know what they were getting into before joining. You graduated boot camp, congratulations that is certainly an accomplishment, but it's only 3 months and that's going be the easiest thing you'll ever do in the Corps and you have a whole 3 years and 9 months left. (EDIT: Make that 4 years and 9 months, LOL!)

Your MOS is not security forces, your MOS is INFANTRY, and to be more specific your MOS is 0311. You are a grunt and you will be in the infantry, the only difference between you and other grunts is you got screwed into signing a 5 year contracts and you'll spend your first 2 years as an 03Pogue doing glorified firewatch at a Navy base in the middle of no where while your boot camp and SOI buddies are in victor units getting some overseas.

After your 2 years you'll check into your unit most likely as a Cpl while you've got LCpl's under you who've already got 2 combat tours.

If you have a UV or UW contract, then you are guaranteed security forces. Period. The only way you're getting out of your contract is if something pops up in your past that would cause you to get your security clearance denied in which case you'd simply go straight to the fleet instead of MCSF school.

MCSF and MSG are two completely different things. MSG is a B-billet, you cannot enlist for it and their responsiblities and school are completely different. They guard embassies and the school is run by the State Department and they get stationed in exotic locales around the world. MCSF school is in VA if you're on the east coast and you'll end up in a place like Kings Bay, Georgia or Bangor, Washington. Embassy duty is something you put in a package for once you've been in the fleet for a while and are at least a senior Lance, for all intents and purposes you will not be eligible for MSG for at least 4 years because there is no way your monitor will let you go straight into MSG duty after being an 03Pogue for the first 2 years of your time in the Corps.

[Accord]

Furthermore, when you come into the fleet two years from now you will be joining a victor unit that will most likely be going to combat within a few weeks or months and you will be expected to lead Marines into combat. Will you be able to do that after sitting in a phone booth for the past 2 years?

My unit just got a lot of new Marines, some are boots straight out of SOI and others are boot Cpl's and senior LCpl's who've been on firewatch for the past 2 years and I would never trust them to lead me or any of my fellow Marines into combat. There is always an exception to the rule and hopefully you will have good NCO's when you reach your duty station for the next 2 years that are grunts and have deployed and will ensure you know and learn the things necessary and that will be expected of you when you hit the fleet. I wish you the best of luck Marine and I hope to god you prove me wrong.

Semper Fi

[FistFu68]

THE NEXT TIME YOU QUALIFY ON THE RANGE,SHOT A 240;THEN THE SCOUT SNIPER'S WILL SNATCH YOU UP.NO MATTER WHAT RANK,OR TIME IN GRADE.FUCING A-MARINE,YOU ARE A RIFLEMAN;THE BALL IS IN YOU'R COURT!!!S/F

[kevinkrej]

well, i hope i can prove you wrong. i thought that was kind of the case, but it is nice to hear it confirmed. I just also heard that after the 2 years you can continue doing S/F, is that bull ****? i dont think i wil be the one counting down, i dont really care what my job is, i say that now, but i believe i dont care, i will still do my ****in best at it. thanks for all the answers. two more things, do you know how long the school is? and, were you actually in security forces, or do you just know all this?

[thewookie]

Jesus, Joseph, and doggystyle Mary. Wow. Just wow. You really should have asked these questions before becoming a Marine. Not to rip into you or get ****ed, but this is a classic example of why there are so many Marines who hate the Corps, hate their job, and are counting down the days, minutes, hours, and seconds until they EAS - all because they didn't know what they were getting into before joining. You graduated boot camp, congratulations that is certainly an accomplishment, but it's only 3 months and that's going be the easiest thing you'll ever do in the Corps and you have a whole 3 years and 9 months left. (EDIT: Make that 4 years and 9 months, LOL!)

Your MOS is not security forces, your MOS is INFANTRY, and to be more specific your MOS is 0311. You are a grunt and you will be in the infantry, the only difference between you and other grunts is you got screwed into signing a 5 year contracts and you'll spend your first 2 years as an 03Pogue doing glorified firewatch at a Navy base in the middle of no where while your boot camp and SOI buddies are in victor units getting some overseas.

After your 2 years you'll check into your unit most likely as a Cpl while you've got LCpl's under you who've already got 2 combat tours.

If you have a UV or UW contract, then you are guaranteed security forces. Period. The only way you're getting out of your contract is if something pops up in your past that would cause you to get your security clearance denied in which case you'd simply go straight to the fleet instead of MCSF school.

MCSF and MSG are two completely different things. MSG is a B-billet, you cannot enlist for it and their responsibilities and school are completely different. They guard embassies and the school is run by the State Department and they get stationed in exotic locales around the world. MCSF school is in VA if you're on the east coast and you'll end up in a place like Kings Bay, Georgia or Bangor, Washington. Embassy duty is something you put in a package for once you've been in the fleet for a while and are at least a senior Lance, for all intents and purposes you will not be eligible for MSG for at least 4 years because there is no way your monitor will let you go straight into MSG duty after being an 03Pogue for the first 2 years of your time in the Corps.

Good info, but I'm just curious, did you get all this info from talking to people the last six months that you've been in or do you know someone? Let me fix a few things for you, so you can tell them corectly. 1) There is only 1 MCSF school and it has been like that since, well before I got out. It's in Chesapeake Virginia, in the middle of nowhere. 2) The majority of places you end up going to with MCSF are far more exotic then Kings Bay or Bangor, really, I hear they shut my old unit down in Greece but, Spain, Italy and many more places in the Mediterranean (if you like that) and elsewhere still have Marines sitting in phone booths, haha, that's funny. 3) Remember this, when that Corporal comes back from sitting in his phone booth while you were being a man and fighting the muj, he's still a Corporal of Marines. And if that was me, and you wanted to talk about me being in a phone booth like that, well I might punch you in the face. But I was old school and I have a few scars to prove it. My point is those guys in MCSF get a lot of crap from fleet 03's because nobody really knows what goes on in MCSF. But the Marines I was around while I was in, they didn't go back to any fleet "Victor" units and be the platoon sh*tbirds. They worked twice as hard in Greece trying to keep proficient at 03 stuff, you have no idea how hard we pushed them, from the Captain of the detachment down. And they got some schools you'll never see in the fleet, never. Those schools look very good on resumes, maybe not better then combat, but they get you places with requirements for security clearances much quicker. And speaking of the Marines in Greece, when I was there we had 4 guys from 1/3 STA platoon (guys who left/rotated from 1/3 STA and went to MCSF for a tour, good guys like Sgt. Brass, and Sgt. Davis, can't remember the other two right now), and they gave out so much knowledge and spent a lot of time working with the Marines who wanted to be Scout Snipers in the fleet, they made those Marines SS school ready every chance they could. Sgt. Davis was unbelievable with his intensity and passion to make sure that later, no Marine in the fleet would ever asked one of his former Marines in Greece where the hell he learned something, or why he didn't know something, he took big time pride in that, all of us did. We worked 3 days on, 3 days off, and then had 3 days of training. And those 3 days of training were not spent cleaning phone booths, haha. good stuff I know your intent is to try to help but. But it's all what you are and what you make it, plenty of guys have come back from MCSF and been turds, but there are plenty of non-MCSF 03 turds laying around all over the place so my point is the reputation should be put to bed, especially if you have 6 months in and don't know 1st hand, the Marines there now are much different and should be judged when you meet and work with them and not by some rumor or innuendo. Semper Fi Marines

[thewookie]

My unit just got a lot of new Marines, some are boots straight out of SOI and others are boot Cpl's and senior LCpl's who've been on firewatch for the past 2 years and I would never trust them to lead me or any of my fellow Marines into combat.

You gotta love it

[Quinbo]

The west coast MCSF school was held at Mare Island. Hell I don't know. One thing to remember Accord is a Corporal is Corporal is a Corporal. Continue in this path and Lcpl is a PFC is a private. Where is your T-shirt devil dog?

[rolly]

I spent a year and a half in security forces back in the late eighties, and yes, it sucked big time. Prepare to be bored out of your mind. You will also be behind your peers when you finally get to the fleet. Before you get down about it though, I can also tell you that it will take you no time at all to rapidly pick up the skills needed to be an effective grunt again. This is, of course, provided you're not a complete idiot. What will stop you from succeeding though, is allowing yourself to adopt a negative attitude while at your MCSF Co. This will be tough because the *****ing is constant, and morale generally blows. Keep up your grunt skills when you can, and more importantly, keep your mind in the right place. When you get to the fleet, you'll find that most grunts will understand that you're behind in skills and knowledge, and they'll help you out if you're not an *******. Some guys talk a lot of ****. I have yet to meet a true stud who talks ****. I have also yet to meet a Marine with a good attitude who can't succeed.

[IrishMarine]

I served in MCSF from 90 to 92. I was stationed on aircraft carrier USS Independence at NAS North Island (coronado) It was good duty. Always spit shined and pressed. Had to always look better than the sailors. Wes Pac was boring at sea but going to ports was an absolute hoot. Wine, women and neckbone.
THe last 8 months on that ship were spent in Yokuska Japan. Nice base with a lot of activities. Lot's of partying and women.
When I got to the fleet I went to 3/7. 29 Palms. Crappy base in the middle of the Mojave desert. The corporals were combat veterans of the Gulf war and had a lot to knowledge in the field that they taught to me and other Marines coming from MCSF. I was happy and content there. About 1 month later I was told that I had to go to 2\7 so they would have enough to go on deployment to Okinawa for 6 months. The people in 2/7 echo company were not motivated. Marines getting in trouble every weekend. Marines getting kicked out for drugs. Marines going to NJP and getting restricted duty. This was the real Marine Corps grunt unit. MCSF was wonderland. The NCO's in MCSF were squared away. The SNCO's kept you in line. Our Gunny (Clinton) was a God to us. He was an a-hole alot but we were very disciplined. He was what we thought the Marine Corps was about. HE was a fromer DI. He had the backs of all his Marines.
The fleet was opposite. No shine or polish. The SNCO's didn't know your name. It felt like you were just a number. It was disenchantment. I still partied like a rock star and enjoyed the PT. All of the L/Cpls were short timers that had the short timer attitude. Every Marine in my platoon that went to Okinawa was out within about 14 months. Our CO (captain) got us so lost one night in the jungle. We were about 7 hours late of hitting our objective. Even the Batallion Commander was ****ed as he was just with us being an objector.
I am sure that today the Corps is different. You have to be disciplined and hard charging. The world is different.. OOH RAH to all of you hard chargers. God Speed.

[Sgt0331]

I enlisted as Security Forces back in 93 and managed to get in to FAST Company. Those two years stationed in Norfolk,Va were some of the best training a Marine could hope for. I was then transferred to Victor 3/7 29 Stumps Ca and had good times as well. Your tour of duty is what you make of it and there will always be good & bad Marines where ever you end up.

Make the best of it and if you get stuck in a "phone booth" for two years suck it up your still a Marine not a freaking sailor for god's sake!

[Denmeade]

Security Force is a 5 year active, Thats what I am going into for my MOSm Your first year my friend is going to be All Schooling then the next 3 years ur going to be protecting the American Embassy, then on your last and 5th year of active you will be under Infintry. So in other words your a security guard till your last active year and your infintry.Best thing to do is get into FAST COMPANY or RTT.
Well thats what I was informed by my Recruter who was in Fast Company.

[HeavyGun0331]

2 years as security forces then off to the grunts. At least thats the way it was for me. There are other possibilities, but you've got to be a stand out and get plenty of meritorious promotions and recommendations.

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

Accord seems to have the same opinion of Security Force Marines as every 0311 I ever met that didn't enter with that little option. I am neither, so I'm staying out of the fight- just seems odd that they all share the same opinion.

[spotts]

I was in Security Forces from 1990-1992. You will be a 03xx but also pick up the 8152 MOS. We were one of the first training classes to go through the Chesapeake, VA location. The training is intense and you get to pick a wish list of three locations you want to go to. In reality you go where the Marine Corps needs you. After serving 2 years in Rota, Spain I transferred back to 3/2. Alot of the grunts were ****ed because they were still LCpls and we came in as Cpls. We had great SNCOs that made us take all the MCT's we could and as many as we could in that 2 years. We trained hard and went to many specialty schools. We had the opportunity to join many trainign excercises on Med Floats that would roll through Rota. Keep your training up while you are there and your nose out of trouble. The time will fly by.