enlistment bonuses?

[BR34]

Has the Marine Corps turned to paying bonus's to worms these days? How can the government pay a bonus to these kids and they haven't even completed Recruit Training and may not complete it. Just amazes me.

Nah, they don't get it unless/until they complete MOS school.

But it's odd that the Corps would be handing out bonuses right now when there's a new MarAdmin saying select Marines will be eligible to leave active service 90 sooner than their EAS-so the Corps can save money.

[wdshea]

My recruiter simply has me on a need to know basis. Why? I don't know. It's his job to meet certain demands.

Also, you can't tell me that if you wanted to do something, AND they offered you something else to sweeten the deal, you wouldn't take advantage of it?

I'm not trying to **** anyone off.

I've noticed a lot of times people ask questions on here, and many replies are disrespectful, or questioning someones character, or so on.

I don't understand why many on this board get so aggravated, we (non-Marines) just want some insight before we sign our life away.

All I want to do is make an informed decision. Not a decision in haste or in ignorance.

Thank you all for replying.

[DW23]

Nah, they don't get it unless/until they complete MOS school.

But it's odd that the Corps would be handing out bonuses right now when there's a new MarAdmin saying select Marines will be eligible to leave active service 90 sooner than their EAS-so the Corps can save money.

Do you have a link or a number to that Maradmin? I've had Marines talking about it and want to read it for myself.

[BR34]

Do you have a link or a number to that Maradmin? I've had Marines talking about it and want to read it for myself.

I'll try to get it for you tomorrow when I go to work.

[FattyTheFerret]

I don't understand why many on this board get so aggravated, we (non-Marines) just want some insight before we sign our life away.

Don't get me wrong, some of us view the snarling by some toward potential recruits for minor infractions to be silly. But it also teaches you to get used to it.

As for the bonuses; as I explained, there may be a lot of information behind the order that came out that your recruiter doesn't have. We don't know what the requirements are. That order may be limited to a certain recruiting region. It may be limited to a particular city for all we know. It may be limited to once specific MOS.

Either way, it's 5 grand. I wouldn't worry too much about it. If your recruiter is telling you there isn't a bonus you have two choices. Believe him or find a recruiter elsewhere. Dollars to donuts that second one will tell you the same thing but there's always a chance he might know something the first one doesn't.

There's nothing wrong with being informed but remember that a bonus is just that, a bonus. Don't focus too much on it, especially when they order said it was $5,000. If it was 45 grand and you were signing up as an Arabic cryptolinguist, then I'd tell you to fight for it. But unless you're applying for something the Marine Corps really, really needs right now and can't train any dingbat straight out of high school to do, don't count on it.

[wdshea]

Thanks Fatty, I'm trying to reach another recruiter. I asked mine what the links I posted were about and he pretty much says nothing and asks if I'm really interested. I am really interested, and I want to do something that is going to really challenge me. (ie. Recon or LAV)

Is there a way to see what MOS's are in demand? He was telling me the only infantry MOS's available are Mortarman and Assaultman.

[FattyTheFerret]

Remember, signing a reserve contract means you're limited to what the units in your immediate area have available. If he's telling that's all that's available it's because whatever grunt companies are around are only requesting those slots to be filled.

Recon and LAV would no doubt be challenging but don't expect to get a bonus.

Him asking if you're really interested makes sense. Like I said initially, we are downsizing. So he has very limited recruiting slots. He doesn't need to offer a bonus if he has ten other guys wanting to join that aren't asking for one.

Just because a bonus is available doesn't mean that it has to be given out.

Bottom line: don't expect to get any special incentives unless you can do something that 202,000 other Marines can't. Can you speak fluent Arabic and understand integer factorization?

[wdshea]

I have yet to take the ASVAB (taking it next week), and I know I will do pretty well. Not that I am alone, or that is any huge accomplishment.

The bonus is ancillary to my desire to join. My biggest concern is mainly my MOS.

[Lisa 23]

Take it one step at a time. There are practice ASVAB's out there. Take them and get the best possible score you can. The better the score, the better your chances are of obtaining the MOS you want, or other MOS's that you may qualify for.
In my opinion, it's better to have more MOS's to choose from than just settling for just one MOS.

Good luck to you!

[haebyungdae]

Agreed, take the ASVAB and get through all your other MEPS requirements to able to join and then discuss your options for MOS, bonus, etc. You gotta remember that recruiters see hundreds of kids each year that say they want to join and only handfuls of those actually do, if they are going to work for you, then you have to show them that you are serious, which is doing first what I said above. If you go in there and make demands about jobs or bonuses then the recruiter is going to set you aside because they are going to think of you as one of the ones that don't follow through. Anyways, good luck.

There MARADMIN for the early-out program can be found here: MARADMIN 025/10 Manpower Update . Not sure how the early-out is going to work cause they never did post the official requirements for it.

[wdshea]

When is a recruit actually assigned an MOS? Is it after boot camp, or in the contract?

I'm not trying to be demanding, I just want to do all the right things to achieve my goals.

Does my performance at MEPS affect what my MOS might be?

[Wheels123]

I don't understand why many on this board get so aggravated, we (non-Marines) just want some insight before we sign our life away.

If you think you are signing your life away, you are an idiot and would not hack it. Marines get aggravated because of the stupid things that are said by individuals that do not read other posts and think to themselves "How should I word this so I do not appear full of crap or sound like an idiot."


As far as enlistment bonuses....who cares? Is earning the title of Marine not a good enough bonus?

[commdog7]

I've noticed a lot of times people ask questions on here, and many replies are disrespectful, or questioning someones character, or so on.

I don't understand why many on this board get so aggravated, we (non-Marines) just want some insight before we sign our life away.

You need to understand where our anger is directed towards; it's not always towards the poolee.

I'm not disagreeing with you. I don't know one Marine who would turn down a bonus if it were offered to them for something they intended to do anyways. But I do disagree with the policy, I don't think the Corps should offer bonuses for enlistment.

No one's mad at you for trying to get that bonus, and no one's questioning your character either. Don't take personal offense to anything not directed towards you.

[BR34]

There MARADMIN for the early-out program can be found here: MARADMIN 025/10 Manpower Update . Not sure how the early-out is going to work cause they never did post the official requirements for it.

According to that I'm now eligible to reenlist on July 1 (If I'm off limdu). Too bad they cancelled rerenlistment bonuses for the rest of the FY.