Just some questions.

[Ryan_Callan]

Hello, I was wondering you Marines could answer a couple of questions for me. See, I hope to enlist in the Marines but I want to do my homework before I sign anything.

Well first thing, my mother, being at the young age that I am (old enough to enlist but young enough to still to live at home), I told her that one day I might want to join the Corps and be in intelligence, it seems like a good thing for me to do. I am currently in a... pre-college school for my high school years, she seems to think that I am nuts and that just because I am smart I can't serve in the Corps. My father thinks this as well himself being in the Army saying that if I enlist as a reserve that the Marine's won't, to quote my father, "Give a damn about your college." Is this statement true? If I am in college and the reserves call upon me will the Corps pay for lost time and the schooling I miss? I want to get a degree in Computer Sciences and I don't want to have to miss say six months of schooling.

Secondly, on my ASVAB test, (for those of you who don't know what the ASVAB is it's a test to scale your ability with the military, well at least from my understanding.) I scored a percentile of 93%, which I think is quite good, my recruiter just about said I can have any job I want in the Corps, but does this hold true if I join the reserves during college?

Another thought of mine concerning the Corps, my friend who is an E-2 right now may have a stress fracture in his right tibia. He won't go to the doctors to get it checked out and documented because he is scared that he might get thrown out of the Corps if t is serious enough, seeing how as he can still walk on it would the Corps really toss him out if he had a simple stress fracture? Or if he had a compound fracture? What's the lowdown on that?

That's about all the questions I have for now, I might have some more later on down the line.

Thank you for your time.

Ryan

P.S. I posted this in another forum too to get more answers, don't think it's a repeat for no reason, just lookin' for the most information I can get.

[thedrifter]

Post only needs to placed in one forum........

We can read..........

Read all the posts because some of your questions were answered already..........

The Drifter

[DevilPup2004]

The SSgt gave you some good advice, Ryan. Check out both of the forums for us wannabes - the Marines have spent literally hours searching for useful information and posting links. This place is a treasure trove for people who will pay attention and learn something.

And as far as the ASVAB goes, just to give a littler clarification, it isn't exactly an exam to test your military ability. Ever heard of Recruit Training? Since you and I are civilians, and always have been, the first thing the Marine Corps will do (after weeding out those who can't hack it, of course), will be to teach us how to function in the military as a United States Marine. Then there's MCT, MOS School, and the Fleet - if we even make it that far - where we'll learn even more about being a part of the military. The ASVAB is the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. It's a test to see what MOSs poolees/regular wannabes qualify for.

Anyway, check this site out. All of the Marines here have a story, and us wannabes can learn a lot from them.

[wrbones]

Devilpup2004, you keep that **** up, I'm gonna fall in love! :D

[DevilPup2004]

Originally posted by wrbones
Devilpup2004, you keep that **** up, I'm gonna fall in love! :D

Careful, Sergeant... I'm still jailbait for another month. :yes: ;)

[Ryan_Callan]

Sorry about that Drifter, just lookin' for some answers. But yeah, I've looked through most of the posts here and some questions still go unanswered, mainly the one about my friend with the stress fracture in his leg. If anyone knows what the current policy for the Marine's is with medical issues that occur in the Corps I would appreciate some information, my friend would appreciate it as well because he is delaying the visit to the doctor which I think is a bad thing but he fears if he goes he may get thrown out, which I don't believe but I don't know either. Anyone got an answer?

And again, sorry bout that Drifter.

Ryan

[wrbones]

Stress fractures won't get ya thrown out, just some light duty and maybe physical therapy. Unless he's been to the doc he can't know for sure what he's got wrong.

Ask yer recruiter about the OCS thing. We got a couple kids runnin around who are goin to college and doing the Marine thing during the summer or between semesters somehow. I know for a fact that info about the PLC course and OCS has been posted. Otherwise you need to talk to your recruiter about it. I don't have the details of how they work it. That's if you want to become an officer.

[greensideout]

Tell you friend to suck it up!

If he is so badly hurt that he must fall out the Marine Corps will see to it that he recieves the very best care.

Will he be set back. Yes. That's what he would like to avoid I'm sure.

Been there, blood running out of my ears. Fall out for sick bay? Never, not till I hit the ground!

He will be fine. The D.I.'s are watching over him.

Does that help with your question?

[leroy8541]

this kid is askin for a beating. your dad is correct! if you are called upon to go fight for your country, you go, screw college. and no the corp does not pick up the tab, you will have to start wherever you left off when you get back, if you get back! follow your dads advice stay in school because you sound like a snot nose to me, or join the army reserve and see if you can make it there. you do not get to pick your job in the reserves unless you are prepared to move to another state they will put you in whatever is closest to where you live. sounds like your buddy has shin splints it happens if they are serious the di's would have already spotted it and sent him to sick bay if he cannot continue to train 100% he will be dropped to another plt. I seriously doubt that it is a fracture because he would be limping around and the di's would be on him like white on rice.
99.9% need not apply ( iam am borrowing that line from the royal marines i think it fits)if you are more worried about what will happen to Ryan, than if you will benifit my marine corp, stay home boy!! I've seen your kind before, and honestly you make me want to vomit. you are not joining a fraternity here we deal in death and the bad side of the real world that you have never seen, all because we are told to.

[Ryan_Callan]

Leroy, I think you misinterpreted what I am saying, I don't care if I have to go to war, my father, grandfathers, and most of my uncles have all seen war and I don't care if I do. If I come back though I don't want to have to spend thousands of dollars trying to pay off college bills and end up having to drop out because of lack of funding. And I am sorry if I make you vomit, but I want to serve my country, during college or after college, it is gonna happen if I have anything to say about it. And I don't think you've ever seen "my kind". If you have you wouldn't be thinking that. Perhaps one day our paths will cross and you'll understand what I mean. No disrespect intended. But all I wanted were some simple answers, not opinions on if I should think about joining or not. I have enough of those opinions to sort through, more aren't needed.

[ktriplett]

Hehe...kid, you say you have read the posts, but I'm not sure you really have. If you had, maybe you would have easily learned the same lesson a lot of us have learned the hard way. These guys aren't your recruiter candy-coating things. If you want some simple answers, why don't you give a recruiter a call, or stop by the recruiting office. When you've got those answers you want, come here for advice, knowledge, experience, and cold, hard fact. The way you're talking, all you seem to care about is the benefits to you. These men and women know that the Marines are all about being a team. It's not a vacation from school you're considering if you're thinking about joining the Marines, its a real-life decision with real-life sacrifices and real-life risks. If it's a serious consideration of yours, then think about what you can give to the Marines, not what the Marines can give to you.
Good luck, buddy.

[leroy8541]

" my kind" do you have an arm growing out of your forehead? tentacles? two left feet? three eyes? green skin?
I do know your kind, barracks lawyer, salty boot, whiner! you want to serve your country, join the boy scouts!
O.k. I'll be nice and try to give answers instead of insulting my intelligence. Some schools will refund tuition money if you are called up for active duty. you will have to check that out with your counsellor. you can reuse books. some schools will apply what money you have paid to rejoin you in the ajoining semester after your return. most schools are a bunch of liberals that won't give you crap. and if you are on the G.I bill or whatever it is called these days it will just grow while you are on active duty, so if college is your plan make sure you check all the appropriate boxes during recieving to be able to recieve your college money they may even be handing it out for signing the dotted line these days. good luck on your adventures.

[leroy8541]

oorah ktriplett thats what i was trying to say the first time, well said.

[jtresid]

I don't know of any Marines that joined for financial reasons (such as college tuition). You join the Marines out of a desire to be the best of the best, not because they have a good monetary incentive to join up. The other services are better equipped to take care of college educations, Marines are better equipped "to locate, close with and destroy the enemy with fire and close combat."
Don't join if you're looking for a financial safety net, DO join if you want to prove you've got what it takes to be part of the greatest fraternal order on the face of the planet.

[Ryan_Callan]

I am not looking for a financial safety net from the Marines, if I were looking for such a thing I would join the Air Force and coast it. No, I'm not looking for that, I am looking for a challenge, and it seems to be a challenge to earn the title Marine. However, another challenge of mine is to get a college education and get a stable job. I hope that I can do both. Serving my country is first priority, serving myself is second. And thank you leroy for being more helpful. And I have asked my recruiter these questions, he told me some answers that are very similar to these that I am reading now, however, sometimes, as you said, these opinions (or facts as they may be) are sugar coated. I don't like sugar coated. I like the truth, simple as that. I just want to not screw my life over like my brother did before me. I don't want to make the same mistake.

Thank you all.

[leroy8541]

Your military training, courses, and occupational specialty can all be considered for college credit. For example, a survey conducted by the American Council on Education found that the average number of academic credits awarded from an Army AARTS transcript for 1998 was 14 semester hours.

[leroy8541]

The Department of Defense announced in November 2001 that tuition assistance for active-duty members seeking off-duty education would rise and that reimbursement rates would be made uniform across all branches of service. The uniformity is important, said defense officials, because members of different services work side by side in a joint environment. Morale could suffer if each service offered different levels of education benefits.

In October 2002, higher tuition assistance rates finally arrived, but the uniformity that was sought fell victim to differences in budget priorities among the services.

The Coast Guard, an agency of the Department of Transportation, said it could not afford to adopt the new rates that Congress first authorized more than a year ago. Therefore, for fiscal year 2003, tuition assistance will remain unchanged, covering 75% of costs up to an annual cap per student of $3,500.

The Marine Corps, by contrast, boosted tuition assistance to the new level on 1 October, paying 100% of off-duty education costs, up to $250 per credit hour, and a maximum of $4,500 per student annually. The Army and Air Force adopted the same rate and ceilings.

To accommodate the change, the Marine Corps raised its tuition assistance budget to $28 million for 2003, a 50% jump from the previous year. The Corps said 20,000 Marines used tuition assistance for 59,000 courses in 2002. With 100% coverage, officials expect a 60% rise in participation. The new budget is set to cover roughly 95,000 courses.

[RoboRobinson17]

Join the Army National Guard - they'll pay for 100% of your college. I would have done it, but I didn't sign on for the money - I signed on to be the best.

Yours in Intensity,

Joe