General Questions about USMC

[Colome D J]

I’m sixteen years old and I’ve been wanting to join the military my whole life. I’ve strayed away when I a couple of years ago because fear of death but I’ve gotten over that enough to not think about it and want to join despite the risk. I just have a couple questions that have come to me that I was hoping you guys could help me with.

1: What are the best ways to prep for joining the Marines? I’m already working out and working on running/swimming, I keep a decent schedule on times to wake up (0530) and go to sleep (2000), etc. I’m also reading Marine manuals over the internet, should I be doing anything else?

2: I am slightly red-green colored blind, it has never affected my life in any way but I did get a colored blind test at the docs and I was positive. I’ve gotten mixed views on the results with joining the military and being colored blind. Most tell me that I’ll be able to join but I’ll be restricted from certain jobs, flying planes for example. So is it true I’ll still be able to join despite colored-blindness?

3: What exactly are the main objectives of the USMC. I’ve looked through many military websites and get the general answer which is to secure an area and then being relieved by the Army so that they can hold it and then we move on to the next area. Well what do we do once we have passed the last piece of real-estate to the Army that the Military wants us to take?

4: And the last question I have, for now at least, is about the weapons used in the Marines currently. Is the M4 Carbine more common now among infantry than the M16? And also are different sights such as the M68 common or is that only for spec ops.

- Thanks in advance for the help

[Sergeant M]

To answer your question about color-blindedness; You will be able to join, and it is true that you will not be eligible for certain jobs. If you refer to MCO 1200.17 you can see a list of all the different MOSs, and which ones have a prerequisite for normal color vision.

For preparation to join the Marines it sounds like you're doing everything right. There's no way to actually prepare yourself for the mental/psychological hardship of bootcamp, but being physically fit will most definitely make your life easier.

As for the weapons that we use; different MOSs use different weapons. The rifles that we most commonly use are the M16A2, M16A4, and M4A1. They're all 5.56 mm lightweight, magazine-fed, gas-operated, air-cooled, shoulder-fired weapons. The RCO (Rifle Combat Optic) or ACOG (Advance Combat Gunsight) are optional for all of the weapons, but are most commonly seen on the M16A4 and M4.

There are many objectives of the Marine Corps, and you'll come to realize that we have a huge impact on the world. For your first few months in the Marine Corps though, just remember "Every Marine a Janitor."

[Colome D J]

Thank you for answering my questions so quickly. I will definatly look into the article you referred but I'm pretty sure that they'll let me into the infantry it's just good to clarify that they'll let me join despite the colored-blindness. One thing to clarify are you allowed to use the RCO or ACOG scopes if you request them or do you have to get a good score in the marksman tests?

[Sergeant M]

It really has nothing to do with your marksmanship. You will be using iron sights at boot camp, and that's more or less to enforce your basic marksmanship fundamentals. Whether or not you use an ACOG is more dependent on your unit and your job. Word through the grapevine is that we're all getting combat optics soon.

[Colome D J]

Well that's good to hear because the optics seem to be a hell of a lot easier to use and a lot more acurrate.

[Sergeant M]

Not necessarily. Once you BZO (Battlesight Zero) the ACOG, you don't make any adjustment to your sights for windage or elevation. Iron Sights are definitely more accurate, but the ACOG is much faster as is better for combat situations. Also with the ACOG you get a 4x magnification which can help at longer ranges.

[Colome D J]

Oh. I was just going off of personally usage with the iron sites and a video game/tv haha.

[Sergeant M]

Yeah... It's alot different in the real world.

[Colome D J]

Especially with the iron sights in the game their a pain in the ass but with my dads mini-14 I used they were pretty damn good. Oh and thanks again for all your help answering my questions.

[Sergeant M]

With the Iron Sight you can use the Peep Sights or the 0-2 sights. 0-2 stand for 0-200 yards, giving you quicker target acquisition and ability to use the sights in low-light situations. I myself would prefer an ACOG for combat, but I'll use the good ol' iron sights when I go to the range.

[Colome D J]

Yeah I havn't personally used any optics before so I'll just have to wait and see how it feels when the time comes. As for now I guess I could try improving my acurracy with fake guns. Can't afford any real ones at the moment.

[Sergeant M]

Don't worry about practicing with fake guns (BTW if you call your rifle/weapon a gun, you'll probably get slayed for a week), because you will be taught the Marine Corp's Fundamentals of Marksmanship. From my experience, recruits who have never fired a rifle before (thus haven't taught themselves bad habits) tend to fire better than those who have. There's always an exception to the rule of course.

[Colome D J]

Okay, that's good to know thanks. I guess I'll just focus on fitness and the military manuals for now.

[Sergeant M]

What Marine Corps manuals are you studying?

[Colome D J]

Well I'm starting with FMFM 1 Warfighting because its first on a list of manuals at marines.cc, but I'm also studying USMC Basic Warrior Training manual that my dad got when he was stationed at Peneleton, he was USCG not USMC, but it is the USMC version. But once I finish FMFM 1 i'll work onto FMFM 1-1 etc.

[Sergeant M]

All that knowledge is good, but you could be studying some outdated material. The Marine Corps is going to provide you with all the education you need, they're going going to set you up for failure. Don't be too concerned with learning all these combat tactics right now. You'll learn everything you need to know at SOI.

[Colome D J]

Yeah I just got a couple of years to prep since I've already pretty much decided to join either strait out of high school or maybe some college or something, not sure. Trying to get the jump on things early you know. Oh nearly forgot I've been reading around these forums a lot, and how people are having trouble gettings jobs in the 03XX category. Since I'm nearly 16 and I still have a couple of years till I'm out of highschool is their something I should to do ensure I get in?

[Sergeant M]

If I were you, you seem pretty motivated, see if you can't sign up for 0321 Recon. It has higher prerequisites as far as ASVAB and PFT scores, so it's probably less full than 0311. I also think you get a signing bonus for it. Re-enlistment bonus for 0321 is almost 60k right now I think.

[Colome D J]

Thats what I was actually really looking at Force Recon and all but most of the people here think of it as a myth in terms of getting in, or so it seems. But your right I'm going to shoot for that, that was my original plan.

[Sergeant M]

"Force Recon" was decomissioned several years ago, even though there is still recon. The Force Recon was changed over to MARSOC which you can try out for once you hit the fleet. Rumor has it that MARSOC is going away and Force Recon is coming back in the near future. By the time you graduate it might be back, but you can't join Force Recon as an MOS you have to try out at indoc and it becomes more or less a B-billet.

[Colome D J]

Okay now I understand. Because I was reading something earlier today saying that the Marines official joined the Spec Ops community last year so they just basically changed Force Recon into MARSOC. And to get in you join 0321 and then you try out for MARSOC correct?

[Sergeant M]

You can tryout for MARSOC from any MOS, but I'd assume that being 0321 will get you ahead of the power-curve.

[Colome D J]

Yeah I just got to work on my swimming now. The only pool that I'll be able to use is at my gramps in the desert so I'll probably be their all summer. Then I got to start running up here, and the high altitude where I live will probably help for when I go to Penelton later on.

[Sergeant M]

Yep. You're going to want to be able to run a couple 300 pfts back to back and be able to swim like a fish.

[Colome D J]

I can see a long and tiring road ahead even before boot haha.

[Sergeant M]

It's true, but it will make your Marine Corps experience much more enjoyable. Especially if you're already accustomed to an active lifestyle. Keep it up and I'll see you in the fleet! Maybe I'll be the Loadmaster for one of you airdrops.

[Colome D J]

Thanks, you've been a great help Corporal. And I'm looking foreward to joining.

[Petz]

ok, I have to comment, there is still force recon, MarSOC just raped them when they stood up, but now all is well.

as for the motivation for training... go for it. WE Marines don't know the programs the recruiters have in force... when I looked they have recon available for new joins....

good luck, and MarSOC is something to worry about after you finish your recon indoc.

[Colome D J]

Thank you Staff Sargeant, and I hope I get to join you Marines in the future.