For older Marines

[johnry]

An aviation guarantee was not a guarantee for an aviation MOS. It was a guarantee for an aviation school. To get this reuired an enlistment of 4 years active dut and two years inacive reserve. If you flunked out of school, you still owed the Marine Corps six years. In 1968 in Memphis. most guys who failed ended up piloting a truck.

[Bruce59]

Went in Marine Corps in 1959. Just how I got into the Corps is a long story
not to be add hear to this post. My goal was to get in, do my four years
and get out with an honorable discharge. Four years later and two years
of inactive service got my honorable. Till that time in my life I had never finished anything. And yes I was in the infantry. In the time I was in I
served with some of the best Marines of that time, I was not good
enough to carry there sea bags.

[radio relay]

We had a contract in late 1963 but it amounted to the Marine Corps almost literally owning you. You agreed to serve, for six years, any combination of active and inactive duty, but 6 years was the obligation.
I chose 4 active, and 2 inactive reserves.

We took classification tests at Parris Island and based on those scores, presumably, and the needs of the Corps, we were assigned MOSs, but we had no say in the matter at all, no one asked us, we did not fill out dream sheets or anything of the kind. We could not even choose the general field, let alone the exact job.

The only exception was "Aviation Guaranteed". You could choose that.
Other than that, we had no idea if we would be driving a truck or operating a computer.
And we didn't care. No one ever talked about what kind of job he would end up getting, that I ever heard.

They announced MOS in a classroom circle at the very end of boot camp, and they just called out your name, told you what your job would be, period. Then we went to ITR at Camp Geiger on a bus, a nonstop bus from PI, and were there 6 weeks, then some leave, then to our schools.

When I enlisted, took the oath in the recruiter's office with other folks, what I would be doing in the Corps never entered my mind. We wanted to become Marines.

Yep, that's the way it was in '68, too.

Nobody discussed MOS. We were at the mercy of the Marine Corps. Out of 65 Marines left in my platoon at the end of boot camp, 60 were given 0300 MOS, five of us were something else. I was the only 2800.

It truly pi$$ed me off because I really, really did not want an electronics MOS. I did not necessarily want to be a Grunt, either, but was hoping for something like tanks. I'd actually turned down an offer while in boot camp to go to the Naval Academy (due to high test scores), because I wanted to go right to Vietnam. Now they were sending me to a year of comm school. Oh well, life's a b!tch, and I did what I was told. Back then, I don't think there was as much separation between MOS's, as there seems to be today. We were still riflemen first. So, it was not as much of a big deal, but I would have preferred a different MOS.

[Mongoose]

Mongoose------Billy, that's the difference right there between PI and SD, we could not talk with each other at all except for a very brief time while cleaning rifles. After lights out, any talking or noise meant instant physical contact
I can see where at San Diego, where you had to clean your sunglasses and get all that sun tan lotion off you, where it would be a little more relaxed. Still strict, but a little easier than Parris Island, I can understand that

Dave, we took a chance doing what we did. We didnt live in a barracks with 85 boots. We lived together in squads in little tin buildings. When we sat up at night and talked. We were putting ourself on the line. But at S.D. we had guts.

[Mongoose]

I know. It was the hardest of the two MCRDs

Your just being nice. I know you don't believe that.

[Marine65]

I enlisted March 1965 with no guarantees. The night before graduation the platoon was issued their MOS. An "Aye-Aye Sir" was sounded, and a snappy about face initiated. All for ground troops and a scenic tour in southeast asia.

[tgwkreu7]

mos never even entered my mind when i left boot camp i never heard of MOS until recently all i wanted to was do my stuff that i know and enjoy my ride i was happy to be a fill pledge jarhead i wanted that ride to last 20 years but if fizzed out after 6 years

[EGTSpec]

Had a thought,I know odd but true, before the MOS selection process started, all Marines were at the mercy of the Fates. Did any of you who went through boot before they had contracts ever think about which MOS you might get? Did you have a wish list? Did you even care?. I suspect the answer to the last one is no. Was anyone disappointed when they didn't get infantry?

In 74 I had a Mechanical/Electrical Guarantee. Recruiter assured me I would be Motor-T like my Pa was when he was in back in 54. When my Drill Instructor (never ever called em "DIs") read off where we were going after Boot and what our MOS would be, he said I was going to Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville Ala to train as a 2311 (Ammo Tech). I said, "There must be a mistake, I was supposed to be Motor-T". He proceeded to inform me my guarantee covered about two dozen MOS's. That was my first experience with being lied to/mislead in the Marines, (by my recuiter) to get me to enlist. I got even with my recruiter though, but that's another story for another thread. Never did get Motor-T as an MOS but I acquired a military drivers license and worked in the motor pool for a while TAD at LeJeune as a driver and loved every minute of it.

[tripledog]

In 1960 when I joined the Corps, I was told that if I scored high enough, I would be guaranteed aviation. I passed and was guaranteed aviation. I thought I would be a engine mechanic and make lots of money when I got out.

But I failed the color test so they made me a flight engineer .

Now thats funny, I dont care who you are.