Big decision, which branch to join...

[Milford Cubicle II]

If you have to ask what branch you should go in, then don't bother with the Marines.

And that means what?? Don't give me a load of this "born to be a Marine bs", that's not helpful whatsoever. If I decide that the Marines is where I should be then I'll go there. Get off your Marine high horse.

Marine PMO is moving more towards a line unit type job as well last I heard. Civilians are taking over the police work.

I've seen that happening a lot too, in fact I was being talked into training to be a "civilian mp" or whatever they call it.

Thanks for all the input guys, continue the discussion but I'm starting to think I just need to get as much info as possible, think think think, then make a decision and I prolly won't regret it.

 

[bluejeepkid]

wow, a 98 is amazing. and i would suggest air force or navy.

 

[fscrig75]

And that means what?? Don't give me a load of this "born to be a Marine bs", that's not helpful whatsoever. If I decide that the Marines is where I should be then I'll go there. Get off your Marine high horse.

Slow down killer I don't think he is on a high horse, in fact I think he is a former Army guy. But what he said is true, if you have to ask look somewhere else. Marines are different, and that's coming from an Army guy.


As for the Navy you have to really like boats. I spent a week and a half on an Aegis a little bit ago in the Gulf and that was enough for me. I like boats and going out on lakes and off the coast but being WAY out there like that was another story. I don't know how those Navy guys do it.

 

[AIbandit]

wow, a 98 is amazing. and i would suggest air force or navy.

Irrelevant its about who you want to be as a soldier and what you want to accomplish. Implying that intelligence should determin if you fight for your country or hide behind a desk is disgusting. John Kerry....

 

[Boatwrench]

And your problem with being multi faceted is ........ Heck, on subs you get to do all of the above including both control seats. EVERYBODY takes a turn cooking and that include ensigns too. X2 on the velcro sneakes but add in double knits along with it..... LOL....

No problem with being multi faceted, liked it that's why the majority of my time was on PBs. OK subs are different remember they are boats not targets.

My experience was the assignments everyone had, one man-one job in the Navy, never work out of rate.

 

[buschwhaked]

Marines are different, and that's coming from an Army guy.

Different in that super special kind of way lol. :wow:





:gag: Had to.

 

[fscrig75]

Different in that super special kind of way lol. :wow:





:gag: Had to.

Its all good.

 

[Sherman_thetank]

My .02
Airforce if you want a less demanding job
Army has ALOT of jobs you can def find something you like
Navy boats "do it" for you
Marines if you have been called crazy and like to shoot things

Now im not a service man, have thought long and hard about it, and have alot of friends in it......on a side note my buddy is about to sign for the marines as forest recon, and the army just called him and offered him an additional guaranteed in contract 150k extra sign on bonus on top of the 20k.......guess they need people:wantyou:

 

[AIbandit]

marines as force recon

fixed

 

[Sherman_thetank]

oops my bad, thats what i meant thanks

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

Airforce if you want a less demanding job

Now im not a service man

I was just trying to reconcile these two items. How per se are you defining the "demanding" portion of the job?

Is it the Crew chief who "owns" the plane and is responsible for it being ready for flight who has a less demanding job, usually requiring 12-18hr days?

Or is it the Munitions troop working out on the Tarmac lugging 500lb bombs around?

Perchance you were speaking about the Pilots? We all know those guys are lazy, the WSO is the only guy in the plane doing work.


Shoot, all the services WORK. It all breaks down into how it is applied. Even the radar technicians for the Air Force and Navy who sit in an air conditioned box for their job, has to be since you break a sweat when you are responsible for a couple million dollars worth of equipment that the mission requires to run.

Maybe you were just thinking about Force Recon. The first guys into the area right? Right behind or alongside the TAC-Ps and Combat controllers. Or maybe it was the seals, rangers, or airborne who got there first...

Of course they only got there because someone ELSE did their job.

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

OP, talk to recruiters, but take what they say with a grain of salt. If possible talk to active duty members, not people who have read about it on wikipedia or in a Tom Clancy novel, or who saw Black Hawk Down too many times. Find something you think you will like and go from there. military.com has some great info. I think there is a section of ask.com/military (?) that explains all the jobs without too much bias.

 

[fscrig75]

.....on a side note my buddy is about to sign for the marines as forest recon, and the army just called him and offered him an additional guaranteed in contract 150k extra sign on bonus on top of the 20k.......guess they need people:wantyou:

I don't know much about Force Recon, can you just sign up for them? Or do yo have to go Infantry and then try to get in. The Army is allowing civilians to sign straight into SF, but you have to get through all the training first. If you don't make you just another grunt(11B) and have to start all over again.

150K sign up bonus? I think your buddy is confused. The 150K was offered to Arabic linguist or SENIOR SF guys. Your buddy is neither.

 

[NW-ZJ-SCOTT]

OP, talk to recruiters, but take what they say with a grain of salt. If possible talk to active duty members, not people who have read about it on wikipedia or in a Tom Clancy novel, or who saw Black Hawk Down too many times. Find something you think you will like and go from there. military.com has some great info. I think there is a section of ask.com/military (?) that explains all the jobs without too much bias.

x2

Talk to active duty.. they will have more information and opinion then anyone else, and it will be a good way to learn some stuff before you sign on...

 

[AIbandit]

I got out last Aug from Army MP's spent 5 years in, 1 in baghdad
I work with navy MA's now including a 20yr retired chief. Let me know if you have any specific questions If I cant answer it I'll find it.
Educate yourself before signing. some recruiters are honest some arnt

( I also work with a prior Airforce SF but he claims there the equivelant of an army ranger and he did spec ops down range... so his opinion is Irelevant. There is one on my base thats cool, also prior sf (hates the other one) but it may take a couple days to get an answer)

 

[Sherman_thetank]

I was just trying to reconcile these two items. How per se are you defining the "demanding" portion of the job?

Is it the Crew chief who "owns" the plane and is responsible for it being ready for flight who has a less demanding job, usually requiring 12-18hr days?

Or is it the Munitions troop working out on the Tarmac lugging 500lb bombs around?

Perchance you were speaking about the Pilots? We all know those guys are lazy, the WSO is the only guy in the plane doing work.


Shoot, all the services WORK. It all breaks down into how it is applied. Even the radar technicians for the Air Force and Navy who sit in an air conditioned box for their job, has to be since you break a sweat when you are responsible for a couple million dollars worth of equipment that the mission requires to run.

Maybe you were just thinking about Force Recon. The first guys into the area right? Right behind or alongside the TAC-Ps and Combat controllers. Or maybe it was the seals, rangers, or airborne who got there first...

Of course they only got there because someone ELSE did their job.

That is why i put that in there, I am not in the service, so i dont have any first hand experiance, it would SEEM from the outside that army infantry, would be more demanding, than alot of the airforce positions, but like i said i could be completely wrong.

fscrig75
Ya that was my thoughts on it, he swears up and down that is what they told him.
Ya i know im just full of second hand information :anon:

 

[fscrig75]

it would SEEM from the outside that army infantry, would be more demanding, than alot of the airforce positions, but like i said i could be completely wrong.

fscrig75
Ya that was my thoughts on it, he swears up and down that is what they told him.
Ya i know im just full of second hand information :anon:

INF may be more physically demanding then some AF jobs but all are equally important in the total force picture. Most people just see what they do on a daily basis. I used to be just like that.
I'm just a REMF now, who thought you needed to hear to blow things, and I work with the AF a lot. I still give them tons of chit but they do in return.

Oh I'm sure that the recruiter told him he can be eligible for that kind of bonus, but the key word is ELIGIBLE. Eligible when he becomes a SFC or MSG, 10+ years. But hey if he wants to believe it thats fine, we always need new infantrymen.

 

[Darky]

my buddy is about to sign for the Marines as Force Recon

fixed

Fixed again


Last I heard they weren't accepting people straight into Recon. You have to be in the Marine Corps and then try out. You submit a package, if you're chosen you get to go through a whole battery of tests, then you get to suffer through training. If you get accepted, pass the physical, and survive the training, then you can be Force Recon, but again, from what I've seen you're required to be currently enlisted/commissioned, and even then it's not an actual MOS, but a temporary assignment.

 

[Darky]

If you have to ask what branch you should go in, then don't bother with the Marines.

Go the Navy or Army, you'll probably be happy with either of them.

And that means what?? Don't give me a load of this "born to be a Marine bs", that's not helpful whatsoever. If I decide that the Marines is where I should be then I'll go there. Get off your Marine high horse.

This response tells me you ought to consider the other branches. Get to know some Marines, talk to them about their service as compared to the others. You'll see why Brady said what he did. As a Marine you are trained to be the best, Boot Camp is the longest of all the services, from day one it's drilled into you that you are a member of the elite. If you get offended by someone with that attitude, you won't want to be surrounded by 176k+ of them.
P.S. I spent 5 yrs in the Corps, and still hold a lot of pride in having been a part of it. :us:

 

[ZomBrady]

And that means what?? Don't give me a load of this "born to be a Marine bs", that's not helpful whatsoever. If I decide that the Marines is where I should be then I'll go there. Get off your Marine high horse.

Sorry that came off snotty.

Here's the deal. Marines are elitist jerks by nature. The vast majority of us joined because we wanted to be Marines. We wanted to wear that uniform, and that's what we pursued.

If you have to ask why you should go in the Marines, then you probably won't be happy being a Marine if you enlist. Maybe you will, but you won't get a hell of alot out of the Marine Corps in the way of sign on bonus or rank that the other services will give you with a high ASVAB score. The Marine Corps relies on recruiting people that simply want to be Marines. And that's is one of the things that sets the Marine Corps apart from the other branches.