thinking about joining the Marine Corps as a Reservist...

[Homo ferricus]

I know it's completely off topic and irrelevant to CMX2 based games, but i am split on whether i want to join the Marine Corps Reserves or not. I know some of you guys have been in the services, and i wanted to know how/if it benefited you. I know i can trust the opinions and experiences of most guys on this forum

[Sixxkiller]

Depending on your age and what you do for a living and if you have a college degree, married status, its maybe better to go in active for 4 years. You may see less time in Iraq on active.

But you know I am very glad I did it but I wouldnt re-up again. Spending your best years in mud holes or in jerk water countries isnt fun. But at the same time there are awesome places and awesome times with unit members and lets not forget the ladies!

Also you get to play with guns and dont go to prison for it and the Army gets better such weapons than the Marine Corps. But the Marines have sexier uniforms whereas the Army has Special Forces which I highly reccommend you consider.

It can also be very lonely and obviously dangerous.

And for god sakes dont listen to a recruiter before you make a decision on what job you'd like to do in service They tend to gloss over the bad spots.

[Dogface]

Dont the Marines still have a SF like thingy. Force Recon or some such?

I will echo sixxkiller on the active duty thing. 4 years can go by quicker than 8 (or what ever the reserves want now). IIRC you will/might have to do some kind of IIR or reserve duty after active.

[aka_tom_w]

I am not sure where I read it...

on one of these forum's here somewhere?

But a soldier's life is more like endless and constant boredom punctuated with the ocasional incident/escapade of shear terror, which only happens very infrequently. But mostly its just mind numbing boredom.

BUT

I have no personal experience so I am just posting what I think I may have read about from folks who have served.

-tom w

[BDW]

Universal Soldier

by Donovan

He's five foot-two, and he's six feet-four,

He fights with missiles and with spears.

He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen,

Been a soldier for a thousand years.

He'a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,

A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew.

And he knows he shouldn't kill,

And he knows he always will,

Kill you for me my friend and me for you.

And he's fighting for Canada,

He's fighting for France,

He's fighting for the USA,

And he's fighting for the Russians,

And he's fighting for Japan,

And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way.

And he's fighting for Democracy,

He's fighting for the Reds,

He says it's for the peace of all.

He's the one who must decide,

Who's to live and who's to die,

And he never sees the writing on the wall.

But without him,

How would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?

Without him Caesar would have stood alone,

He's the one who gives his body

As a weapon of the war,

And without him all this killing can't go on.

He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,

His orders come from far away no more,

They come from here and there and you and me,

And brothers can't you see,

This is not the way we put the end to war.

[Homo ferricus]

i don't mind 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year for eight years, but i do want to spend more time at home than in ****hole countries, there is a Marine Station within walking distance of my house here in San Bruno.

"You may see less time in Iraq on active."

How so? Do reservists get stationed in Iraq more often than active duty?

"IIRC you will/might have to do some kind of IIR or reserve duty after active."

what exactly is IIR? i heard that term before but i don't know what it means.

i want to play with guns and do the whole military thing but i want to stay home! Are there any Soldiers/Marines/Sailors/Airmen here that can tell me the pros and cons of being on active duty compared to Reserves?

edit: i think most Special Forces units recruit from all branches. I.E. the Navy Seals will take Soldiers and Marines and Delta takes Sailors and Airmen etc.

[ September 19, 2006, 08:16 PM: Message edited by: Homo ferricus ]

[Moronic Max]

i want to play with guns and do the whole military thing but i want to stay home!

If that's serious and not a tongue-in-cheek thing, then this might not be a great time to join up.

[Homo ferricus]

Originally posted by Moronic Max:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />i want to play with guns and do the whole military thing but i want to stay home!

If that's serious and not a tongue-in-cheek thing, then this might not be a great time to join up. </font>

[Schrullenhaft]

It highly depends on what you end up doing in the Corps that may effect just how well you think of it (or any other service for that matter). What unit is in San Bruno; HQ Co. 23rd Marines ? If you join a Reserve unit you will be limited to what billets they have open in the local area (i.e. - admin clerk, grunt, supply dork, etc.).

Remember that with the Reserve you will have to go to boot camp for 13 weeks (in San Diego for you), BCT (Basic Combat Training, if you're not a grunt) for about 3 weeks and then you'll need to go to your MOS/A school for training in your specialty or to ITS (Infantry Training School) if you're a grunt. Then you may need some OJT (On the Job Training) with an active duty unit, though I'm not sure if the Reserves work in that manner or not (most likely you just go back to your Reserve unit). All of this is "full time" training could last anywhere from 6 months to over a year. If you have something else going on in your life this will cause a major interruption with it.

I'm not sure what the recruitment contracts are for Reservists, but typically you'll probably have 4 years of Reserve duty with a potential 2 or 4 years of IRR (Individual Ready Reserve). The IRR is just the government's way of saying that they can call you up anytime they need you (they keep tabs on you once a year where you're supposed to show up at a Reserve center). In fact the Marine Corps recently activated 2500 IRRs (typically these are former active duty personnel). I'm not absolutely sure if the Reserves utilize IRR as part of their contracts.

Active Duty allows you greater choice (if you qualify) of MOSes. Of course you're doing this "full time" and you probably won't be stationed anywhere near home (Camp Pendleton would be the closest duty station).

Regarding whether you could go to Iraq or not depends on your MOS. Within the last year DOD has been utilizing fewer Reserve units (particular Army National Guard, which are typically combat units) in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its quite possible that those decisions are politically based, but I dont' really know whether that's the case or not. If you're in an Active Duty combat unit, you will probably see a rotation into Iraq (or possibly Afghanistan) within your 4 year enlistment. As a Reservist you may see a tour of duty in Iraq if you're in a combat unit (particularly infantry), but then again that may not really come to pass even within a 4 year reserve commitment.

Regarding Special Forces, the Marine Corps does have Force Recon which is mildly similar to Navy SEALs, but tasked differently (in support of Marine Forces as deep penetration recon or other related missions). Getting selected for Force Recon isn't an MOS choice you get to make when you enlist. There's a lot of qualifying steps you have to go through before you're considered (some of which are beyond your control). This is basically true of the other Special Forces in other branches of the military. They're all very selective and it's pretty hard getting into the training programs (not to mention the 'wash out' rate within the training program). Don't join with the expectation that you'll be in a Special Forces unit. If you do, you may be in for a lot of disappointment when the opportunity never comes up or you never get selected for training or you wash-out of training. These are all possibilities and you could end up doing something else you find highly boring (which will probably be true for a large portion of your service, active duty or reserve).

The special forces only take personnel from their respective services. For the Army there's Special Forces ("Green Berets") and Rangers. Rangers are Regimental sized combat formation within the Army (in total) i.e. - there's more of them and they're more like highly qualified/trained grunts than small-team special forces operators. For the Navy there's SEALs - you're probably familiar with the hype, but they are selective. For the Air Force there's Pararescue or Combat Control Operator and for the Marines there's Force Recon.

[Jaska.]

Originally posted by Homo ferricus:

i don't mind 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year for eight years, but i do want to spend more time at home than in ****hole countries, there is a Marine Station within walking distance of my house here in San Bruno.

:confused:

I don't understand you. You want to play soldier but don't want to leave home ? How are you going to get both ?

I've done my obligatory service in the FDF. I can tell you, it's cool to shoot guns, but the rest of it isn't all that cool. Why not join a gun range instead, shoot guns there, and after that, go play paintball with your mates ?

[Dogface]

Homo ferricus sorry its IRR and like Schrullenhaft posts above its a day or two a year for 2 - 6 years (this is Army mind you) depending on how much active duty time you accrue.

[offtaskagain]

I'll provide the most current info I have on contracts. All military contracts add up to a total of 8 years of obligated service. This is split between active/drilling reserve duty and IRR. The typical reserve contract is 6 years drilling reserve and 2 years of IRR. Anything less than this can cut into your GI Bill benefits. You can also opt for 7 or 8 years of drilling reserve. You will be limited to what few MOS' your local reserve station needs filled. Don't expect any kind of exciting high tech job with skills that can transfer to 100k a year civilian jobs.

For active duty you can choose from 2-6 years depending on the MOS. The 2 year contract includes full GI bill benefits but is limited to certain fields. Off the top of my head they are infantry, military police, motor vehicle ops, artillery and supply/admin type stuff. 4 year is by far the most common option. I'm currently 3 years into a 5 year enlistment, which was required to get into my MOS.

As others have previously stated, you can expect your initial boot camp to mct/itb to mos school training to last up to a year. You're paid and work with active duty Marines this whole time. Once you return to your reserve station you start doing the monthly drill stuff. The time period from when you sign the contract and get processed through your local MEPS to the day you leave for boot camp is deducted from your IRR committment. It's called the delayed entry program. Your required to attend a monthly meeting/activity until you actually leave.

This site helped me out when I decided to enlist. http://usmilitary.about.com/

[Battlefront.com]

Homo Ferricus,

Yeah, it's kinda off topic but I think in a way it isn't. To answer one of your questions:

How so? Do reservists get stationed in Iraq more often than active duty?

Not really, as I understand it. What is likely is that anybody joining up now will pretty much find themselves going to Iraq or Afghanistan as soon as possible. It's easier for the military to divert newbies to the front than guys in units that are over in Korea, for example, or aren't rotating in any time soon. Think about it... Unit X is going over in 4 months and unit Y is going over in 10. Which one do you think they are going to make sure has a full headcount?

As for the weekend warrior thing... forget about it. At one point something like 60% of the boots on the grond in combat zones were Reserves or Guard, not Active. The Marines just authorized Involuntary IRR callup. Meaning, not only did some weekend warriors put in a year or so of their time in a combat zone, but now they get to do it again even though their contracts they signed made it sound like this wouldn't happen. A friend of mine in the Naval Reserves just got pulled for duty again.

The only thing I'll disagree with Schrully on is the chance of going to Iraq or Afghanistan increases if you are assigned a combat MOS. Since the military is fighting a war as well as trying to build peace, you're probably just as likely to go over if you are with a non-combat unit. My friend that I mentioned is trained to unload ships in port, but he's going to Fallujah to support the Seabees reconstruction effort. There are other guys I know, including some on this Forum, that have other non-combat specific specialties who have been called up to go over.

Steve

[offtaskagain]

Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

The only thing I'll disagree with Schrully on is the chance of going to Iraq or Afghanistan increases if you are assigned a combat MOS. Since the military is fighting a war as well as trying to build peace, you're probably just as likely to go over if you are with a non-combat unit. My friend that I mentioned is trained to unload ships in port, but he's going to Fallujah to support the Seabees reconstruction effort. There are other guys I know, including some on this Forum, that have other non-combat specific specialties who have been called up to go over.

Steve

I'll add to that. I've spent maybe 3 months doing my actual MOS in my whole time in. I was retrained into a completely different MOS for the deployment I'm on now. In fact i've done just about every comm MOS except for my own.

[BigDork]

I suggest looking into the Air Force. There are some AFSC like Para-rescue and TACP which will get you close to the action and the quality of life is far better.

[Sixxkiller]

Schullencraft, For risk of upsetting the Jarheads here, Force Recon while a good unit, is a far cry from Army Special Forces or Seal Units.

Ranger School accepts from all branches and when I went through my "buddy" or partner through it was a Marine. Infact the goal of the modern Rangers was to have a graduate of Ranger School in every company in every branch of the service. Needless to say the washout rate is too high for that.

Seals I believe can accept from other service branches but I personally know of only one Army operator who has ever went to qualify for a Seal unit. Most guys who go into Special Forces come from the AB or Ranger batts.

Getting Ranger School as a commitment can be part of your enlistment contract. No guarantee you will actually become one but you can enlist with that option.

There is actually now a program to recruit into other than straight legger units before you even enlist, so saying that you cant go in with that intent may be only for the Marine Corps. That I have no idea.

But I will tell you being an operator is far better than I would imagine a clerk would be

"Regarding Special Forces, the Marine Corps does have Force Recon which is mildly similar to Navy SEALs, but tasked differently (in support of Marine Forces as deep penetration recon or other related missions). Getting selected for Force Recon isn't an MOS choice you get to make when you enlist. There's a lot of qualifying steps you have to go through before you're considered (some of which are beyond your control). This is basically true of the other Special Forces in other branches of the military. They're all very selective and it's pretty hard getting into the training programs (not to mention the 'wash out' rate within the training program). Don't join with the expectation that you'll be in a Special Forces unit. If you do, you may be in for a lot of disappointment when the opportunity never comes up or you never get selected for training or you wash-out of training. These are all possibilities and you could end up doing something else you find highly boring (which will probably be true for a large portion of your service, active duty or reserve)."

[Sixxkiller]

Oh one more thing, you wont be home much if you become an operator. I think in 20 years (12 active) I actually was in the US 3 times for Christmas.

[Finnius Mack]

Originally posted by Homo ferricus:

i don't mind 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year for eight years, but i do want to spend more time at home than in ****hole countries, there is a Marine Station within walking distance of my house here in San Bruno.

If that's a serious concern, don't join. Serve your country via Americorp or something that lets you set your own schedule.

When you join the service, you give yourself over to their needs. Even if you don't deploy as a reservist, you'll have to make time for training. Even if there is a unit within walking distance, you'll end up with a unit with a higher need, or matches your military career goals better.

Go to your local VFW hall or something similar, and talk with veterans. If they seem the kind of people you'd like to spend time with, that's a good sign. If you're still interested, get everything from the recruiter in writing.

[BigDork]

Before I was kind of being a wise guy but seriously, talk to a recruiter or two from the other branches.

Initially it was a Marine recruiter who approached me about joining the military. Before that point I'd never considered joining up. But we talked and I liked a lot of what he said. It really sounded great. And I almost joined the Marines... almost. I'm very glad I talked with the other recruiters before I joined. I haven't regretted enlisting once since I joined up, I dunno if I would have been able to say that if I'd joined the Marines instead.

But no matter who you talk to and how many different opinions you get the best thing you can do is go with your heart.

[Dave H]

I think anyone who is considering joining the US military reserves right now who seriously believes he's committing to a "one weekend a month, two weeks a year" schedule should automatically be disqualified for psychological reasons. Are you insane? You haven't heard there's fighting going on? Where do you think all those young American men and women stationed in Iraq came from? You can be sure lots of them joined the reserves for the college benefits and for the second paycheck the Pentagon has used to lure recruits for years.

You want to "play with guns"? I promise you the Iraqi who points his AK-47 at your head is not playing - he wants you to die right now. The Afghani who buries a bomb where you will patrol the next day isn't playing, either. If you lose both legs and both arms, mission accomplished (to borrow an overused phrase).

Before you get too fixated on the 8 year committment to the reserves, check out the words "stop-loss". The length of your committment, just like every other facet of your life, can be changed at the whim of the service. Enlisting isn't a game. Once you're in, the military can and certainly will put you behind bars for disobedience.

[Capt. Toleran]

Ferricus,

I think your expectations are a little unrealistic, especially about the chance that you would be stationed at that base near your home. The below is based on a (maybe wrong) assumption that you are in your late teens or early 20s, and not a college student:

Judging by the comments others have left, and just from info from relatives, and stuff I have read in the news, I think the guy who said you should join a gun club or something like that is on the mark. In the military you're risking spending some of the best years of your life doing really mundane stuff for crummy pay, being stationed somewhere like the mideast where you can't even have the benefit of "loose women", and possibly getting maimed or killed from an IED planted by a guy who has half your education and about 1/10 of your net worth.

It's sad to look back at decisions we have made in our teenage or young adulthood and see how naive we were, or the perspective we lacked at the time. Unless you are really raring to be in the military, had that as a lifelong goal, and want to make a career out of it, I would say stay out.

I have total respect for those that serve, and understand that "sacrifice" is more than just a word, our veterans live that concept. They give up their freedom to keep us free, and they go in harm's way to keep us safe. If you are not 100% confident that this is what you want, don't do it. At least get a degree first, so that if you do enlist, you can serve as an officer (after passing OTC) and have had some years to mature and make up your mind. I too once wanted to join, but I know now that the reasons that prompted this are ones that I have outgrown. If they ever draft again and I got picked, I would go, but I really don't want to lose my legs or my eyesight because Bush wanted to help his friends get rich. (I don't lump Afghanistan in this category, and I was originally for the Iraq invasion, just FYI)

[Homo ferricus]

i sorta switched what i would want to be if i joined.

i pretty much decided that i want to be active duty (if i join, which right now chances seem to be slim), and i would like to be an LAAD gunner, which means probably not getting posted in Iraq, and probably won't see combat. All i would be doing is sitting on the beach firing stingers at remote controlled planes.

I wanted to go to the Reserves because i wanted the benefits of going through boot camp (good knows i need self-discipline), and to stay home. But now i realize that i will have to seperate with my parents eventually anyway, and having full benefits and some pay from the military and leaving with the experience and credentials will kinda lead my life and give me a direction to follow career wise, because i haven't a goddamn clue about what i want to do career wise.

im 17 btw.

[Capt. Toleran]

Gotcha -- I'm just saying, the choice is to go to college and spend your free time around girls your age, partying, or to maybe get to play with some cool weapons, but spend your free time around bored guys your age and some older guys who yell at you all the time and make you clean your gear.

The choice is yours.

No one knows what they want to do in college, and what I do now is very different than what I got a degree for.

[aka_tom_w]

Have you seen the first 15 minutes of Full Metal Jacket?

If you are 17, I am betting you have not seen it.

That guy doing all the yelling was actually in the Marines and I think the script just said something like "just yell at recruits" and he filled the rest in from memory.

Check out Full Metal Jacket and ask your self again if you want to be a U.S. Marine.

-tom w

[rudel.dietrich]

Like many things I say lately but this is going to sound rude with me intended it to be that way.

But you seem totaly ignorant about military life and very uncommited to the entire idea.

Like most people your age your past highschool and trying to find the answer to 'what the hell do I do with my life?'

Joining the military can be a good idea, but it is NOT something to be taken lightly which you seem to be doing.

And never so much as now when there is a very very strong possibiliy you will end up in Iraq or god knows where else.

Men and women are dying and being mutilated over there by the dozens every month.

And the Marine Corps is no walk in the park.

They are looking for special individuals who are commited to what they do and not worried about serving close to home in the most convinent manner possible.

From you words and speech it sounds like you have no idea what you want.

That is completly normal.

But don't rush into something that will suck up years of your life or possibly get you killed or missing one or more of your limbs.

And god forbid you enter and after six months hate you life and wish out.

You will be miserable and make everyone around you miserable.

I would never want you in my command if I knew that to be the case.

So I suggest you think about it more or just not do it.

You sound like your expecting a vacation with guns and weekend hikes.

Instead you are going to find hours on end of bordom, hard body crushing work, people screaming at you, stress so bad you wish you could shoot yourself and perhaps if you end up in a war a few minutes or hours of sheer terror that makes you wish you had never been born.

Just think about it.

I would hate for someone to spend years doing something they hate and perhaps even die from it.