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Subject: Interested in joining, need guidance badly
freedom isnt free    9/7/2006 11:00:24 AM
I am interested in joining the Marines as a career. I have done quite a bit of research, and I need some help decideing how for me to best become one of the few and the proud. I am interested in going infantry, and my first question is weather I should wait through 4 years in college and try to go in as an officer, or weather I should go inlisted active duty and go to college that way. Also, I am interested in trying out for recon eventually, but I am well aware that the vast majority of recon marines who try to make it before about 25 (I am 18) wash out, so what is the best way to prepair my self for eventually trying out for the recon indoc? I have already graduated from highschool and am currently attending a 1 year college course, any guidance that you guys can give me would be greatly appriciated.
 
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Carl S       9/10/2006 9:24:52 AM
There are so many aspects to your questions.  

Officer candidate:  

Check with the Officer Selection rep. and find out in detail what the physical standards are.  If you are fairly close to meeting them then keep it on the table.  If not then think again as you have some serious training to do while at college.

Enlist in the reserves while in college.  This gives you a half step ahead of the other officer candidates, and a bigger step ahead as a second Lt in the Fleet.


Enlist for active service.  

Be prepared to not recive the MOS you apply for.  You are enlisting for the needs ot the service, not for your personal desires.  If you are sent to messkit repair school suck it up and get on with it.  It is possible to change later, but it wont happen if you stand around whining & sulking.
 
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Sabre       9/10/2006 11:56:58 PM
I will undoubtly take an amazing amount of flak for this, but try to go officer if you can. Leading is HARD, but well worth it (well, doing it right is hard, doing it badly seems to be quite easy). CarlS makes a good point about being in the reserves during college, as a way to get some experience and gain more perspective. Plenty of officers come in with no experience, and many of them manage to turn out great - you have to listen to your NCO's (sergeants) and work hard to learn everything that you can, and support and care for the people that you are responsible for in every way that you can. On the flip-side, I have seen guys that were prior-enlisted and still managed to become terrible officers - they must have had poor examples set for them (the majority of prior-e guys were/are great officers, of course).

Just remember to take what the recruiter says with a grain of salt ;)

 
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timon_phocas       9/11/2006 12:29:27 AM
1) I suggest you read a book titled One Bullet Away,  by Nathaniel Fick.It has a very good description of  Marine Corps officer training and philosophy of leadership.

2) If you decide you want to do it, then follow this dream with all your strength and determination, that's the only way to succeed in the Corps

 
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