Who wants me to go to the marines?

[ScrdofHites 0]

That "if you really love him" line is a load of crap. I already know how much I love him. I'm reminded how much I love him every day that he leaves in the morning to possibly fight a fire, get shot running a call, or jump out of an airplane. I don't take things for granted like so many people do. I'm as practical as they get.

He's not some fresh 18 year old with no opportunity and no discipline. We got married in December, own a house and I make over $55,000 a year by myself. He has a great steady job for nearly a decade which he loves and excels at. And who will already pay for his education, should he chose to go to school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If at first you succeed, try something harder.

[freeflir29 0]

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He's not some fresh 18 year old with no opportunity and no discipline.

Uhhhh....23 ain't exactly "long in the tooth" either though.

[christoofar 0]

True, a "technicality"

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As much as many would like to deny it, being in the Marines, still is part of the Navy

____________________________________________________________
I'm RICK JAMES! Fo shizzle.

[insanejane 0]

I am his mon and I could not be happier for his achievments that anyone. Like his wife I have prayed for his saftey on a daily basis. We do support him in his dangerious life style. But come on guys this is my ONLY SON AND ONLY CHILD and I think he for a 23 year old has accomplished a lot. I dont't think he has fully seen the big picture. And affraid it will be to late so sorry. beside I AM TOO OLD FOR BOOT CAMP reserve or full time PS Dont' sign anything[email]

[MWGemini 0]

When I was 17 years old, I enlisted in the Marines, as I was partially raised by my uncle, a Marine infantryman in vietnam, served 3 tours. He was my idol. Then thirteen days before I was schedule to ship out, I broke my arm (bad) and while I was sitting in the hospital, my recruiter walked in, dropped my discharge papers in my lap, turned around and walked away without ever saying a word.

Once I healed up, I enlisted in the Army, got moved to the far side of the continent from where I spent most of my life up to that point, and never looked back. I volunteered for ever shit job and detail that came up, tried to get in to the hardest schools possible, and in general, had the time of my life, despite incredibly long hours, miserable living and working conditions, and the constant threat of pain, injury, death, etc. I learned that it's not about the environment or the task, its about the people next to you that trust you with their life, as you trust them. I loved every miserable second of my time in the Army, and I miss it every single day. I often wonder what things would have been like had I not broken my arm and gone into the corps instead.

So why did I leave if I loved it so much, and still love it? Simple. I had recently gotten engaged, and the military (especially the combat arms units, and even more so the special "high speed" units like mine) is a very difficult place to start or raise a family. Also, I did not have complete trust in my leadership to get me and my buddies home alive. One unfortunate thing about the military is that promotions are based mostly on TIME, and not skill or potential, so some of the upper echelon are just guys who couldn't hack it in the 'real world' and so stayed in and made it a career. That is luckily relatively rare, however. I left for my fiancee's sake, despite the fact that she supported me staying in 100%. I miss it, I miss my friends, I miss the comradery, I miss waking up in the morning and looking forward to doing something new and exciting. I miss saving lives. But she is/was more important to me. I don't regret my decision to leave, but more importantly, I don't regret being there in the first place. I highly recommend the military to everyone who is interested in it. You will learn a lot about yourself and become a much more mature person. You will also see some friends die. Military funerals may seem cool on tv. They suck when it's your best friend in the casket.

I don't envy your decision right now, cvfd1399. On the one hand, I would say if it is your dream, do it. Live your life so that you have no regrets. However, this is absolutely something your wife needs to be with you on. Don't push her to support you, and don't enlist if she doesn't. Is living a dream (that will have you absolutely hating life at times, believe me) worth losing her or alienating her? What if you get activated and deployed for a year? Do you want to leave her alone for a year, or more? Do you trust her enough to be there when you get back? What if you don't come back alive? These are questions you need to ask yourself before you sign on the dotted line.

That being said, reservists and national guardsmen have nothing on the active duty boys ;P And a tip if you DO enlist for the reserves or guard, make SURE that you plan ahead in the event you get activated and lose your civilian job. I met a lot of NG/reservists who encountered serious financial problems because they took massive pay cuts after being activated. Don't let that happen to you. I'm more than happy to answer any questions you may have about the military, just PM me.

Good luck with your decision.

Mike

[flyhi 24]

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My goal is a m60 gunner if possible

Don't the Marines have the M240 yet? I believe the M60 is yestertech.

Shit happens. And it usually happens because of physics.

[AggieDave 6]

I like the fact that I clicked on a link for a machine gun, saw a gun and there was an ad with boobies on it. Now if they had a beer ad it would have been the perfect webpage.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[crzjp20 0]

i wasnt going to post here but you convinced me to do other wise.

For the guy here who know me and know my sitation they know that i am 200% behind my county and militayr, and if i could then i would be serving with my friends and family who are over seas at this moment. I can not casue of a medical issue and have since been put on hold while they decided if i can go on with my training and get my comission.

anyways... My mom hates the idea of me going over seas. She hates the idea of my jumping out of a plane. She hates the idea of me getting in the ring in a martial art tournament for one reason, she is afraid of me being hurt. And that in my opinion is 100% understandable. You are a parent you are supose to worry and try to protect your son thats part of the gig.

the real issue is though to lov an support him. some of the fondest memories i have with my mom are from when she camne to support me at tournaments, and even at the drop zxone when she is so afraid of it. reason being is cause it shows me how much she loves me. While she does not like it she still comes and supports me casue she lovesme and want me to be happy and do what is right for me.

now i am not going to say enlist, or say dont enlist. That is not my decision but remeber as a mother, and even a a wife that the biggest thing is to support him as such. even if you dont agree with him. But on the other side he really needs to talk this out with his family and find the right thing to do.

anyways, thats my .02

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Fear is not a confession of weakness, it is an oportunity for courage.

[cloudseeker2001 0]

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I am cvfd1399's wife. I am totally against the idea of the Marines (and so is the rest of his family). Thank you for pointing out that is important to involve your wife in life changing decisions.
I support my husband in all that he does in other areas of his life regardless of my opinion of the behavior. But I cannot help but wonder what sort of recruiter would NOT discuss this possibility of enlistment with the 23 year old newly married man's wife.

I say go fot it and leave your beautiful wife home alone while you are out doing your thing! After all, what could happen?

Have you lost your mind?

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

[Morcyk 0]

When I was speaking with Marine recruiters about 10+ years ago, they were very blunt about what I was getting into, unlike the Army recruiters who were telling me it was a cake walk, but they did seem to be interested only in the possible recruit's opinion. I was told, "It's gonna be the toughest thing you'll ever do so if you don't think you can do it, just leave now". Strange.

As stated above, boot camp wasn't too bad physically, since I was in very good shape coming out of high school, but mentally it could be frustrating. There wasn't any of "your job is to clean this". It was more like "your job is to clean this and you will use these tools and this method, etc, etc, etc". No decisions allowed to be made by you. Start running and run a lot, some weight training or at least push-ups wouldn't hurt either.

As for the reserves, mixed reviews there. My cousin just enlisted at 30 yo about a year ago and is still stateside. On the other hand, while I was active duty, we would go overseas for 3-4 months while the reservists were there for 6 months! Had another relative join the reserves as an MP and was sent to Kuwait 1.5 years ago. He's still there. Based on your chosen MOS, you will probably have a greater chance of getting shipped out, so my only advice is to make sure you're joining for the right reasons. Don't do it to look cool, or to get money for college, or because everybody thinks you should (which doesn't seem so in your case). Do it for you. And remember, every Marine is infantry, even if your MOS is housekeeping.

I personally wouldn't do it again, but some of my favorite memories happened while on active duty. I miss the closeness of everyone, the excitement, the benefits (including no cover for most clubs), but I don't miss the structure and 2am inspections on Sunday mornings, hehe.

[slug 1]

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with the state of the world, it probably won't be just six months. Every reservist I know out here has been called up and is serving active duty.

IMO the pentagon learned a important lesson from Viet Nam: The american public won't stand for another draft.

The National Guard and Reserve's are the draftee's of the "War on Terrorism". I don't see the draft happening, but if you join the reserves you signed a contract so your a "volunteer" to bad so sad no one weekend a month stuff your going to be very busy playing in the sand for extended periods of time.

May as well discuss this with the wife and sign a 4 yr contract for the regulers. If your lucky they won't have a "stop loss" in place to prevent you from leaving after your enlistment is over.

Semper Fi
R.I.P.

[insanejane 0]

Thank you for a sons view point . Yes I have gone to the drop zone and almost had a heart attack . Have taken martial arts with him until I got tired of being his spaing partner (only time he could sock mom and get away with it or get points. Yes I am proud he wants to fight for our country . BUT I really dont think he has all the facts. If he is looking for something I don't know that this is it (being His mom) I am really concerned that he will get hurt naturally and love him so much . Now I don't understand about let him go if you love him. He is not a damn butterfly. HE IS MY FLESH AND BLOOD I do care what he does even if he is 100 years old

[gjhdiver 0]

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* EDIT MARINE RESERVES*
OK here it is let me know what you think
23 years old, married no kids, Full time job that I can leave to go to basic. Life time dream to be a Marine, about to meet all the basic fitness requirements. I would hate myself when I got old if I never at least tried to join. Other than being away for extended time which is only a comfort thing not a problem, nothing stands in my way what would you do if you were me?

No. Never volunteer for anything.

[skybill 19]

Hi CV,
After spending 3 years, 11 mos and 19 daze in Uncle Sugar's Canoe Club 05DEC66-23NOV70 making it to Parachute Rigger 2nd Class, 2 Viet Nam Tours etc., I'd say that if you "Really" want to join the Marines at the ripe old age of 23, do it as an officer !!!! Don't enlist! As an officer you will get all the gung ho training you want and more! Going in as an enlistee is fine if you're 17, fresh outa high school and don't have any direction in your life. You sound like you have it together so if you really want to do this, do it as an officer ONLY! Hell, you can follow in Ollie North's shoes just don't make the same mistakes (Iran Contra).

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[Hipwrddude 0]

I agree with Skybil. I enlisted in the Marines at age 18, completely single. My angle would be that you're married. I personally, do not feel the Marines is the place for married people. Marriages go through tremendous strain in the military--and especially the Marines. I spent over two and half years overseas in 26 countries on 5 continents. First, you'll be in boot camp for 13 weeks (away from the wife--no phone calls (except at the end) and just letters. Then, they'll ship you off to your duty station (Iraq?) based on your MOS (military occupational specialty.) I was infantry. I spent most of my time in the field... from jungles, to mountain warfare training in the mountains, to desert training, etc., then on to deployments. Ok, so yeah, I had a blast in the nightclubs and hot spots from Rio De Janeiro to Paris, France; Malaga, Spain;Tokyo, Japan, Istanbul, Turkey; and dozens of places in-between... but, I was single. If you truly love your wife, consider what's best for the both of you. Whatever dreams you have together could be permanently derailed.. by your dream. Lastly, consider the reserves (and hope they don't call you to active duty.) Good Luck!

You're always the starter in your own life!

[Vertifly 0]

Dude, I was in for four (got out in 93) and consider myself a realist; feel free to PM me any questions.

There is really a huge list of positive and negative things to consider about ACTUALLY being there - IMHO.

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