617Dambusters

Sniper I'm not sure what advice to give ya as far as the marine recruiters but I know once you leave after your enlistment you will do very good in civilian life. My first boss was a Marine and after listening to his stories about how he was before he joined and where he is now I'd have to say it helped him a lot. I have several other friends that once they left the marines have had similar results and my boss at this new job was a marine too. He's not much older than me and had nothing but good things to say and well the $ he's makin now sums it up.

From what I've noticed through all the recruiters I've talked to since highschool is that their attitude toward you changes once you get older as in they are more straight forward with you and a lot less bullyin' the older ya get. They tend to push ya around during the recruitment meetings while your still in highschool im not sure why.

Another close friend of mine went through the army and he liked it a lot and got exactly what he wanted. He was 20 I think when he went in so he was out of school for a year or so. He said he negotiated with the recruiter quite a bit until he got exactly what he wanted and they kept their word throughout his enlistment. BUT, like some mentioned above you get the opportunity to be what you want, if you fail the tests or classes then ya can get shafted.

Although the British Military is nothing like the US Military in they way they do busy, the busy is the same. The Military is the second oldest job in the world and the biggest employee worldwide. They have a good working system that they are not going to change in a hurry...and they know how to get want they want out of you! Be careful and take time in you decision because once you have signed that paper, your ass is theirs to do as they see fit with. I think the suggestion from Aeo is a great idea and worth looking into if you intent to make a career out of the Military.

Just out of curiousity Sniper, why the hell do you want to be a Gyrene?!
These are the guys that get the dirty jobs, they will work your ass off and that's a no shitter! You WILL work harder than you have EVER done in your short lil life. Special Forces will work you even harder.
I did SEAL training when I was in, passed and decided to get the frick outta that, those guys are seriously nuts!
Just be DAMNED sure that this is what you want and make sure you get everything IN WRITING. Recruiter are used to getting all kinds of punk ass kids who saw some crappy Tom Berenger movie and think they have what it takes. Usually they don't and then the military has to deal with these asswipes anyway.
I ran into far too many idiots who thought they knew my job better than I did and because they had one more stripe than me I had to play nice with them.

Have you considered going to College and joining ROTC or seeing if you have the grades to go Academy? Among many other bennies, Zeros get better pay, you MIGHT even be able to afford to have a family....

Good Luck Mate!
I read a lot of good advice here, pay attention!

Tzulscha wrote: Have you considered going to College and joining ROTC or seeing if you have the grades to go Academy?

Tzulscha brings up a great point Sniper. If you've got competetive grades going into your Jr/Sr year I'd give some serious consideration to ROTC. Best of both worlds...enjoy a "normal" college life (nothing to scoff at) and leave with a commission and a guaranteed job. If your grades are good enough and you've managed a few extracurricular activities to boot you could very well end up with a 2-4 year scholarship.

The run of the mill recruiter typically won't bring that up as option either. Their job is to get signatures on the dotted line...NOW. You'd need to talk specifically to an Officer Programs recruiter to get the gouge on things like that.

That's the route I went and have no regrets whatsoever, but everyone is different obviously. Keep it in mind as an option at least m8.

OK Sniper here is my speach to you.

-Recruiters generally do not lie. because of the reason that he mentioned.

-The Marines do not give out signing bonuses for signing up. This is true. The Marine Corps only offers signing bonuses for re-enlistment into certain MOS's. Right now those MOS's are Motor T, and NBC.

-If you want to be a Sniper you will want to pick Infantry for an MOS. Infantry is not an easy MOS and ITB (Infantry Training Battalion) is pretty tough. I had buddies that failed when i went through. IN order just to be eligible for Infantry you will need to be a strong swimmer, good hiker, and great PTer. If you fail to get past 3rd class Swim in boot camp they will automatically change your MOS for you and you will probably end up motor T.

-The recruiter doesnt want to waste his time he wants to get you into the DEP as soon as possible. I personally did the DEP and i loved it. My entire Senior year of HS i was in the DEP and it got me even more motivated for the Marines than ever. Also keep in mind that just because you are in the DEP does not mean that you are obligated to go to boot camp and be a Marine. At anytime you can drop out of the DEP and go on with life. If you are serious about joining then you should join the DEP. It will get you in shape and more prepared for the metaphorical jump into ice water that is Marine Corps boot camp. The DEP also locks you in an MOS of your choice. The one thing i will say about recruiters is that they will try to stick you where they need you. They told me that there were no infantry openings for me so i told them that i woulndt go to bootcamp then. Sure enough they found me a slot the next day. You can have any MOS you want as long as you meet the ASVAB score and physically are able to do it. dont let them say that "its closed". You might have to change your bootcamp date a few weeks forward or back but you can always get that job you want.

-If you want to be an officer there are many more programs than just ROTC. There is the PLC "Platoon Leaders Course" (which is what I am doing), Also MISEP, and others. Infact you can just go to college without ROTC and then once you graduate Join the Marines and go to OCS.
Talk to a OSO (Officer Selection Office) about that. My recruiter never tried to screw me after i joined the DEP but told him i was thinking about ROTC. Infact he got me the application, helped me fill it out, set up the interviews with the board and even wrote me a letter of recomendation citing my time in the DEP as "..An indication of his committment to serve this country"

Well thats my side of things and how they were for me when i joined the Marines a few years ago. Also Infantry is the funnest MOS there is. I love it. If you have anymore questions just ask. I know all about this stuff.

Yeah WTF gaylord. Why aint u joining the USAAF? A marine?, hell no, what do you think is the better line for picking up chix?

"I am a marine" - Chick thinks = "Meathead gunboy"

or

"I am a Pilot and fly Fighter Jets" - Chick thinks = "Whoa!!! I bet he has a huge cock!!!"

That makes sense. My signing bonus was for joining the Army for military intelligence as I aced the ASVAB and joined after I completed college.

Well, I was a penstroke away from joining the Marine Corps and spent more time in that office asking questions than being at school. Due to the arthritis in my knees i didn't, and the fact i don't wanna die for a moron but that is another story entirely.

- Do not ever believe a recruiter, they are full of shit. Their job as many others have said is to get your name on that dotted line and they are damn good at it. The Marine Corps does not give bonuses for the reason the recruiter told me. "We want those who WANT to be a Marine not those who want the money, you wanna fight with the best than join." The difference about the marine corps is that you choose a field not a MOS. So if you chose infantry you could get rifleman, machinegunner, mortarman, etc... Ex. My friend chose Tanks, but they didn't want him their so they put him in artillery. Thats just the way the Marines are. But if you wanna be a sniper infantry is the way to go, and you better be workin out now buddy, because those snipers are the best in the world. I know b/c a police officer in town was one and he has taken me shooting and it was amazing the things he could do with a gun. Your physical conditioning will have to be unbelieveable so prepare. I think the washout rate is something crazy like 60% maybe higher i dunno.

- The most important part to remember that I spent the most time thinkin on is what I would be doing as a Marine. I was going to pick infantry. Remember war is no John Wayne movie. I once asked a man what war was like and he told me unless I have seen it unless i have seen my friends tore up infront of me, or seen civilians massacred I could not possibly know what war was like. As a sniper it will be your job not to just get intelligence but take another mans life if need be. Some men sell insurance for business, your business will be killing (and there is no respawn.) Wheather or not you have the constitution for the job you will have to decide. A family friend wanted to be a seal and was a gunners mate on a destroyer. He was forced to unleash his .50 caliber machine gun on a boat headed towards his ship completely ripping apart everyone on board. The thought of that still haunts him, and he is no longer in the Navy. Just some things to think about, its a serious business with serious consequences. Someone has to do it though, and god bless thoughs who give all they have.

Ithica wrote:i don't wanna die for a moron

ditto

then dont get killed n00bs!

Join the Artillery and be a 30km Sniper as I was

^^ you kill me main... that was funny - but true

me on the other hand; I'm first in when we "clean" houses and other areas

hey sniper...

Just fyi... the air force also has snipers
and not everyone is trying to become one so it isn't as competative.
and you sleep in hotels

and you would be an officer not enlisted
...
I think you need my school.. Love to see you here
can get all the info you are after at this place
all jobs all careers... I sat down and went through everything and I'm staring at the af job list right now and I see 2 sniper positions

one is anti personel with combat controlers (true baddasses)
the other is anti material with ordanance disposal

Ya aeo I was thinking about the Airforce spec ops stuff too. I recommend you take aeo's advice sniper and go his route. The discovery channel did a show quite awhile back where they followed an AF spec ops guy through training and into combat in afghanistan. Looked like an exciting occupation but that guy did lose his life there.

I think it was towards the end of the main assault in '01 where there was a prison uprising that required immediate close airsupport even with several CIA agents and military spec ops guys that were danger close for the bomb blasts and several lost their lives.

Just make sure you stay out side of the bomb blast of 2000lb lgb's and you'll be fine.