Military: what should i do...

[gYmBaG]

so im going into the marines in january, and i pushed it back from november because im going to go visit my mom in miami for most of december. and well i wanted to know what you're guys opinion is on what mos i should do. i have narrowed it down to two. i either want to go infantry, or i want to go into secruity forces/military police. what do you guys think? what are your opinions on both of them? and dont tell me to talk to my recruiter cause you all know most recruiters sell jobs rather then tell the truth

[Toastar]

I dono, Combat Engineer seems cool, I'm considering it for when I join CF

[gYmBaG]

i just dunno what i want to do, they both sound fun, but i dunno if id rather like to be on the offensive ( infantry ) or the denfensive ( secruity forces ) either one im sure will send me to iraq, i just dunno if id rather like to attack or defend

[GoatChomper]

I dono, Combat Engineer seems cool, I'm considering it for when I join CF
Joe Haldeman the author was a combat engineer in Vietnam, a job he likens to chain-gang labor with even the convicts carrying guns.

[Memorex]

That's a toughie, well do you want more action or peace. Right now Marines are all over teh place.

[gYmBaG]

That's a toughie, well do you want more action or peace. Right now Marines are all over teh place.
yeah... well even if i did do the military police, id still get sent over seas , its just a matter or wanting some action, or more action :p

[Kill_Switch]

If you are going active duty, I would suggest going for the special operations side of things. From my experiance being deployed right now they have it the best, the don't have to put up with a lot of the BS that the rest of all of us do. The training will be hard as hell, but it will probly be the most rewarding thing you will ever do. I'm willing to bet that MEUSOC has some really good opertunities.

[[Political] Slayer]

I would do infantry.

[Fearfisch]

Joe Haldeman the author was a combat engineer in Vietnam, a job he likens to chain-gang labor with even the convicts carrying guns.
My next-door neighbors (whose SciFi book supply I raid every now and then) are friends with him, and a while ago they mentioned some of the fun things he had to do. Another reason I might pick something Artillery-related instead. =/

[Evil Superstar]

That's a toughie, well do you want more action or peace. Right now Marines are all over teh place.

Maybe it's me, but if I wanted to have a peaceful job than I wouldn't join the army.

[BattleWhack]

I'd definately think VERY long and VERY hard before joining either of those MOS's. It's not going to be a question of attacking and defending out there, wardog, there are no enemy lines to attack or strongholds to defend anymore. Iraq is a fluid enviroment, with no areas truly being "secure". I'm an airwinger in the Corps, and they are hard on us, real hard sometimes, but whenever I talk to my groundpounding buddies, they tell me some stories that I'd like to call straight bullshit on, but it's true. I respect the hell out of you for joining the Corps, because we are always in need of some young motivator to pick up the slack. But 03 man, that's some hardcore shit. You need to think about your future also, because infantry ain't gonna get you any job skills, so I dunno, I just don't want another kid getting into more than he can handle, and doing something stupid and getting himself or his fellow Marines hurt.

Anyway, good luck and semper fi whatever your decision.

Lance Corporal Eaton, USMC

[StandingCow]

If ANYTHING... and I personally wouldnt pick either of those myself.. (but Im not you).... I would at least go for MP... at least you get some kind of training that you can use if you decide to ever become a police officer...

Always thought it would be cool to join the K9 unit of the ... well for AirForce its SPs

[GrosPoisson]

Another reason I might pick something Artillery-related instead. =/

Don't know how the situation is in the Marines, but I keep on reading and hearing about Army Artillery units being employed in Infantry roles, and having problems due to a lack of appropriate training. Something you might want to keep in mind.

[[hk]renegade]

Security Forces suck, same kinda MOUT trianing the infantry does but thats about it. and if you do SFs then I hope you like standing around guarding something for long periods of time. But 03 isnt fun and games ethier, thats why they call it 03 everything.... If I could go back in time I would go to Admin and be happy, but thats just me Ive been to that rodeo and some. Plus Ill be here for it again this time next year in the syrian border, but thats the deal you get with the grunts

[gYmBaG]

id almost like to do security forces, cause it would seem fun kind of, going into FAST maybe, or even the SRT teams the marines have, but then again i wouldnt mind going into the MEU unites they have, but that im sure you would need infantry rather then security forces, but ill have to look into that

[[hk]renegade]

MEU's consist of everything.

[gYmBaG]

i never get the training of the MEU's though, i heard its something like 6 months before deployment they going to training and qualification. but is that everytime they deploy? or is the training just to join the MEU units, and then the qualifications everytime you deploy?

[Kill_Switch]

Well, I don't know about the Marines, but for the Army the equivelent of MEU would be Special Forces, which is an actual MOS. When you join to go SF you get an MOS identifier like 11X or something like that and then you go to infantry basic and AIT, and then you go to whats called the Q course which is qualification to see if you can hack it in SF. Lots of rucking and land nav and all that kind of hooah shit. Then you go to SFAS which is all your SF schooling, and then you go to school for a language which you become fluent in. After that you go to an SF group and will probly get deployed very quickly. Now again that is what us Army guys do, and I don't know about the Marines but if you can't insure that you get to go to a MEU unit in the Marines I'd check out Army SF. Personally I'd much rather know what I'm getting into from the start than finding out later that I'm gonna be doing something I might end up hating. But if you really want to get to do some hooah shit than some form of SF is the way to go. Infantry guys do a lot of dumb shit, Artillery guys do even worse dumb shit, SF plays by their own rules.

[Karaya1]

Hey, i enlisted into the Corps as well. I backed my date up to Nov 14th so i could learn German this summer and help my sister out in Arizona in september as she has her first child. Then from mid october till i leave i am going to catch up with my father, we have seen each other much to little over the past couple years. I am currently in Germany for another 10days, been here since the 1st of June.
I am currently locked in as 0300. Is it the right choice for me? I hope so. I have a gift with languages and might someday make a lateral move to a linguist position but we will see what happens. I scored over a 90 on teh asvab and could have selected anything. I chose 03 because i am a PT freak and i love shooting. I didn'T want to sit behind a desk and i want to be almost moving, always doing something. Again, time will tell if i made the wrong choice. I'll live with my 'mistake' if i made it, i don't think i made one. I've also always been a leader amongst my peers in sports and whatnot. I love leading people and being hands on, i felt my ability could be used in this field. That said, 0300 is i imagine the most dangerous Job in the Corps, but i would bet security forces isn't exactly safe either. Listen to the people who have been there and think about what you are getting into before you say at meps contracting 'I want 0300'.
My friend LCPL Kyle Burns was killed in Fallujah last year. One year in the same math class and getting drunk with him on the weekend, the next year i am at his open casket funeral looking at my now dead friend. That hit close to home but i still made my choice to go 0300, i will admit part of it was thinking 'I will get revenge for my fucking friend' but most of it was clear thinking. Another friends brother, Sean Callesto has been over in Iraq twice. I asked him about day to day grunt life and got a full run down from him before i chose 0300 aswell.
My advice would simply be learn up and take your time before going to Meps or if you are currently on an open contract, before you sign the final papers, although you probably should get locked in ASAP, open contracts are nothing but trouble man. The recruiter isnt going to bs you between those two jobs. They need to fill both of those. Talk to him about it as well. There are many recruiters at your main office, chances are one or more of them was an 03.

GL with your choices. I am looking forward to Nov 14.

BTW, a little update on Stalin, who is currently at MCRD SD.
His ship date was moved to the 12th or so of June or so because of something or other. He did go in as an 0300 and the only thing i've heard from him came from his mother. Something to the extent 'It sucks ass but you can make it through if you just stfu and do what your told'. I will send him a nice postcard of me drinking with hotchicks in Germany before i head home just to be a good friend and all. I also intend on being at his graduation in september. Provided the out of shape pussy makes it, :p

[SWATJester_os]

I will say this: if you go infantry, in any branch, you can kiss you hopes of EVER having a healthy bone structure the rest of your life goodbye. You absolutely assuredly WILL suffer from back pain, knee problems and creaky joints, and other assorted aches and pains from your time serving.

[GoatChomper]

Plus, it's a no-brainer that servicemen in general and infantry in particular suffer from rheumatoid arthritis at a much higher rate than the general populace.

[SWATJester_os]

Well, I don't know about the Marines, but for the Army the equivelent of MEU would be Special Forces, which is an actual MOS. When you join to go SF you get an MOS identifier like 11X or something like that and then you go to infantry basic and AIT, and then you go to whats called the Q course which is qualification to see if you can hack it in SF. Lots of rucking and land nav and all that kind of hooah shit. Then you go to SFAS which is all your SF schooling, and then you go to school for a language which you become fluent in. After that you go to an SF group and will probly get deployed very quickly. Now again that is what us Army guys do, and I don't know about the Marines but if you can't insure that you get to go to a MEU unit in the Marines I'd check out Army SF. Personally I'd much rather know what I'm getting into from the start than finding out later that I'm gonna be doing something I might end up hating. But if you really want to get to do some hooah shit than some form of SF is the way to go. Infantry guys do a lot of dumb shit, Artillery guys do even worse dumb shit, SF plays by their own rules.

It's 18x, after which you get your identifier, B,C,D,E etc.

First you contract 18x. Then you go to basic and AIT. Then you go to Airborne school. Then you go to SOP-C which is pre-SF course. Then you go to selection. Then you go to your MOS Q course. Then you go to DLI. Then you go to other schools, most likely ranger, mountain warfare, air assault, etc. THEN you go to a unit. You probably won't be on an A team for several months after that, or until you finish more schools.

And you can't generalize infantry and SF like that....SF does not play by their own rules. They play by socoms rules. Delta plays by their own rules, SF does not. How much combat experience in infantry, artillery, or SF do you have?