I was a 2621, so my Morse training did absolutely nothing for me. However, the knowledge of comms I had did land me a job at a phone company. The other skills I learned in the Marine Corps helped me get promoted to supervisor after 6 months.
I started in the Corps as a 2512 (Field Wireman) in 1976 and left the Corps as a 2519 (Wire Chief) in 1989. In 1990, I took various programming courses and became a programmer. Within a year I had a marriage of my MOS and my computer knowledge, and became a senior Network Engineer and now have my own business
You may have to adapt a bit, but it is completely possible.
Comm helped me tremendously , in Electronics it was a begining. A building block, I completed an Associates degree. I used my soldering skills and the degree to get into a manufacturing plant. I built and tested Microwave Radios for 7 years then got into field service. I'm comtrain certified. Qualiified to climb and rescue on towers. Fibertower, the company needs good Comm techs.
Now I have to say that sounds interesting as heck, especially the tower rescue part. Though I worked with the TRC-97, Microwave communications, no one seemed to have any such openings or jobs related to it, including good old Ma-Bell, as we used to call the phone service, Bell Telephone. But it got me in the door for computers, as unknown as they were in 79. It's really something to read all the different areas and fields that people from Communications have made their way in to over the years.
I was a 2512/2531 for ten years. After I got outI worked in construction for a while until a man asked me what my prior training was. When I told him I was in the Marines and in Comm. he asked me if I wanted a job. Sure. That was 20 years ago.I work at Cape Canaveral Fl launching rockets. When I asked him later why he offered me the job he said "that when I told him I was a Marine he knew I would be disciplined in my work ethics and when I told him I was in Comm. He knew I had to have some brains.
Now that's what I call a success story! Actually, it's something I've come across with former employers. Once they see or hear Marine Corp, they expect more, and respect you more than the average person.
When I got out I found out that my 2542 MOS would get me a job as a clerk/jerk at Western Union for just slightly more than minimum wage. As a rookie cop I was in high demand because we had to type our reports then and I could do it a lot faster than the "hunt and peckers". The supervisory skills transitioned well, though. I made sector supervisor rank in only 5 years.
Congratulations on your success, regardless of how it came about I can bet your training and time spent in the Corp provided a lot more than just being a Comm operator.
No doubt about that. Many of the upper ranks of the PD were ol' jarheads and 6 of my 1969 police academy class were Marine Vietnam vets like me. My insistence on excellence when I made supervisory rank was a bit hard on those who were from other services or had no service time, but they soon "got with the program".
My job in the Corps as an 0656 Tactical Data Networker assisted me in getting a contracting job for system support right after I got out. A few months later I found a fed job as a GS-11 Information Technology Specialist. Love it and the pay is great! To bad the corps decided that they want me back and sent me a recall letter...guess it may be time to lace the boots up for another round! Semper Fi!
Congrats ont he job, it sounds like you found a great position, with pay! Something that isn't so easy to do anymore, let alone a Fed job.
Best of luck to you on your request, as well as your activation if it is denied. Give 'em hell Marine, give 'em hell! I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm jealous as hell, as strange as it may sound.
I don't know about you, Darkstarz, but if they committed everyone in America to the fight in order of their combat capability, my mind would be in the lead ranks but my body would be right behind the women and children!
Well I hate to admit it but you hit the nail on thehead. I wish that I could do the things my mind wants, but my body refuses to do much of anything any more. As it is I am stuck using a scooter to get around for the simplest of things. Though I will admit, I still try to push myself to the limit more often then I should, which doesn't help matters any at all.
It's hell having an 18 year-old mind in a 60+ year-old body, ain't it? I finally started listening to mine after the third heart attack. Still, the only thing worse than getting older is NOT getting older.
I couldn't have said it any better myself. But you know, I refuse to grow any older regardless of what my body tells me. It may hurt like hell, not be able to do things like befoore, or at all, but it's the mind that keeps the spirit alive and well.
I wish I could ignore all of aches and pains and the crackling crunches from the creaky joints which remind me of all of the damnfool stunts I pulled when I was younger and even more foolish than I am now. Despite a bulging lumbar disk, I took a 300+ mile motorcycle ride with the Patriot Guard Riders a few weeks ago to escort a severely wounded Marine from Walter Reed AMC to his homecoming parade in Deptford NJ and paid for it by spending the next day on a heating pad. It probably wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but as The Duke said, "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.."
Originally posted by comgeek: No its harder than hell to even find something even remotely similar in the area where i live. This place is just about 10 years behind in technology.
Originally posted by flynn6401: My job in the Corps as an 0656 Tactical Data Networker assisted me in getting a contracting job for system support right after I got out. A few months later I found a fed job as a GS-11 Information Technology Specialist. Love it and the pay is great! To bad the corps decided that they want me back and sent me a recall letter...guess it may be time to lace the boots up for another round! Semper Fi!
Brian, Sorry it took me so long to see your post. You had better make damn sure you tell The Corps you are a currently a GS-11 with the USDA. OPM has rules you know about, pay and stuff.
