Hello, and thankyou to anyone who takes the time to read/respond to my question. I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right area, so i apologize ahead of time if I'm not.

I am a 16 year old female and I am highly dedicated to joining the military. However, I am not sure yet what branch I would like to join. My bestfriend is a Marine, and i have the greatest respect for him and for the Marine Corps. I would love to be a Marine, however being a Paratrooper has also always appealed to me. In reading other posts and doing some other online research, I have found only one job in the Marine Corps in which I am eligible for as a female that incorporates being Airborne, MOS 0451, Airborne and Air Delivery Specialist. When I read up on this MOS, it said you needed to attend both Airborne and Army Infantry School to qualify. But I thought females weren't allowed to attend Infantry School, so am I actually not allowed into this job?? I also read the description of this job, but if anyone could give me their own opinion of it, from being this MOS or working or knowing somebody who was, I would greatly appreciate it.

Also, I would appreciate any information about Paratroopers. Such as, how to actually become one, and what I would be eligible to do as a Paratrooper as a female.

Again, thankyou so much for taking the time to read this and respond.

One of our resident Marines "Rigger51" is the person who can answer your questions. There are two questions I can answer though. Our "jump" qualified Marines are not "paratroopers", since that title is reserved for our Army brothers. Second, you will receive limited infantry training at Marine Combat Training (MCT), located at Camp Geiger's School of Infantry. However, if your purpose to join the military is to become a paratrooper, then you'll have to speak with an Army recruiter.

quote:

When I read up on this MOS, it said you needed to attend both Airborne and Army Infantry School to qualify. But I thought females weren't allowed to attend Infantry School, so am I actually

Where ever you read up on going to Army Infantry School is Freaking full of BULL S*H*I*T. Not Even the Army Riggers (92R) go to Fort Benning for Infantry OUST , They Go to Relaxin' Fort Jackson. If you are going to be a Marine Rigger this is the 0451 Training Pipeline

Bootcamp-Your Female so that leaves you with Paris Island - 3 months
MCT- Camp Lejeune North Carolina-21 Days when I went through, I think they Changed it though.
Ft Benning, GA-This For JUMP SCHOOL ONLY there is no Infantry Training at all. 3 weeks
Ft Lee, VA- Rigger School, On Paper it is Nine Weeks but In reality it is 10 weeks, Because the Army condenses the Training you recieved at MCT down to about a week(called Log Warrior this is where they get the basic "infantry" Skills) and they will be doing it sometime during that 9 weeks of Rigger school.

As a female Rigger the Only units you can get assigned to are 1st, 2nd, 3rd Air Delivery(Commonly Called AD)

THERE IS NO INFANTRY TRAINING AT ALL.
I hope that clears things up for you, if you have any other question please post them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rigger51,

I forgot add you as a Marine Will not have to attend Log Warrior, it is up to the Marine Instructors to decide what you do during that week. I got to go through RAM-AIR course. RAM-AIR are Free Fall Parachutes. But I have Heard Recently they have Changed it from a one week course to a Two week Course so that may not be an Option for you.

Thankyou all for your replies.
If as a female, I'd be limited to certain units, does that also mean I'd be limited to what I could do as a rigger, meaning what duties I would have?

quote:

Originally posted by Melissa_F:
Thankyou all for your replies.
If as a female, I'd be limited to certain units, does that also mean I'd be limited to what I could do as a rigger, meaning what duties I would have?

There are only three Airborne Units in the Marine Corps. The First Two are Combat Arms units so even the Admin are All Male.

1. Recon Battalions- It's Kind of Obvious Why they won't have Females in These Units.

2. ANGLICO(Air Naval Gunfire Liason Company)- They are Foward Air Controllers/Foward Observes that are Specifically Designed to work with Non-Marine Corps Assets Such as British Royal Marines, Iraqi Army, 82nd Airborne, and Other foreign units. Because ANGLICO May Be attached to an Airborne Unit ANGLICO must Maintain Airborne qualification.

3. Air Delivery Units- Just like it sounds you Mainly deal with Cargo Chutes. G-11, G-12, and G-14. Now here's the answer to you question, No you will not Be limited on what duties you have on the contray you will actually have More Duties. (Don't Run away). You see Riggers in Recon and ANGLICO units generally only deal with Personel Parachutes(Personel Pack) and the AER(Airborne Equipment Repair) dealing with Personel Pack, they don't Really deal with anything Bigger than a Container Drop(500lbs MAX). Recon and ANGLICO's Airborne Mission is to get Boots on the Ground. While AD's mission is the Get the Cargo to the Boots on the Ground. AD deals with Peronel Pack, Cargo, and AER on both. AD can drop loads up to 40,000lbs. Big Difference.


But you will not be restricted in what duty's you perform. Once you have enough Rank and time within the MOS You can Instruct at Riggers School, You can compete for a Chance to become a Black Hat(Jump School Instructor there is always atleast one Marine in every Company) at Ft Benning GA. You can Go To Jump Master School after you become a CPL. The only School you may have trouble going to is MFF-Military Free Fall AKA HALO. But don't take it Personally a lot of Male Marines have trouble getting into MFF School. The Marine Corps has taken down the Male only restriction on it, and Females are allowed to go in theory. One Of my instructors at Rigger School was supose to be the first Marine Female to go through it but she Got pregnant a few months before they sent her so I don't know if she ever made it. But TECOM has recently Made it a MOS requirement for Riggers to eventually go. But the only Unit that does MFF is RECON. Both AD and ANGLICO only do Static Line. So Recon Riggers get first dibbs on MFF Slots. While the Army there are A lot more Females that are MFF qualified. One of my Army Instructors was actually on the Army Golden Knights Parachute Demostration Team. IF you are interested in seeing what we do go to youtube and type in Paracute Rigger 92R. Its a Army Video but we are in the same classes as the soldiers so we do everyting they do.

Thankyou sooo much for taking the time to help me, I greatly appreciate it, that was a lot of information.

If I were to go into the 0451 MOS, would i be making many jumps, or just mainly packing and dealing with cargo?

quote:

Originally posted by Melissa_F:
Thankyou sooo much for taking the time to help me, I greatly appreciate it, that was a lot of information.

If I were to go into the 0451 MOS, would i be making many jumps, or just mainly packing and dealing with cargo?

I'm not in a AD unit and I am a Reservits so I can't give you an honest answer to that. But you will Jump at least 4 times a year. That's because in order to pack you must be what is called Jump Current. Basically you have to Jump once every three months in order to be Jump Current. Remember if you are Jump Current you are getting Jump Pay, that is an Extra $150 a month. But everything I hear you should be Making one Jump a month. Sometime they have what is called Elevators. For example, we take 60 chutes out to a drop zone for 20 jumpers. A Chopper arrives we rig up and Jump. As soon as we hit the Deck we stow the Chutes in a Aviator's Kit Bag(the rest of the Military Calls them Parachute bags, but to anyone in the Airborne Community it's an Aviator's Kit Bag) and Double time It back to the rally point and Rig up again and Jump. You get the Picture. We generally do this when we are transitioning(explain later) or when we have a bunch of Marines that need night jumps in order to get their Gold Wings. Gold Wings are a source of pride for the Marines that get them. only three percent of the Marine Corps Is Jump Qualifide(Silver Wings/Lead Sleads) and only One Percent of Marines ever get Gold Wings, Contrary to what you see in the Movies were you See a lot of Marines Having them. There are specific requirements that have to be met before one can get the Gold Wings. Some People in my unit get theirs in Month others like one of my Cpls have to wait five years to get theirs. It is the Luck of the Draw, and how much the Wind God Hates you.

At Jumps School You will jump the T-10D(pronounced as Delta, not DEE) at 1500ft. But the Marine Corps Doesn't Jump the T-10D we Jump the SF-10A(pronounced as Alpha). The SF-10A is a Steerable Parachute While the T-10D is not. So the Marine Corps Units Set up Transition Courses design to teach Marines how to Use the SF-10A. There have been some Recent Changes but how it use to be run is you made Three Jumps with the SF-10A, the First Jump is at 2500ft the second is 2000ft and the Third is at 1500ft.

That makes me feel a lot better. Although I really want to be in the Marines, Airborne has also always appealed to me, so I'm really excited that I finally have an MOS that I can talk to a recruiter about when I meet with one.

You've got me pretty interested in the Military Free Fall school now too haha. When you said that females are now allowed to go in theory, what did you mean by that? I understand that male Marines have a difficult time getting in, but since females are now allowed "in theory" to attend, wouldn't more of them be trying to go?

What he means is females are allowed to attend. However, do to limited boat space (school seats), and the priority to train Recon Marines in Free Fall, non-Recon Marines probably won't get an opportunity to attend unless there is availability.

Also, don't get your hopes on getting 0451 as your primary MOS. Needs of the Corps may end upgetting you something else in the 0400 MOS field.

quote:

Originally posted by Melissa_F:
That makes me feel a lot better. Although I really want to be in the Marines, Airborne has also always appealed to me, so I'm really excited that I finally have an MOS that I can talk to a recruiter about when I meet with one.

You've got me pretty interested in the Military Free Fall school now too haha. When you said that females are now allowed to go in theory, what did you mean by that? I understand that male Marines have a difficult time getting in, but since females are now allowed "in theory" to attend, wouldn't more of them be trying to go?

I have never heard of a Female Marine actually going to MFF and Graduating. As I said One of my Marine Instructors was supose to be the First Marine Female to go, but she got Pregnant a few months before they were going to send her. They told her that she could go after her Maternaty Leave, I have never been told if that actually happend or not. and this was all before the Marine Corps opened up their own MFF school. I'm In a All Male Unit and I am a reservist so that kind of news doesn't get to me that often.

As to More women trying, You have to Understand that there are around 250-300 Riggers in the Entire Marine Corps. That is 250-300 male and Female Riggers out of 242,000 Marines. That is both active and reserve combined. That is an extremely small Number. And in all honesty I have only met two Female Riggers In person and one wasn't really a rigger she was an Air Delivery Officer. I have only heard of a Hand full of them by names. So If you actual become a rigger and Go to MFF you will be Truely One of the Fewer and the Prouder. But Remember You have to get through MEPS(So Stay away from the Weed and the Guys it's a lot more Paper work you have to sign if you have a kid Before Bootcamp, and you can't ship if you are Pregnant) and Boot Camp Before you can even think about being called a Rigger. Oh by the way I hope this Challeges you to do better and Not scare you away. Running is a big thing in the Airborne Community, Its a tradition Handed down to us from the 82nd and 101st back when they were truely BAD A$$ but now its been slowed down to an 8-9 Minute Mile Pace. And it actually Hurts a lot of us guys running that slow for 4 miles and it ticks us off when we see most of the Fall Outs are Females. You should start Conditioning yourself to run at least at a 8 minute mile pace. If you want to look Steller shoot for a pace around or better than 7.5. IF you did that Mile Pace you would get 89 Points on you PFT. If you are a poor Runner now you still have two years to go before you Join. Good Luck

As for the running, I don't think it'll be a problem at all. My mile time is about 6:19 and i run cross country and track for my highschool. And I don't see myself getting pregnant anytime soon either, so that's not an issue. Would it disqualify me for any job if I have smoked weed in the past? When I was 14 I tried it, and obviously didn't like it because I havent smoked since then. It was a stupid thing, and I promised myself and my bestfriend I would neverrr smoke again, and I won't. And I am always up for a challenge, part of the reason I want to join the Marines so badly is because I know it'll be a challenge for me.

Just as long as you document your first time experimental use with your recruiter, then you will be ok.

That's such a relief. Thankyou all so soo much, you have been so helpful!

If by a slim margin your recruiter tells you not to disclose your one time experimental use, inform us right away and we'll handle his lazy a$$. If your recruiter gets you a waiver, then you have a recruiter with excellent work ethics who is willing to work with you.

Will do sir, thankyou!
Is it at age 16 or 17 that I can talk to a recruiter without parental consent, because I highly doubt my parents will give consent, they're still not so keen on me joining the military yet.

You can speak with a recruiter at any age. However, to enlist without their consent is 18, while 17 is minimum age with both parental consent.

Alright, thanks for the clarification(:

Good Luck Meliss_F and Give us an Update in Two years. Hope to see you with Gold Wings on you Chest.

Me too haha, thankyou very much!