I am a college student who is interested in joining the Army or Marine Corps. I am a non-contracted cadet in Army rotc and want to explore my options fully before I make a commitment.

What are the pros and cons of the Marine corps? What sucks about it and what does not suck?

http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/index.aspx

DoD reports less MC casualties than the Army.

What sucks about the Marine Corps? Going through everything that makes up the Marine Corps.

What doesn't suck? Being a Marine.



You saw the movie, "300", right? If you knew in advance everything that you would have to do, and then did it so you could be part of that group - would you do it?

I'm not stating that Marines are like Spartans. Although that claim has been made by many, I'm not going to state that here. I'm just asking - if you knew the hardships that the lifestyle brings, but then resulting in a feeling of great accomplishment...what would your choice be?

Additionally, you need to understand up front - the Marine Corps is about teamwork. The needs of the individual are always a lower priority than the needs of the team, or unit. So, there are many times that you'll perceive that the other branches of the military may have more, or better opportunites. That may, or may not be, true.

But only a Marine can be a Marine.

What Ski just wrote says it all. Being a Marine is not about what we'll receive. It's about the act of giving itself which defines who and what we are. Thats our true personal reward and what makes us Marines.

Why do you think we give of our time and ourselves here in this forum? You may just be passing thru but we're here on station serving our next generation of Marines. And that Sir is what defines our Corps.

Semper Fi are not just two words, it's our warrior way of life. Best of luck to you. Semper Fi.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CWOSKI:
What sucks about the Marine Corps? Going through everything that makes up the Marine Corps.

What doesn't suck? Being a Marine.

QUOTE]

Truer words where never spoken. Being a Marine is not about "What can I get" its about "What can I give".

PROS= Becoming a Marine
CONS= Not becoming a Marine
Nuff Said!!

quote:

Originally posted by Demon55Wolf:
I am a college student who is interested in joining the Army or Marine Corps. I am a non-contracted cadet in Army rotc and want to explore my options fully before I make a commitment.

What are the pros and cons of the Marine corps? What sucks about it and what does not suck?

People that join the Marine Corps join for the intangible benefits.
They join for pride
they join for challenge
they join for the discipline
they join to be a part of something greater than themselves.
When they do this they by default learn that which will make them better as an individual.

Any service will provide you with a certain amount of pride, discipline, and sense of team, the Marine Corps just takes it to a different level and that is what has earned us our reputation.

If you are looking into job guarantees or training. This is what I used to tell people.
Any monkey can push buttons, or even be trained to do tricks.
What makes a difference is what you put behind those skills.

quote:

If you are looking into job guarantees or training. This is what I used to tell people.
Any monkey can push buttons, or even be trained to do tricks.
What makes a difference is what you put behind those skills.

This is probably why - in other than a very few select military jobs - the skills you earn during a first enlistment don't mean as much in the civilian world as people think, at least not as much as the TV commericals seem to imply. A civilian employer is probably going to train you the way they want, anyway, regardless of what the military taught you. These days, they'll probably do it for liability, alone.

In my experience, civilian employers are really only looking for a specific set of traits from a one-term military vet:

- has discipline (can be at work on time, is reliable)
- knows how to work as part of a team (plays well with others)
- knows how to work as an individual (plays well alone; doesn't need to be micro-managed; is a self-starter)
- pays attention to detail (doesn't take shortcuts that equate to doing a shoddy job)
- is polite, well-mannered (isn't a dirt-bag)

You can arguably get that from any service, but you're guaranteed to get it in the Marine Corps. In fact, you probably won't graduate bootcamp if you can't manifest all of those traits. Every employer I've ever interviewed with or worked for seemed to already know that every Marine was taught that stuff and has it in them...somewhere (some of us push some of that below the surface later on, but it's there nonetheless). Kind of nice to have that advantage in your corner.