I'm 24. Female. Married with a one-year-old son. In my research it seems I will have to get a waiver for my son to join the Marines. Is that accurate?
My husband is prior service Marine Corps and has a steady job. We would have no problem finding care for our son or providing for him during my absence. Is there any foreseeable reason I would not be granted such a waiver?

Better served raising your Son. You know this Woman!

Your interest in serving your Country is duly noted here.

24 is still young! Spend time with your Family! The Marines serving around the World do not take their Families for granted!

AWildEagle26
Semper Fidelis

Excuse me, but how does that answer my question?

Waiver??? Not unless there's something totally new going on Ma'am. You simply sign full custody over to your husband before you leave for boot camp which makes you fully deployable.

The Corps recognizes the importance of family on a Marine's morale so it's their way of making sure your son is completely covered which reduces your stress from distractions by problems at home. Naturally this raises your effectiveness which of course is the end goal of this whole process.

Given that recruiting has been running at 100% this past year there may be new waiver requirements in effect but either way you'll still have to sign full custody to your husband before they'll ever let you get on the bus for boot.

Best of luck and God be with you and your Family.

Alpha...Just to let you know everyone so far is correct. On one hand being a parent in the Marine Corps let alone the military period is rough. Especially in the Marine Corps, you have to be willing to put your son's bday's, among other things on hold or on the back burner for stupid things like barracks duty or even more important things like deployments. In the Corps, you have to be willing to put IT FIRST and EVERYTHING else second! On the other hand I know plenty of single mother's in the Corps who do just fine, but they have a strong family network that helps them. So if your husband is willing to play mom and dad then you should be fine, but remember just because he had certain hours, doesn't mean you are going to. But as of lately during boot camp only, custody has to get signed over, only because you are not there. It is one thing to see your husband go through the Marine Corps and think you understand it and how it works, but it is another for YOU to actually go through it. I have already been to Afghanistan and I can tell you, you WILL find yourself over there. Hope this helps and sheds some positive light. Best of luck to you.

quote:

Originally posted by alphasquirrel:
Excuse me, but how does that answer my question?

It probably didn't, but you should take note of what AWildEagle26 was trying to advise.

To answer your question, you shouldn't require a waiver since you are married and only have one son.

Thank you all for the information.

This is/has been/will be a prayerful, well-advised, intelligent decision with the best of our entire family at the heart of our decision.

This is why we're here. You're already Marine Family so let us know if there's anything further we can do to help. God be with you Ma'am.