quote:

I did security forces in Cuba.

lol I'm sorry.

Well if most of what you do is clean and repair the tanks or amphibious vehicles than count me out, that doesn't sound like something I want to do.

So if artillery doesn't make you deaf does it impair your hearing or does it really just depend?

Also, I forgot to mention I'm still deciding between reserve and active. Though my recruiter is telling my friend and I they are out of reserve jobs around my area. Can that be possible? My friend works with a Marine reservist who goes down to West Virginia(where'd either of us would go if we decide infantry), and the Marine said they're looking for people because there next deployment is DEC 09.

The reserve unit can run out of open slots for new accessions.
Every year each unit has a certain amount of slots available to new joins, once they are filled , that is it until the next fiscal year.
prior service slots are a diffeent animal.

Everybody that operates a weapon sytem or vehicle is required to spend time maintaining it. It isn't all they do, it just felsthat way some days.
Artillery can leave you a little hard of hearing if you don't wear earplugs, but so can being a marksmanship instructor

Oh I see, well tomorrow my friend and I are meeting with the recruiter and his boss for a little. Then on Friday we might go down to West Virginia to the reservist base and talk to the recruiter down there to see about job openings.

Was it this hard for you guys to pick a job or did you know right away what you wanted? It seems for me I have an interest for a lot of jobs but don't know which one I should pick and which one is best for me.

there are a lot of jobs in the military that are interesting.
when I first tsarted loking, I liked air crew, and intel, and computers always seems to be a hot pick for some, but it boiled down to the fact, that I wanted a job that kept me outside for a good bit of the time. Then I got to thinking that a lot of the jobs you can get training for in the civilian sector through college or tech school, I wanted to do something a little different and have some fun with it too.Something I couldn't get outside.
I chose Infantry.
Realistically the job you choose will never be as important as the fact that you are in the service. Later in life, that is what will be important to employers or the bank , if you decide to start your own business.
They look at your character , leadership experience, reliability, and things of that nature.
I've been in then out then in again and believe me, the job isn't as important as the fact you were in.

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Realistically the job you choose will never be as important as the fact that you are in the service.

This is worth repeating. A lot of military ad campaigns have implanted in our minds over the years that we can get a skill in the military that will ensure us a lucrative "civilian career" when we get out, with no additional training. Other than maybe a select few, very-narrow career fields, this really isn't happening, so it's better to put that idea out of your mind. A civilian employer is generally going to train you to do whatever it is they want you to do, anwyay.

Instead, I'd focus your MOS search on something you want to do NOW, not what you might want to do later.

quote:

Originally posted by DanSpitz:

quote:

Realistically the job you choose will never be as important as the fact that you are in the service.

This is worth repeating. A lot of military ad campaigns have implanted in our minds over the years that we can get a skill in the military that will ensure us a lucrative "civilian career" when we get out, with no additional training. Other than maybe a select few, very-narrow career fields, this really isn't happening, so it's better to put that idea out of your mind. A civilian employer is generally going to train you to do whatever it is they want you to do, anwyay.

Instead, I'd focus your MOS search on something you want to do NOW, not what you might want to do later.

+2!

I'll repeat a story I have about two fellow veteran friends of mine. One is a former Army Officer and one a former Marine Sergeant.

The Army Officer was a helicopter pilot. He was in for twelve years. After he got out he delivered junk food and installed cable! Nothing wrong with those jobs except you would think that a college grad, former Army officer and aviator would take up a better career than what he did.

My former Marine and H.S. buddy went to college after six years in the Corps. His MOS was 2841 --- Ground Radio Repair. After he graduated from college, he went to work in genetic research. Not only did he start in a rewarding career, the position he held required a Master's Degree (something he has yet to pursue)! The lab that my bud started working for saw a lot of potential and determination in him, so they give a higher position and the salary he started at was in par with the Master's requirement.

Apparently, my former Army Officer friend had a bigger resume with highly sought after skills than my HS buddy Marine (leadership and flight). But at the end of their service, my Marine buddy was more successful because he did the extra legwork to land that civilian career (and which was light years different at that, than his Marine Communication days!).

As you can see, what you do in the service doesn't really matter in regards to landing that civilian job or career when you get out. My Army friend could have probably flown helicoptors for someone after the Army instead of junk food trunks if he applied himself (there were other issues with him, but that's a long story and they still shouldn't have kept him from getting a better career).

A lot of people think, "Oh I'll become an MP/MA/SF, etc. so I can get into civilian LE later." That's not always the case. Civil LE won't look at former MP's resume and say, "When can you start?" They're going to look at the whole person. Hypothetically speaking, if they think a former military cook will do better in their organization than the fomer MP, then guess who's getting selected?

If you want to serve in the military to gain a skill or specialty you might be able to use after you separate, fine. But be prepared to do the leg work to land that post service career. Nothing is guaranteed unless you are willing to do the extra mile.

I got 2 mos's I wanted.

When I 1st started reading about the Marines I wanted to be an infantryman.

After ready more and more I found out Marines still had Marine Detachments and thought, wow, that's the 1st job Marines ever had and thought I wanted to do that as well.

So I went in under a security forces contract and got both.

Neither job turned out to be as exciting as they were when I read about them, but even today I wouldnt have changed it for the world

I see and those are almost the exact words my recruiter's boss told me today. He said the job doesn't matter if they see that you are a Marine that'll be just as good because they know of the skills, training, discipline, etc. you've got.

The thing is I'd also like to get my degree while serving so that is why I'm leaning towards reserve. Also how do I know if the Marine lifestyle is something I want to do for 4 or so years? So if I do reserve and I love it I could go active, if I don't like it then it's only 2x a month, 2 weeks in the summer.(unless unit gets activated)Can't forget though it be 4 years active reserve, 4 years inactive, right? But I've been thinking about the Marines for a while so I don't see why I would absolutely hate it.

Also I'd probably go infantry if I go reserve because the only reserve jobs around my area are infantry, MP, and motor t. My recruiter's boss told me though if I go active infantry then it would be very, very difficult to get your degree and do infantry. But I still have time to decide what is right for me and as of now I'm leaning towards reserve even though there probably won't be open jobs until October.

quote:

Originally posted by KoScooze47:
Also how do I know if the Marine lifestyle is something I want to do for 4 or so years? So if I do reserve and I love it I could go active.

No one can really tell you if you will like it or not. Everyone is different in regards to their experience.

When I was in HS, I knew people who were mo gung-ho about joining than me. I ended staying in the Corps longer than them!

When I was a poolie, I remember some disgruntled AD Marine trying to get me to change from Marine Poolie to USAF DEP. I don't regret my decision to go Marine for a second!

As far as going AD from USMCR, yes it's possible, but can be a hassel. There have been some years when the AD USMC was not taking Marines from the USMCR either due to the drawdown (during the early '90's) or the AD Force's numbers are at or more than what they need.

Given that AD is taking reservists for augmentation, a packet will be sent up and your final orders for AD can take awhile to finally process. SO keep these things in mind.

That's a good point, you never know if you'll like it or not. I'll probably go reserves because of that so if I do really enjoy it then I can eventually go active, maybe, but like you said it could take a while. I could also still do infantry and get my degree. If my unit goes active then it goes active, I'll go in with that chance.

What sucks right now though is there are no jobs left for reserves. Well actually there will be one but they'll be giving it to my friend because he's been waiting longer and tried to sign before but messed up his contract. It would be a pain waiting until October, when they get more jobs, to sign. Who knows maybe another recruit will transfer jobs or go active, opening up a position for me.

Well, I just got a call from the recruiter and they have 3 reserve jobs now open. Problem is there not infantry or MP. The jobs of admin. and communications. He explained what admins do and it seemed pretty boring and involves sitting at a desk most of the time.

For communications he wasn't sure on the specific job, whether it be operational communications or data/communications maintenance. Anyone here do communications? If so how is it and are there a lot of jobs within communications?