Thinking of Joining the Military Reserves.. Any Opinions, Suggestions, or Tips?

At your age I would join one of the many fine and brave First Responder agencies/bracnches. I think 19 is the non-official cutoff for the USMC since they don't follow American cultural norms.

USMC officer candidates probably attend USN Officer Candidate School and age 19 would not be the cutoff, official or not.

I joined the Marine Reserves at age 20.

If I had to do it again, I probably would.

Boot Camp was hard, but wasn't too bad, because as a runner, all the physical stuff was easy for me. Getting through the mental games are a grind.

Drill weekends suck, they are boredness personified. Most weekends we sat around in a classroom with nothing to do and occasionally get yelled at because we weren't doing anything. You really don't understand the phrase "Hurry up and wait" until you've joined the military.

You shouldn't joke around about the Marines. They don't joke around. Every day in the Marines people easily get killed stateside or deployed. The Marines are not regular government employment.

Fatal Decision wrote:

You shouldn't joke around about the Marines. They don't joke around. Every day in the Marines people easily get killed stateside or deployed. The Marines are not regular government employment.

I'm not sure if I'm following you here.. do you mind elaborating a bit more?

Were you using the term 'joking' as a euphemism?

Marine Reservist wrote:

I joined the Marine Reserves at age 20.

If I had to do it again, I probably would.

Boot Camp was hard, but wasn't too bad, because as a runner, all the physical stuff was easy for me. Getting through the mental games are a grind.

Drill weekends suck, they are boredness personified. Most weekends we sat around in a classroom with nothing to do and occasionally get yelled at because we weren't doing anything. You really don't understand the phrase "Hurry up and wait" until you've joined the military.

What was the process like for you? did you attend boot camp, then after that you just did your weekend drills every month?

Do you live near a Marine Corps Reserve center? If not, it would be worth it to look at what is close to you (within reason).

After finding what is close, you will want to look to see what type of unit they are; infantry, tanks, comm, etc.... This is especially true if you want to go into a specific MOS (job title). If your current job is what you plan to stay with and make a career, it might be worth finding something totally different in the military. That is what I did as I spent enough time sitting in a cubicle staring at monitors in my civilian job so I took a fairly unique Military job. It was a nice break from the office.

Before getting in to far, reach out to your HR and see what their policy is for military leave. There are federal laws protecting you, but companies can easily get around those. See how your civilian company handles pay. My company paid the difference between my paycheck and military pay so it was never a financial burden to be deployed. Not all companies do this. Some continue full pay.

Reserves are a good way to serve, make some extra money, and have unique life experiences.

Military Woes wrote:

Marine Reservist wrote:

I joined the Marine Reserves at age 20.

If I had to do it again, I probably would.

Boot Camp was hard, but wasn't too bad, because as a runner, all the physical stuff was easy for me. Getting through the mental games are a grind.

Drill weekends suck, they are boredness personified. Most weekends we sat around in a classroom with nothing to do and occasionally get yelled at because we weren't doing anything. You really don't understand the phrase "Hurry up and wait" until you've joined the military.

What was the process like for you? did you attend boot camp, then after that you just did your weekend drills every month?

This 20 years ago, but I don't think much has changed.

First you go to boot camp. If you sign up for infantry you go SOI (School of Infantry) after boot camp. If your not a grunt, you go to MCT (Marine Combat Training), that's a scaled down version of SOI. "Every Marine is Rifleman" so you will do some kind of Infantry schooling after boot camp.

If your a grunt, after SOI, you report to your reserve unit after SOI and start doing one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. If you're not a grunt, you'll go to another school after MCT to learn how to do your job. Then report to your unit.

The regular branches are more suited to your needs. Check out the Army, Navy, AF, CG, Natl Guard. Good Luck.

It's Alan who is the OP. Hey Running Artists Alan, how's the warfighting in Yemen going? Hope you are safe.

Joining the reserves won't qualify you for Real Man status, I don't believe. Can I get a formal ruling, Flagpole?

In the Army, Flagpole wasn't a grunt attack special agent. Flagpole sat back in an air conditioned cubicle and installed Windows patches.

HI ALAN! wrote:

It's Alan who is the OP. Hey Running Artists Alan, how's the warfighting in Yemen going? Hope you are safe.

I dunno man, that’s gonna be a no from me...

I never understood the allure of the reserves....all of the suck, none of the bigger benefits.

How good is your current job?

Alan

Do you have student loans? Comp Sci?

Does this interest you?:

CompTIA A+

CompTIA Network+

CompTIA Security+

Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

CISCO Certified Networking Associate (CCNA)

https://m.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/browse-career-and-job-categories/computers-and-technology/cyber-operations-specialist.m.html

Hey man

Overall, some pretty poor advice on here. Let me help you out.

I am an active duty Marine Pilot and former collegiate athlete. The process for joining is not quite what he been described above.

In the USMCR going the officer route is pretty tough. Reason being the training for a given job is about 6 months longer than other branches. While I'm not 100% sure on the initial process it goes something like this:

Contact a local OSO

They specialize in officer recruiting and will help you put together your application for the next board the will meet and select the top candidates. You will apply as a "ground contract."

If selected at the board, you will then be given a report date to OCS (while not advertised, you don't have to accept if you are selected). Attrition rate hovers around 40% for OCS- it's not easy. But as a runner you won't have issues as long as you aren't a weak b!tch.

If you pass OCS you will commission as a 2ndLt and then head to "The Basic School" or TBS. This is a 6 month infantry school that teaches the basics of officership and leading a rifle platoon. At the completion of TBS all officers, with the exception of Law and Air (neither are an option for you as a reservist and with no law degree) will be assigned their official military job. This is the weird part for reservists.... You will probably have a good idea of what this will be prior to applying as there is a finite number of reserve USMC officer positions at your closest Reserve station (where you will be working).

Once you are assigned your job, you will then head to a formal course to learn your craft. This can be anywhere from 8 weeks to 6 months.

Once complete, you will head home and begin the "normal reserve schedule."

In all, the process will be around 1-1.5 years till you get back home.

The reserve route is tough because of the length of training. But good on you for considering it. Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy to help.

Just want to say I am proud of you. Just the fact that you are not afraid to move and go after things. I have not seen this in my kids or all their friends. I would bet you are a young guy of strong character and you will do well. Give em hell out there, take care, your gonna make, already are, loved ones very proud.

Wasn't Alan was kicked out of Parris Island and forced into to Army?

fulltimeforrealman wrote:

Joining the reserves won't qualify you for Real Man status, I don't believe. Can I get a formal ruling, Flagpole?

You are mistaken. Reservists can be called up to do life-threatening tasks, so Real Man status is attained.

9 of 10 US military guys don't intentionally attack terrorists as ground infantry soldiers so you can chill all day every day if you choose the AF, NV, AR, CG. I don't see why the 90% are even under semi-military rules since it is just like a regular civilian job.