Thinking of Joining Marine Corps Reserve

Getting a job that will allow you to pay off all your debt might be a good idea as well.

25 is the best age to join. Take your Nikon camera and email us some photos of the party. They stopped drowning kids at Parris Island in the 60's. Now PI is like the movie "Stripes" with Bill Murray. Girls fighting in Afghanistan are Air Force fighter pilots, Green Berets, SEALS, and Tank Commanders.

Hey have a good time. Tweet us from Parris Island. Get a few snaps of your apartment and the cute Southern chicks and post them on Facebook. When you get to Afghanistan, update us with some videos of the tourist sites, art museums, bistros, and bars. How about covering any XC/TF meets for us and contributing to Runner Space, we'd love to see your blog. Hope you have fun in the Crotch. The Marine Corpse is Looking For A Few Good Men.

It would be great if people with absolutely no prior service or Marine service say so; I don't think many here have any experience in the matter. Secondly, to the 25-yr-old naysayers, did you ever consider that if the Marines were having bad results with a certain population of people they might make some adjustments? You guys have absolutely no data supporting 25 year-olds washing out more often, because it is not true. The idea is to graduate recruits not just weed them out, it's not SEAL training. There are plenty of people who do not make it, of course, but they are all ages and types.

Boot camp is not real physically demanding for anyone who is reasonably fit, but there are hours of discomfort and non-stop harassment. Most people figure it out real quick, that is, it's not just about you anymore. Some adopt the wrong attitude or lack the courage to continue and start looking for ways out; this is generally due to a lack of maturity, it is not an indication that you are smarter, stronger-willed or too old for the training. You need to be able to serve and follow before you can lead.

"Have you considered joining the reserves as an officer? Don't let anyone tell you that is impossible, because there is a relatively new program called OCC-R that allows for a direct commission into the reserves"

I agree wholeheartedly with the person who wrote the above. I'm a retired Marine Officer, and I've been a runner for 40 years. Both activities (military & running) are complimentary - running releases stress; military provides you with mental toughness.

At age 25, you'll be a great officer candidate. I remember the best officers at The Basic School were those mature enough in their decision to join, rather than those who came right out of college.

All the best to you in whatever you decide.

Remember, Billy Mills was a Marine Officer.

Semper Fi.

I'm a retired Green Beret Army officer. The training is hard and challenging but designed to weed out undesirables not those who want to serve the United States of America. Army, Navy, Air Force Special Ops are for career men in their late 20s, the training parameters are scaled back, and set for the average 28 year old aged group. The Generals need their people, thus any person reasonably fit physically, and mentally prepared for hazing, can make Airborne, Marines, Rangers, Special Ops, SEAL, etc. organization. Remember that Hollywood movies do not convey and accurate description of Army life. Good Luck.

Hey, active duty marine here sounding off.

I came in when I was 21, two semesters away from a degree at a very liberal liberal-arts school. For the naysayers, anyone can adjust. Yes, basic is a mindf***. But, as someone said above, it's more a mindf*** than it is a physical challenge. Yes, it's pretty much always uncomfortable, you never really have time to "rest" other than in the rack at night, but most nights you will get your full 8 hours (9pm to 5pm, taps to reville) unless you're firewatch. If you're physically fit coming in, it really wont be much of a challenge. I actually lost fitness in basic.

What basic will give you is a desire to kill everyone. No joke. From "haji bob" to your drill instructors to your dumbass f***up rackmate who can't get his boots on fast enough, you will want to kill everyone, or at least severely hurt them. The biggest thing to remember about basic is that everybody pays. One person f***s up a drill movement, the whole platoon of 60+ might be spending time in the sandpit (and, btw, the vast majority of your time will actually be consumed by drill. If you can find a marine to show you how to drill before you go, you'll probably make squad leader real quick. Being photogenic doesn't hurt either) The second thing is that for three months, your life is not your life. It's something that you can't understand until you experience it, but every waking (and sleeping hour) belongs to your own personal cross between the devil and jesus, the United States Marine Corps Drill Instructor. It's the weirdest thing, but you will hate these men more than any other person you have ever met, and in the same instant respect them more than your own father. Strange brew.

Yes, enlisted basic is a brainwashing machine. You will do martial arts training in pits of black mulched rubber in 80 degree heat and full cammies while screaming "Kill! Kill! Kill!" each time you hit the bag. When you're delirious from the heat and you've got a drill instructor (or three!) screaming at you while beating the shit of the pad, I assume that does something to you. But, after about six months to a year, assuming you are an individual of generally sound mind and solid caliber, you'll get over the murder instinct. The other thing you'll get used to is the instant - INSTANT - obedience to orders. That's what a lot of the older recruits have problems with. If you're 25, there's a good chance you will have a drill instructor younger than you. But you have to listen to them. Because if you're the one to f*** up, everyone will pay for you. I mean, if you think about it, that's what the marine corps needs from the enlisted marines. Cannon fodder, go there, kill that. Go there, deliver this. Go there, push that button (if you're in a support MOS). It's this way because most 17, 18, 19 year old kids straight out of high school need this discipline to do the right thing at the right time. Trust me, Drill Instructors do not give a shit if you have a doctorate or can run a 2:20 marathon (and if they do, they certainly won't let you know about it). SO, that's an abridged explanation of what you'll encounter in enlisted basic.

If you want to retain a bit more autonomy, I highly recommend the officer corps. It's a bit more of a risk, because, unless you legitimately like snap your leg in half or something similar, if you flunk out of OCS, that's it, you're gone. OCS is much more geared towards evaluating the individual than evaluating the group, as, opposed to the enlisted Marines function of providing mass to accomplish the mission, the Marine Officer must organize and supervise the movements of the enlisted to ensure mission accomplishment. In any branch of the service, the officer side is the thinking side of the house. That's why you have to be a college graduate. Plus, your base pay is better, and the eyes on you when you aren't at work are much less demanding. What really ends up getting the enlisted who join when they're older is the micromanagement that happens with the junior marines. Even if you're a shit-hot motivator, you will be living in the barracks (unless you're married), and will have to deal with the fact that you have a room shittier than your first college dorm room, the chow hall sucks but they're going to dock it from your pay anyways, and at any point in time, at the discretion of your chain of command, you may be called to stand subject to a room inspection, and, depending on the mood of your immediate superiors, or maybe depending on the mood of your superiors twice removed (because, remember, in the Marine Corps, shit rolls downhill..!) you may be called upon to field day your room, which means, that, as a 25 year old man, you will be punished for not keeping your room to a standard that even your mother never held you to (and I give you the benefit of the doubt that you may have had a Mennonite upbringing), and be required to clean it for as many hours as it takes for your chain of command to cool off at whatever they're really pissed about... Really, what I'm trying to say, is just go officer. The enlisted will probably talk shit about you behind your back, call you a boot LT who's been in for less time than they have, but as a Lance Corporal (about to pick up Corporal, knock on wood) with buddies who went officer right around the same time I came in, officers are the shit, and they might have a lot on their plate, but trust me, it's not as meaningless as the shit we've got on ours. Sooo yeah, go officer.

Went through basic in the summer of '08, btw, so I'm not too far removed from it. And I could probably fill you in on OCS/TBS too, so fire away if you've got questions.

And I made it sound like it sucks, but you will never know the same sense of pride as having earned the title of US Marine. Short story: At 17 I walked on to my high school XC team ran my first 5k in 28:36. Went to a small NAIA college, worked my ass off, got up into 100 mile weeks, ran 16:08 at age 20. It never came easy and I had to fight hard for what came easy as hell to other people, and I was (am) pretty proud of that. But when you get that eagle, globe, and anchor in your hand, you become part of something that I still can't find the words for. (And I'm secretly a peace loving hippie, so, if I can feel so strongly about it..) If you want a challenge, and you want the pride, don't even look at the other services (unless, unless, you look at being a navy corpsmen. Those guys are f***ing awesome. Bravo Zulu for all you squids (whatever the f*** that means)). The Navy is chill, but they're just not the marines. After that, the Air Force is affectionately known as the chair force, and the army, well, the army is just nasty... Same fight, alright, I'll give 'em that, but if you're really thinking about it, go down to the Army recruiting station, walk in, look at all the smoking and joking, listen to all the bonuses they want to throw your way, watch all the pandering, and then go a few doors down to the Marine Recruiting Office, and notice how it's almost dead silent when you walk in. Watch as they sit you down and ask you what you think you can bring to the corps. Listen as they tell you that they won't give you the same bonuses, but they'll give you a title that's worth twice as much. Try it. You'll see. It's weird as hell.

I can't speak as a former Marine, but I was in both the Air Force and the Army.

I joined for all the wrong reasons.

Afraid that i would regret it later, money, G.I. Bill.

I did my best even going to Army OCS in 1982 and retiring after getting out of active duty and going into the active reserve...as a Major.

it was a very lackluster career.

it was my fault because I went into it for the wrong reasons in the first place.

That being said, I always gave it 100%.

I did get my 20 year letter but am thinking about not accepting any pension, even though I had alot of points (almost 9 years active duty gets you alot of points)

You know if it is really "you" or not.

if you can be successful in a career that was meant for you in the first place, you may go farther in the long run.

if you want to be in that's fine. but i thought on it and decided that the mil is being used by the feds for the wrong reasons. if you plan to run for public office as a war hawk later in life then i would join up so that voters don't make snide remarks about your lack of service. other than that i can't see a compelling reason to join up my self. my dad was in the u.s. marines in vietnam. my grandfather and uncles were in wwii in the u.s. army and japanese army. they don't have anything good to say about wars and the scores of people they killed. i guess you want to try different things though and that you should do. have fun.

Join the Navy, the Ritual of Poseidon is so much fun! 40 guys all rolling around naked on deck rubbing eachothers genitals. Good times!

What a great post. I have no desire to serve in the military, but I respect those who do. I realize I have nothing on these guys.

Thank you for serving.

Going in at 21 with almost a college degree, how did your frame of mind fit in with the other enlisted men? It seems like most are the super aggressive, want to rip everyones head off types. I don't want to judge you, but most liberal arts, cross country running, hard working types don't have this attitude. Were you able to fit in with the other recruits in a relatively short amount of time? Also, what is the time commitment like for MOS after basic training? Could you elaborate on your experience with MOS?

25 years old is not too old. I enlisted as a Navy Reservist at age 30. I won every timed run in my division, beat everyone in pullups in the Capatain's Cup competition, and was routinely told by my RDCs to go do something else productive during "intensive training" as they could see that it was doing nothing to me except wasting my time.

And now, for those of you who are about to say that it was because I am in the Navy... sorry... my follow on school was combined Navy and Marine and there were only 4 people faster on timed runs than I... 2 Navy and 2 Marines...and that just means that there were a whooolllle lot of Sailors and Devil Dogs behind me.

I am not a natural talent and probably slower than most on here. I tell this story not to impress, but to impress upon you that being excellent is a choice and something that takes consistency and effort; this alone will help you beat the vast majority of people most of the time. From personal experience a huge number of people even in the military lack self-discipline (they join to have it instilled in them. I also believe this is why Reservists are serving so well overseas right now as they bring maturity and discipline with them already). And consistency... most people are just not consistent, and just like training to race, daily consistency applied to all areas, will put you ahead of the pack.

My employer was proud to see me enlist when I decided to and technically once you do it, you are on "military orders" and it is not something that can be argued. I dont think most employers would complain as long as you are a great employee either. They know the return on an individual that serves.

Train, enlist, deploy, do what most people will never do.... serve their country... and walk with with pride.

Some truly great replies on here. Thanks to all. Refreshing to see this board can still produce some great discussions. I have made up my mind to serve. Not sure whether it will be Navy or Marines.

You can still keep you dignity as a civilian and save lives by joining an FD. You can quit or call in sick any time you don't like it since you are still a civilian. Most people in this day and age think anti-Semitism is immoral. Joining Obama's rape of the Semitic Arab Muslims of Palestine /Iraq and of the Caucasian Muslims of Afghanistan would bother most.

I have served in both the Marine Reserves and the Navy Reserves, so let me know if you have questions.And to the other guy that asked about a 21 year old adjusting: I went to recruit training the summer between my junior and senior year of college (turning 21 at boot camp). It's not that hard to adjust. Yes, you do a lot of drill, and yes, there is all that discipline stuff (the guy above who graduated in '08 is absolutely correct in everything that he said), but that is meant for the younger folks. Just play along and enjoy the crucible, because that is where the fun stuff happens!

And Bravo Zulu means "well done". Yes, Navy term (and they use it a lot!)

Nice that the Pentagon has made the Corps so easy now. Oprah won't find even one lead in, not even for one show.

Before I have to get back to work....

I think you should decide what job you want to do in either the Navy or Marines. I chose the Navy because of a very specific job that I wanted to do, in the Navy Reserves.

Otherwise, I would say USMC. But that is just my personal opinion from my friends who are in the Corp and personal observation from being deployed recently. IMHO There is no comparison even between a regular Marine Infantry unit and a regular Army unit either. I am sorry to offend anyone but the Devil Dogs have definitely avoided the creeping PC culture and softness it brings. They maintained much more of their esprit de corp. This was echoed by a friend of mine you after 17 years made the switch from USMC to Army.

I did not read every post to see if you have graduated college or what your professional experience is. If you are enlisting as opposed to going commission, and dont be afraid to go enlisted even with a college degree...if you have a reason to and desire to. I have a strange feeling that when you show up to MEPS to enlist, you will shake your head when you see the maturity difference between you and those younger than you enlisting. You will likely instantly see that once you are in you will be in a position to take leadership and mentorship by virtue of your age, experience. This will also allow you to be able to be lead better as well.

Did they really stop beating recruits at Hollywood ? No more "leaps of freedom" off the balcony ? No more daily face punches, body blows, choke outs. No more Mt. Suribachi at Coerectional Custody platoon, and "Concertina Wire Pitt" at Motivation Platoon. No more throwing recruits down the stairs for an MD ? No more eating your own vomit if you puke up your chow ? No more softball bat in the Duty Hut to break one thigh bone then UD a recruit. That's no fun. LAPD relies on the Marine Corps to fill it's own ranks. Where we gonna get guys now ?

1967-1971, Uncle Sams Misguided Children