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Advice for a soon-to-be Marine?

Javelina

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
125
Location
East Valley
Hello all,

After long discussion and speaking with a recruiter my wife and I have decided that we are going to enlist into the Marines. I am in the process now of filling out all necessary paperwork and should be taking my ASVAB next Monday 8/25. Only question I feel like I really have at this time is what would be the best MOS to go into that would either lead to a career in Law Enforcement after serving my 4-8 years, or what MOS would be best for serving a full 20 years in order to retire from the Corps? Hopefully they both could be the same MOS? We are both young with me turning 20 next month and her turning 21 in early next year. Our first boy will be here in the end of October as well. So in other words we are just starting off with 4 years to make sure we enjoy the military life and to open up further career opportunities whether that be to stay in the Military or going into Local Law Enforcement. I am considering the following MOS's:

-0311 (Rifleman)
-0331 (Machine Gunner)
-5811 (Military Police)
-5812 (MP Dog Handler)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from any current or former Marines. That you guys for any advice, I greatly appreciate it! :lol:
 

Primus

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2013
Messages
3,939
Location
United States
Hello all,

After long discussion and speaking with a recruiter my wife and I have decided that we are going to enlist into the Marines. I am in the process now of filling out all necessary paperwork and should be taking my ASVAB next Monday 8/25. Only question I feel like I really have at this time is what would be the best MOS to go into that would either lead to a career in Law Enforcement after serving my 4-8 years, or what MOS would be best for serving a full 20 years in order to retire from the Corps? Hopefully they both could be the same MOS? We are both young with me turning 20 next month and her turning 21 in early next year. Our first boy will be here in the end of October as well. So in other words we are just starting off with 4 years to make sure we enjoy the military life and to open up further career opportunities whether that be to stay in the Military or going into Local Law Enforcement. I am considering the following MOS's:

-0311 (Rifleman)
-0331 (Machine Gunner)
-5811 (Military Police)
-5812 (MP Dog Handler)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from any current or former Marines. That you guys for any advice, I greatly appreciate it! :lol:

Not sure about the corps but did army quite a while. Mud puppy or mud puppy K9 handler.

Both will definitely help in civilian side. I know multiple people in local PDs that are all MPs. Some is same some is different but its the closest to LE.

Be a grunt if you want to have fun. By fun I mean live in crap, eat crap, and walk far. But the upside is you'll get to shoot and drink a lot.

Good luck brother. Just remember you can ask for the MOS but they can/will shove you wherever they want based on asvab...

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk
 

jackrockblc

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2014
Messages
256
Location
Jefferson County, CO
I'm a former Army soldier, so take my advice with that in mind.

But every Marine friend of mine has told me that they are a rifleman first, anything else second - regardless of assigned MOS. So I would suggest going as an MP or MP Dog Handler, as those will provide additional skills with your ultimate goal in mind. And, in some places, military service with an honorable discharge helps bypass certain requirements, and/or bumps you up in the viewing, when going for LE careers.
 

Mr Birdman

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Messages
209
Location
United States
Mos

Wow. Things must have really changed from when I enlisted in the USN.

Then we wrote Dream Sheets, and I wrote mine for the 'brown water navy' but wound up training first as an interior communications telephone man, then reactor electrical power, controls and instrumentation and four years submarine sea duty. Then retiring in 1995 after twenty years as a civilian engineering technician and engineer.

Yes, don't plan too closely on a particular career after EAOS, as no one can prophesy the future so well. The Poverty of Historicism.

Join the Army they have the most money for collage and you do not have to pay for your uniforms and you will make rank faster. To be a K-9 handler you will have to wait until you are in at least 2 years or longer before you can apply for K-9 school. The best law enforcement jobs require a significant amount of collage no matter what your military background.
 

MAC702

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
6,331
Location
Nevada
...my wife and I have decided that we are going to enlist into the Marines....We are both young with me turning 20 next month and her turning 21 in early next year. Our first boy will be here in the end of October as well. ...

The Marines will enlist a young, pregnant, married woman?
 

Mr Birdman

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Messages
209
Location
United States
not joining

I would advise not even joining. Its not what you think its about anymore.

I would have to agree on some things about joining. The armed services are not like they used to be. I really liked full metal jacked (the movie) about Marine boot camp. If you can not face the DI how can you face the enemy. Now they allow the fruits and the flakes in and they have the satanic religions to practice their satanic ways.
 

SFCRetired

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2008
Messages
1,764
Location
Montgomery, Alabama, USA
Advice from an Old Soldier (1961-1964)(1973-1991): Think long and hard about enlisting. My son is currently active duty and, from things he has told me, it is not the Marine Corps, or the Army, that either was years ago. If you can afford it, your time would be better spent getting an education.

If you cannot afford college, then do one, and only one, enlistment, get everything you possibly can in the way of education while you are in, and then get out.
 

Javelina

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
125
Location
East Valley
Instead of quoting everyone (which would make this a very long post) I'm simply going to put names to the individuals I am replying to:

Primus: As with being in Law Enforcement yourself though let me ask you this: Are MP's frowned upon by civilian agencies? I have heard both that it will be closest to Civilian PD work as well as that MP's are trained so differently from other agencies that it is hard to break old training habits.

jackrockblc: Thanks for the advice, I believe that will be the path I take.

Marshaul: And why is this?

Mr. Birdman: I would go Army but it is something about "The Few and The Proud" that just sticks out to me, I wanna be part of the most BA branch possible, besides everyone knows what Army is: Ain't Ready to be a Marine Yet :rolleyes: Thanks for the advice though as I think I will be going regular MP then hopefully advancing into a Dog Handler position.

MAC702: When I say "We" it really is just Me enlisting however as a family we will all be going through it so I say "We".

Mr. Birdman: I don't know about everyone in the military being "fruits and flakes" or practicing "satanic religions/ways". That's a little harsh to say such things about our military isn't it?

SFCRetired: I plan on doing as much school while I'm in that way I can at least have my Bachelors done upon completion of my enlistment, since I do have some school under my belt as of now.

Walking Wolf: What exactly do you mean by that?

Thank you all for the advice, any other advice would still be greatly appreciated as I will be continuing to check this forum prior to signing under a certain MOS and will hopefully be able to give updates while going through MP training and etc. :cool:
 
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SFCRetired

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2008
Messages
1,764
Location
Montgomery, Alabama, USA
Do remember this one thing: A recruiter, without regard to branch, will promise you the moon. If they do not put it down on paper, it is worthless.

I do wish you the very best. I won't even make all the Marine jokes that I know that made me so beloved (NOT!) of my Marine students long ago.
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
Do remember this one thing: A recruiter, without regard to branch, will promise you the moon. If they do not put it down on paper, it is worthless.

I do wish you the very best. I won't even make all the Marine jokes that I know that made me so beloved (NOT!) of my Marine students long ago.

And what they put down on paper may not be what you thought it was. I signed up for 4 years (to avoid being drafted for 2) with the promise of being sent to Basic Electronics School. I, and 249 other Marines, stood tall in the morning light in front of essentially a ranch house -style building that had 50 desks inside. We had arrived at Basic Electronics School, just like we were contractually promised. 100 of them became Telephone Linemen, and another 100 became Radio-Telephone Operators. Happened "just like that!" :snaps fingers: Neither the Lord nor the Commandant knew why, but I ultimately became a rather specialized cryptocommunications repair tech. When I got out I was recruited by Western Union to repair their teletype equipment - an offer I declined.

Make sure you are sober when you arrive at Boot Camp - it really is important. Play all the happy horsehockey games with as much enthusiasm as you possibly can - it will save you from becoming #1 on some DI's Sh!t Parade. After you have completed Boot and whatever they are calling AIT these days you will be shipped to where the Corps needs a hole filled. Find out what skills they are short on, and without actually volunteering make it known you possess at least those skills on a rudimentary basis. (Admitting that I knew how to type got me out of some nasty details and into rather cherry REMF-like slots.)

You will use up almost a year getting through your basic-level trainings (yes, plural). Given that you will then have 3 more years, you can start figuring out what you really would prefer to do and then start your campaign with your Company Master Gunnery Sergeant to get transferred to a school for that. Remember that anything less than 4.7 (out of 5) on your Fitness Report will most likely mean you do not get anywhere near what you request.

As strange as it may sound, you may find that you like what you are doing and decide to make a career of the Corps. Just remember that a career is just a job you still like showing up at. Lifers, OTOH, tend to have nothing outside their being a Marine. Do not become a lifer.

stay safe.

Oh, yeah - Semper Fi, Ooh-rah and all the rest of that.
 

marshaul

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
11,188
Location
Fairfax County, Virginia
Marshaul: And why is this?

Because we don't need any more cops, for one.

But more importantly because, of the attitudes you'll develop in the Marines, most modern police departments are seeking (and will encourage) the exact opposite of the subset you should really be bringing into the field. And, because policing is an echo chamber, and you'll likely never again re-assimilate into normal society if you follow this path, you will never again be exposed to opinions like mine, and so you will become a cog in a very immoral machine, and never even question this fact.

The Marines I know learn to be very respectful towards authority, but brutal towards an enemy. They learn to be orderly, disciplined, and rigid when this is required, but they also learn dynamic application of force.

In policing, the former attitudes (respect, discipline) are those which should be seen 99% of the time. Remarkably few people (even most petty criminals) warrant being treated as "the enemy" of police, especially by the standards of a Marine. Unfortunately, many departments foster an attitude of fighting a "War" on crime, drugs, terrorism, etc. With this emphasis on war the priorities are reversed, and cops are encouraged to spend 99% of their energies exemplifying the latter traits (aggressiveness, brutality, being warlike etc.). In short, they encourage cops to view greater and greater swathes of the public as potential "enemies", when cops – who are, after all, public servants – should be treating the citizenry with the full deference due authority.

So, while Marines could make excellent cops (if the respect, discipline, and restraint were emphasized), in practice they tend to make really bad cops, because they are encouraged in precisely the wrong subset of those behaviors they pick up in the Corps.

Random example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p51PGX-PrqQ

(Was the kid a punk? Sure. Did he "deserve" that? Well, that's not for an officer of the law to decide, and a Marine should exercise the restraint he possesses when his job is to be an officer of the law.)
 
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Wolfgang1952

Regular Member
Joined
May 31, 2010
Messages
169
Location
Mt Hermon / Franklinton,La ,
If I had it all over to do again I would still go NAVY. More civilian job types than any other branch of the services. And you are not a trigger puller unless you go that way. The Navy does have Dog handlers and SP’s (Shore Patrol) = MP’s.

Wolf
 

Levi

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2012
Messages
188
Location
Tacoma
If I had it all over to do again I would still go NAVY. More civilian job types than any other branch of the services. And you are not a trigger puller unless you go that way. The Navy does have Dog handlers and SP’s (Shore Patrol) = MP’s.

Wolf

Master-at-Arms, or MA, is the USN police. Shore patrol is a duty day watch stood by anyone E-4 to O-3 for the purpose of rounding up drunk sailors and keeping them out of "prohibited" areas.

My opinion: If you are looking to wear a uniform, join the Coast Guard. Be an MK (marine diesel mechanic) as it offers a good career path in and out of service.
 
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