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I hear ya 01 Mudslinger! When you're use to country small town life, living in the city is a major adjustment.

Hey bmaultbay, did you retire out of Ft. Campbell? I stayed in Clarksville for a week with some friends, and I loved that place. Seeing the AH-64 Apaches was a welcome sight instead of loud B-1 bombers, and F-15 fighters.

SudDawg
 
It will most definatly change your perspective on life and the way that you look at most things. The commercials are not far from the truth, because that is how you will feel. You will be going to the fabulous resort MCRD Paris Island, I never got a chance to stop by and check it out, cause I'm a Hollywood Marine (MCRD SanDiego), but I heard the sand fleas are horrible. What do you plan on doing for your MOS. I was a 3531, 3533, 3521(OJT) Motor Transport light, medium, heavy driver, and mechanic. I was working on getting to wrecker school(3536) before I got out, but not enough boat spaces or time left for me. Looking back boot camp may have been tough, cause I was a "FAT BODY" went in boot camp at 240ish and came out at 185, but you will learn so much about yourself in such a short time. You will find your limits and then you will break them. So much pride will be instilled in you that your friends and family will think that you are taller because you hold your head up higher. When I got my Eagle, Globe and Anchor on top of the Grim Reaper on August 22 1998 it was one of the most proud and emotional moments of my life, the other two are getting married to the most beautiful and wonderful woman I have ever met and the other was being there for my sons birth last year. I doesn't matter what service you go into they are all great, but the USMC is the best in my opinion, you will make lots of new friends, see exotic locales and get to play with really neat full auto weapons!

Aaron Drier (Cpl USMC 1998-2002)
-MCRD SanDiego
-Camp Pendleton
-Fort Leonardwood, MO
-Camp LeJeune, NC
-Fort Bragg, NC
-29 Palms, CA
-Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan
-Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland, Austraila
-Ie Shima, Japan

Seper Fi and drive on WAR DAWG!
 
I have many friends who joined right out of school. All of them loved it and one will retire from the Airforce in about 2 years. He says he still dont know what he wants to be when he grows up. If nothing else you can see the world, learn skills, and kill more insurgents before 9 a.m. than most others. lol

Good luck to you.
 
I retired from the Army (24 yrs),my dad was Army WWll and Korea,retired 20 yrs and my youngest son is a First Sgt in Korea, Army.I currently work for the USMC at Camp Lejeune NC.Let me give you my perspective.68% of the Marine Corps is first term Marines.That makes them by far the youngest service.Most get out after that first term.USMC is by FAR the proudest service,with the best discipline!I know others will object but so be it.Since the average age of first term Marines is about 20 they tend to be rowdy and at times reckless which causes them to have the highest accidents rates of all the services.This drives the leadership crazy of course,but this same youthful attitude is what makes Marines agressive in combat ,with a firm belief in themselves,and instills dread in their enemies.No one ever shook with fear because the Air Force has landed.Marines because of their youth and agressiveness love a fight,if there is no enemy at the moment they will fight each other to keep in practice.They believe the quickest way to victory is straight at you,they intend to kill you, and quite frankly they don't care if it hurts.They also have one "Unwritten" rule.NEVER bring any ammunition back.:rolleyes: :p :) You can't help but admire them and deep down in side everbody that serves in any other service,myself included, eventually asks themselves if they are tough enough to be a Marine.They have second rate facilities and worn out equipment,but that doesnt matter as long as it works and makes the enemies of this country dead!You will be tested and maybe wont make it.No shame in that at least you tried.If you do you will be FOREVER different from all other civilians.That is the same for all that serve regardless of service.You will never have to drop your head when asked what you did for your country.You will be hated by your enemies,loved by your fellow Marines,and joked about by the other services,but I promise you you will have everybodies respect,particularly the enemies.Once a Marine always a Marine and keep in mind I'm writing this as a member of an all Army family.Today most of our warfighting is "Joint" but even in the joint world USMC stands out when the bullets start flying.Good luck,think about it,and if you commit give it everything you have.The Marines wont accept anything else.:) Hope I didn't offend any of my Air Force BOC brothers LOL;) :)
 
Jim Im just glad you didnt mention the Navy :) . There is jokes for all services and we may tell each other crap but still hold a high respect for each one.

Take the Navy (if you get stationed on a ship there are some rates that never see one) alot of people cant get over being underway with nothing around but the vast seas. But you usually get 3 square meals and a rack to sleep in. If your on a Sub then its completly different you probably never see the sun until your ready to pull into port but you get 3 squars and a rack to hot rack with LOL (Smaller Subs).

Army I cant really say as Ive never been in it but Navy are squids Army could be dogface or ground pounder

Marine is a Jarhead

Air Force is Fly Boy even if they arnt a pilot LOL.
 
Jim,
You did not offend me brother. I am going on 16 years AF and I have to admit I have a huge respect for the Marines. I ain't gonna lie, I did not want to go thru that. I feel pretty sure I could have gone thru that but it takes a special breed to want to do it.

I have a Sgt who is a former marine the I pick on alot about his ID card saying Department of the Navy :rolleyes: but I am proud to serve with him and he is one of the people I want by my side next time I go to IRAQ. He has been in the AF Reserves for 5 years and he still has a hard time with the way we does business. He had a fire team at E-4 and they were his troops and was responsible for their lives. In the AF he is a E-5 and is in charge of noone but himself. Different way of doing business. One of my best troops!
 
Of course I meant NOOOOOOO offense to anybody in any of the services.;) We can call each other anything and do, as well as poke fun at each other,but when the bullets start flying its all for one and thats all that matters.In the Army I was a tanker and the grunts used to call us DATS,(dumb ass tankers).That is until they came up against an enemy tank,or MG position,then they called us frequently.LOL;) :rolleyes: :p The young man can't go wrong no matter what service he chooses and I admire his willingness to serve.As far as the Air Force I saw on many occasions during the Vietnam war how they singlehandedly ended many a furious firefight.Once we and the NVA realized they were overhead we BOTH ran like hell because you never knew where their stuff was going to land.After the AF left we ground combatants would cautiosly come out of our holes and then resume the far more dignified form of warfare in use prior to the Wright brothers.;) :rolleyes: :) :cool:
 
Oh we all have different jokes about the other services, but we all respect each other for what one does, even if we don't admit it sometimes. TA2D himself, along with my grandfather talked me into going in the service.

I take no offense to anything said. On the contrary, I have the highest utmost respect for Marines. I can never say I went through 13 weeks of boot camp hell, like my best friend. Of course TA2D can never say how the middle east is like myself (5th time over here,) because he went to Japan and Australia (yes, I'm hating :p ) Every service has it's own niche in todays operations, which are actually starting to merge more then ever.

And why are we called flyboys or wingnuts? I've only been in a flying unit on one deployment, and that was for airborne security during transit of Al Qaida/Taliban detainees in Afghanistan. But I love the Air Force, and I know deep down inside every one wishes at one time they went in the Air Force (don't deny it :p )

But in all seriousness, an Army Colonel told me that it doesn't matter what service you're in, we all wear a nametape that has U.S. on it. And we all take an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

SudDawg
 
Absolutely right and AMEN son.Keep up the good work and we all support you and hope and pray you make it back safely and that the first time you go catfishing a 130lb Blue ,jerks you, your rod and any of your Air Force buddies plumb out of the boat.:) :rolleyes: :p ;) :cool:
 
I Did My Tour In The U.S.M.C Between 1994-98, It's One Of The If Not The Best Thing I Ever Did. I Had Decisions To Make That Are Similar To The One's You're About To Make And For Me Joining Was The Best Decision I Could Have Made. Good Luck.
 
did the same thing when i was a junior in high school. well the summer after my junior year anyway. I really see no reason to do the delayed entry program. after your senior year you may want to change yer mind and not be able to get out of it. bout the only plus to the delayed program is yer inactive time of duty after yer discharge will be cut by a year or however long your delayed program is (i had to remind the corps of this after my discharge). the recruiter will say that the program gaurantees yer job choice, but you can get the same thing written down when you sign up without the delayed program. he'll also tell you that youll get yer first stripe as soon as you graduate boot camp because of the program. dont believe that one! yep get high score on the asvab and you can get just about any job you want as an enlisted man. read the fine print though. If you dont keep yer grades up in whatever school you go for, then all bets are off, and they can make a grunt out of you real quick. take yer time and really pick out the job that you want. you'll generally be stuck with it and unless yer gunna make it a career in the suck, youll want a good job when you get out.
as far as boot camp goes, it's not that tough. especially now lol! they cant hit you anymore, or call you bad names( i.e. "full metal jacket"). 20+ yrs ago when i was in it was actually harder than the movie showed. It is still physical though. will help you alot if yer not in couch potato shape when you get there. just keep yer mouth shut n do what yer told, youll be fine!
 
Alot of things have changed since I have been in, like uniforms, rifle range and bootcamp in general. If you can get some of your buddies to join, they might give you your mosquitoes, that would be PFC(Private First Class). Study all your General Orders and remeber them before you leave, and also the rank structure for enlisted and officers.

chris
 
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