[elitecloud]

if i remember correctly, Marine Corps boot camp is 13 weeks.

[Eames]

[quote="Cpt. Zapotoski":7d48b][quote="Cpl. Eames":7d48b][quote="Cpt. Zapotoski":7d48b]Bean 2, I was thinking about going to college and then the Marines but I said fuck that and just signed up. College can always come later and there is always a chance I might just make a career out of the Marines as enlisted. Veterans always told me they respect Officers who went enlisted first and then went Officer. So that's what I'm doing.[/quote:7d48b]

I'd ask about nrotc marine option scholarships and go to college before you join the marines, because after spending 4-6 years in the corps (or longer) you might not be up for college, not to mention you will have forgotten everything you learned in high school. You got a fucking 1210 on your sat so your in good shape i only got an 1170 and i got it, but you better hurry the last nrotc marine option scholarship board meets the end of this month, so you better hurry your ass up. As for getting more respect out of doing enlisted first...it might be true, but if your a good officer and can relate to your men, then you will have their respect.[/quote:7d48b]

Uhh... what's the point of going to college and then spending 4-6 years in the Marines, or longer. When you get out you'll most likely not remember half the matieral you've learned in high school or college combined.

Might be true? IT IS TRUE, believe me. Go up to any enlisted Marine and ask them whether they think that Marine officers should go thru the same training and bullshit before they become one and come back here and tell me what they say. Better yet ask an Officer and tell me what they say to you. Most Officers come in with a chip on the shoulder but later get back handed by the Gunny or First Sergeant and they straighten up. They are green when they come in and seek to the NCOs for help. It happens all the time, same with the past and in the present.

It's common sense when you think about it. Going enlisted and getting the experiencing the same shit as the men that you are leading will give you the experience and will to lead those men the RIGHT way. Plus with being a peon on your record it will show you you have the right determination to rise thru the ranks.

Officers give orders in battle, the NCO executes the orders and leads men into battle. happy:

BEAN2: It's generally hard to put twent years in as in Officer if you were every thinking about making a career out of it. Most Officers are forced out at Captain because they can't find an opening. If I put six years in as enlisted, and then put the rest as Officer I'll be set for a twenty year retirement biggrin:[/quote:7d48b]

Well if your serious about being in the military after college and bean seems like a pretty fit guy (except for the running which can improve) then rotc is something he really should consider. Especially if your parents want you to go to college before you get into the military, that way if you get there and decide you don't like it u can get out and still have your education to fall back on. But if your worried about gaining the respect of your men by being enlisted, while your in rotc you can also be in the reserves or national gaurd which will also help u pay tuition costs and once you graduate you recieve your officer comision plus you draw higher pay because you get paid as a 2ndlt who's been in for 4 years as opossed to 1 year, and you can also transfer out of the reserves or national gaurd and switch to active duty if you so desired. Me, personally I feel like I won't have a problem relating to the people under my command and gaining their respect because I will know what its like to be a peon and work my way up, ive been in mcjrotc for 4 years, started at the bottom and worked my way up (ya i know jrotc is a joke, even as a company commander ill be the first to say it!) But from their I'm going to the citadel which has the most regimented and harsh 4th class system in the world....your first year at the citadel is tougher then any standard basic training, because at the citadel your still expected to do all the same demanding physical and military shit that you do at parris island but your doing it while being a full time college student, which strains you both physically and mentally and the leaders that are produced are world class.

Now, if your going to a normal college and want to do rotc...then the reserves or gaurd might be a good idea if your considering making the military a career or you are concerned about not getting respect.

[Bean 2]

I was thinking about doing ROTC for a long time but then the recruiter told me about PLC which sounds alot better. You only have to go in the summer so it doesnt affect your school work/partying. You can choose if you want to do ground, air, or law, which is something i do think you can do with ROTC.

[[GDC]_Polemarcus]

I think it might be worth to point out that if you're goal is to serve your country there are other alternatives out there. It all really depends on what your interests are. I have a very close friend who graduated two years ago from The Catholic University of America with a masters degree in both urban planning and architectural design. He's now working in the White House and the Pentagon designing things like bunkers, blast-proof & kevlar walls similar to the one already incorporated on the pentagon. On the urban design side he also works with military personel to help analyize vurnurable point within our own cities, and how that can be corrected. On the flip side, he also was also in a group which reviewed plans of iraqi cities and helped develop assault paths. I think he is now currently working on a master plan for the reconstruction of a democratic Iraq.

I am currently completeing my masters degree in architecture, but... last year I worked on a project for the Navy in which my firm designed a torpedo testing facility. Very cool stuff