Anyone in the Army?

[kidrock450]

Anyone here in the Army or Marines(US)?

I am a sophmore in highschool and thinking about joining the army or marines. Not sure which one though. I heard training in the marines is a lot tougher. I am in great physical condition and work out a lot though so I think i would be able to hold my own in it. I have always been interested in joining the military. Anyone have any stories or tips on basic training or what you think about the army/marines?

 

[Neutrino]

May I ask, why the army/marines? Just curious as I have a few friends who joined or considered joining the Navy, but I don't know anyone in the army.

 

[SFLUFAN]

USMC boot camp at Parris Island is considered more challenging than USA boot camp at Fort Jackson.

You have to decide what your MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) will be once you get out of boot camp. If you want to do infantry, then either will be fine but if you want to do something else, then the Army has a wider variety of MOS than the Corps.

For myself, I went though Army ROTC and was commissioned as an officer and served on reserve duty until early 2001.

As for physical conditioning, I HIGHLY suggest that you RUN RUN RUN. Weight work is all very well and good but for you to truly be a hard core PT stud, you MUST be able to have great running stamina. Basic will give you all the strength building you need but the running endurance is something you need to work on before you get to Basic - it'll be so much easier if you do.

If you want to join an elite unit like the Rangers or Marine Force Recon - you have to max your PT tests, which can only be achieved by running.

 

[blahblahblah]

I'm not in the military, but my dad was in the Air Force for 30 years (he retired with the rank E-9).

- Do your best to get into OCS. That means studying hard in high school.
- The divorce rate while in the military is really high. (I am lucky, my parents never got divorced)
- Be prepared to move a lot.
- There are really nice benefits if you stay in the military for 20+ years.

 

[SFLUFAN]

If you wish to become an officer, there are 2 (well...3) roads to get there:

1) ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) at a college or university
2) OCS (Officer Candidate School)
3) Appointment to one of the service academies.

Number 3 is by far the RAREST of them all so I won't even bother addressing it.

ROTC is the route most people take to become an officer. You attend your normal college courses as well as military science courses for your chosen service branch. Typically, you will receive a scholarship and stipend for being part of the ROTC program. YOu will be commissioned as on officer (either second lieutenant or ensign) upon graduation.

OCS is another route - enlist in the service branch, be an all-round kick ass kind of guy BOTH physically AND academically (yes, you will have to study things in the military) and hopefully you'll be sent to Officer Candidate School where you'll get a crash course in becoming an officer.

 

[kidrock450]

Yeah I am looking forward to all the traveling ect. and am willing to go to war. The reason I choose the army/marines over airforce/navy is it just interests me a lot more.
I would probley ty out to be a ranger or delta force. What branch do you think gets you trained the best for hand-to-hand combat? such as if you get into a fight you would be able to really defend yourself? I would think they would train you to do that better in the marines.

 

[SFLUFAN]

You will get more hand-to-hand in Marine basic than Army basic but I can pretty much guarantee for you that neither branch really gives a damn about hand-to-hand until you get into a unit like Rangers or Force Recon.

Let me put it to you this way, if you're engaged in hand-to-hand combat, then something has gone very, very wrong.

As for wanting to go into an elite unit, I will caution you that less than 1% of those who try out for those units are admitted. You generally have to pass a series of physical, psychological, and intelligence tests to gain admittance. Let me give you Delta Force as an example.

Basic Training to Airborne or Air Assault School (prerferably both) to Ranger School to Special Forces School (this is probaby the HARDEST one to get into) and only after you've been admitted to SF, you MAY get assigned to Detachment Delta.

 

[kidrock450]

sounds good. Also is West Point a good college to go to?


This might be a little Hollywood question but: How does someone become a spy or CIA operative ect?

 

[SFLUFAN]

West Point is an EXCELLENT school but you need to get an appointment from your Senator or Representative to get there...you must be superior academically, athletically in high school as well as be an upstanding member of your community.

As for the intelligence services, they will not look at you unless you have a college degree or a significant amount of military experience and/or possess some skill that they're in desperate need of (technology or language skills).