Making Marines
Chatsworth, CA : Image Entertainment, [2007]
To become part of the few and the proud, U.S. Marine recruits first must prove they can survive Marine Corps Boot Camp – the toughest 12 weeks imaginable. These three fascinating programs chronicle this grueling physical and mentally exhausting training. Also examines the recruits’ lives and backgrounds, how they came to be who they are today and why they are willing to work so hard to become United States Marines.

First to fight : living up to the legacy.
Chatsworth, CA : Image Entertainment, [2009]
An up-close and personal look at the training, skills, and tactics that have made the United States Marine Corps the greatest military task force on Earth.

P.S. Let me say Semper Fi in advance. I’m sure you will earn it.

A couple of weeks ago, I was out for a drive and looked up at a billboard on a major boulevard. I snapped a picture of it but accidentally deleted it when upgrading my phone. Otherwise I would post it for you. It was a young man in highly decorated Marine Uniform and the message was : “dedicated to something bigger and more important than themselves.”

A picture says a thousand words.
Translation: “Join the Marines because your life is worthless for any other reason. Give it up for US.”

Not only will a drill sergeant treat you like a worthless insect on your first day of training, but that’s what your life is to them. Do not be seduced by the uniform where you gratitude for your “donation” to the country is a $2 lapel pin. But even more importantly, if you are thinking about enlisting because “women like a man in uniform” then you are joining for the WRONG reasons. Understand what that means, and have a VERY serious talk with yourself.

I frequently see soldiers in training running steep slopes and climbing with ropes. My hat goes off to them for their selflessness and I salute everyone of them.

Women like men in uniform because – to her – he’s just a worthless utility too. She has no respect or honor for him, and that’s why there are so many cheating military wives. The cheating wife of a soldier should receive the death penalty for the capital crime of treason. Jumping on anything with a c~~~ while her man is giving his life for her most basic freedoms and liberties is something she can help. A soldier should not be wondering if his wife is f~~~ing her new man-friend. Cheating army wives hinder a thousand soldiers’ ability to get the job done. They are a plague of doubt in an otherwise healthy platoon. They are an act of treason that spreads at the speed of a hilarious internet video. They are a cancerous incarnation of greed and should be punished for it.

For lack of a faithful wife, the mission was lost. For lack of a mission, the battle was lost. For lack of a battle, the war was lost. For lack of a war, the nation was lost. For lack of a nation, you’d be more rewarded playing aerial combat video games.

Reconsider it VERY carefully. Especially your motivations.

I joined the Army right after high school. I chose the Army because they are(were?) the only branch that guaranteed your job selection, and I sure as hell was not going to be infantry, it’s just not my style. I grew up in a strict religious house and I was itching to be a free man, out on my own, in charge of my own destiny. What I found was that I had traded my mother for a First Sergeant and my father for a Company Commander. There is no freedom in the military. I was a few days late on a video rental and they called my Commander to report my negligence! I was not mature enough to handle it, and I’d probably be a terrible soldier even if I had waited to join till I was.

So my advice to a young man like you isn’t that you shouldn’t join, but that you should have realistic expectations about what it is that your joining. There are many amazing benefits to the U.S. military, but there are quite a few MAJOR drawbacks as well. Don’t take what they throw at you as a personal attack (like I did), the military treats everyone rough. If your personality can handle it, it will be a rewarding experience.

As far as women go, stay away from civilians! If you must be in a relationship, try to find a fellow service member because they will be held to a lot stricter standards in regards to their behavior, especially if your both Officers. I’ve personally witnessed many a disastrous marriage between enlisted men and civilian women. And most definitely stay the f~~~ away from the local bar sluts whom everyone on base has scored with. Best of luck in your future, brother!

Like with anything, make an educated choice and good luck!

First, put yourself in your Colonel’s combat boots. The Colonel, he or she, has a list. From it The Col. Must (must, meaning ordered to) pick persons under The Cols’s command for:

1. Keep at all costs and, better yet, offer a promotion to.
2. Transfer to a plum job in another Col’s command.
3. Transfer to a crappy job, often regarded as a dead-end punishment, or worse (yes worse is always possible).
4. Discharge from the Corps.

On The Cols’s list are personnel with the following MOS:

A. The best cook the officers’ mess has had in more than 10 years.
B. A guy who can fix The Cols’s jet aircraft.
C. A guy who can fix The Cols’s radios, computers, and other assorted electronic gear.
D. A large number of guys who have no real skill above and beyond carrying a rifle and shooting on command.

Now, after putting on The Colonel’s boots, you decide which category your MOS should be. Do you want to be in A, or B, or C, or D?

The time has come for you to leave The Corps

This time will come – whether you serve one hitch, or put in your thirty – when you say goodbye to military life, and either way, you just might want a job in the civilian sector.

1. Civilian employers, the smart ones, prefer military veterans over generic slackers. Vets understand:

* Getting the job done under difficult conditions
* Team work
* Successfully completing training in hard to acquire and rare skills
* Good work habits in general
* Following orders (employers everywhere really like obedience)
* Just plain old grit

2. The city I live in is a small one by any measure and rural to boot. Small as it is, I constantly see posters and ads for:

* Commercial Drivers Licensed (CDL) Class-A and Class-B truck drivers
* Electricians
* Automobile and diesel mechanics
* Air conditioning specialists (these guys get big bucks, by the way)
* Cooks and chefs who can fill large orders fast (meaning chain restaurant fare)
* Warehouse men (I assume this means guys who can drive a forklift and put its load on the correct shelf)

3. If you return to civilian life in a city like mine (2), then put yourself in the highly polished loafers of your future employers, and imagine how they will react when you say, “I am a US Marine, honorably discharged, and my MOS (you may have to interpret ‘MOS’ into civvy speak) was exactly what you are looking for, Sir (or Ma’am as the case may be).”

4. Compare this hypothetical reaction to the one where you say, “I’m a couch potato who’s getting kicked out of his (or her) childhood bedroom because I’m almost thirty now. I can do ‘Twitter’ and I have a Masters Degree in Social Injustice Studies.”

5. Go figure.

The Military Is Not For Everyone

Some gentlemen have written against joining up in the comments above this one. Do not discount their thoughts and feelings. They write from hard-won experience.

Figure out what your passion is and Go Your Own Way.

Only A Marine Is A Marine

No one on the entire Planet Earth can say I am a Marine, unless they have been through boot camp and served one hitch. No one and nobody. Period.

Go Your Own Way and devil take the hindmost!

The D.I. / starring Jack Webb, Don Dubbins

I don’t think I would last long in the civilian world with everything that’s going on i’m almost sure that I would end up snapping, and going completely insane. I lack in the emotions department, and have been told I was scum since coming out of the womb so verbal abuse will be an absolute joke to me. I have considered the Navy, or Army as a better fit…after reading some things on IHateTheUSMC.com they have some highly disturbing post in their forums from Marines retired, and active duty. I have alway’s had some what of a “Soldiers mentality” I just don’t fit in with other civilians, and would prefer the life of a soldier especially if I can meet someone that shares the same views as me on women, and politics.

he lost all respect for his first sergeant that was screwing female soldiers…pathetic I know.

You will meet evil people everywhere you go and every profession you look into. The military is no exception. I think it is a genetic thing, like hypergamy.

Are you smart enough to be a US Marine or join the Air Force? Take our quiz. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2012/1109/Are-you-smarter-than-a-US-Marine-Take-the-recruitment-quiz/Word-Knowledge-1
Here is the Wikipedia article on the test, at the bottom are links to practice exam materials: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Services_Vocational_Aptitude_Battery#What_Does_the_AFQT_Measure.3F

If I were you, I would practice until blue in the face.