bigmo66 wrote:My observation and personal recruiting experience was a bit different than some of the comments here. I spent 3 years in Provo, Utah as a Marine Recruiter and our requirements were as high if not higher than the other services. Granted, we are much smaller and don't need the same numbers. A lot depends on your geographical location also. I was in an area with a very high concentration of high school graduates and very little legal waivers. I was not allowed to put in 1 single non-graduate in 3 years and it was rare (maybe 1 in 40) that I even needed a waiver for marijuana. The Mormon kids were pretty straight laced, intelligent and extremely patriotic. You simply will not find the same "candidate" day in and day out in an area like downtown Chicago. Medical waivers were possible and on a case by case base. Asthma was almost an instant death sentence, clinical depression accompanied by drug treatment was tough, any heart ailment other than a slight murmur in youth that was gone. Severe allergies of skin, medicine, foods - nope, vision beyond 20/50 was tough some times and of course some other obvious medical conditions. We used to have the Medical Remedial Program that would allow a kid to join providing the condition could be taken care of once he was on active duty. Conditions such as an undecended testicle (Yeah, it's funny) and other minor problems, but I think budget cuts wiped out that program.
As far as physical condition goes, it's simply hard to stay a Marine if you can't handle the additional, rigorous physical conditioning. They have a different outlook on the matter and every Marine is a rifleman first and a pencil pusher, mechanic, lawyer or whatever else second. It's tradition and mission. If a Marine is a sickbay commando or physically weak, overweight or just can't hack it, they are really pushed hard to succeed or pushed out.
These kids are smarter than ever and even though there are rotten eggs, they would stack up well against kids walking around the street with no direction. With all that being said, you are what you are. If you are a turd before you join, you are a turd inside too. Some mature, get responsible and really excel while some won't. More enlisted servicemen have college degrees now than ever and the opportunity is there if the motivation follows.
Countless stories of scrawny 18 year old kids joining up to serve and end up as Colonels and Generals with Doctorates. Retiring as a 40-50 year old Officer or senior enlisted person with loads of experience and education makes for a very successful, productive member of society.
Okay maybe I should have clarified "Army".
The Marines deploying or redeploying through my parts are lean and mean. Not taking anything away from the Army grunts but the Marines are usually at the forefront of the action up North.
Again, not trying to piss anyone off. You just have to see it to believe the attitudes and physical readiness of "some" of the Army personnel. Maybe I should take some good ol' pictures and let you all be the judge.
well he did tell me to go get something in writing why I'm not taking it anymore, and why it was prescribed intially.
But he did say he didn't think I would get in, so I'm not even gonna bother with that.
Oh and Drugs, what's that?
Never done any, everything else looks good except for the Zoloft......
I did have some surgery on my toe (tendon re-attached), but that can't be proven.
Marines take anyone because it doesn't matter your past. Whoever you are they are going to break you down and build you back up. Other branches can't do that. Still, there are some places out in the fleet that let people get nasty. Sad sight.
As for zoloft it's the military hospital that screwed you there. Any way you can deny it?
You could have gotten away with just not telling them if it was a medical record from the civilian sector.
Back when Vietnam was hot and the draft extremely active, the military would give criminals a choice of 2 years in jail or a 2 year hitch in the Marines. Some made fine Marines (just needed a firm hand and discipline) and others got busted out for a number of reasons. They then went back to jail to finish out the 2 years.
People will forget what you said... and people will forget what you did... but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Shaggy wrote:Marines take anyone because it doesn't matter your past. Whoever you are they are going to break you down and build you back up. Other branches can't do that. Still, there are some places out in the fleet that let people get nasty. Sad sight.
While it is true that the Marines will "break you down", it's all about mental and physical discipline. It is however, not true that the Corps will take anyone. The requirements are just as tough or tougher to get into the Corps as any other service these days. I have personal experience as a Marine Recruiter. There were some otherwise darn good prospects, but they had admitted non-waivable drug usage or other criminal records that kept them out. There were a handful of prospects that I led to the Army or Navy where they were able to obtain a waiver. The Corps is extremley small and doesn't need the numbers as the other services.
MadDoc, there certainly was a time when it was the service or jail, but those days are gone (technically) I can say that if an otherwise decent kid showed up in court and there I was in my Dress Blues in the back, the judge knew what was going on and depending on the circumstance may tend to "go easy" on the kid.
bigmo66 wrote:While it is true that the Marines will "break you down", it's all about mental and physical discipline. It is however, not true that the Corps will take anyone. The requirements are just as tough or tougher to get into the Corps as any other service these days. I have personal experience as a Marine Recruiter. There were some otherwise darn good prospects, but they had admitted non-waivable drug usage or other criminal records that kept them out. There were a handful of prospects that I led to the Army or Navy where they were able to obtain a waiver. The Corps is extremley small and doesn't need the numbers as the other services.
MadDoc, there certainly was a time when it was the service or jail, but those days are gone (technically) I can say that if an otherwise decent kid showed up in court and there I was in my Dress Blues in the back, the judge knew what was going on and depending on the circumstance may tend to "go easy" on the kid.
This one kid was DEP'd in with a drug waver 2 pages long and another couldn't break 40 on the ASVAB. They got him in with an admin mos.
My recruiters sucked. They lied up the ass to me. Wish I had you. You wouldn't have gotten my hopes so high before I got them shot down in a fireball. They said id get to fly in f18's and everything.
Shaggy wrote:This one kid was DEP'd in with a drug waver 2 pages long and another couldn't break 40 on the ASVAB. They got him in with an admin mos.
My recruiters sucked. They lied up the ass to me. Wish I had you. You wouldn't have gotten my hopes so high before I got them shot down in a fireball. They said id get to fly in f18's and everything.
Sorry your experience was negative. I would have never even tried to get a kid with that much drug usage and I was fortunate not to have to DEP cat 4s dumber than a mud fence. As I stated, things are a bit different in urban areas. As far as the recruitier saying you could fly F18s, not unless you become an Officer, qualify for and complete flight school. I have no idea why a promise like that was made to you unless you were in college close to graduation or you were in the PLC, ROTC program and met the stringent requirements for a fixed wing candidate. I never figured out why recruiters lie when it always comes back to bite them in the a$$. The last thing I wanted was for a kid to come home from boot camp or MOS school and tell everyone they knew that I was liar. Not good business. I got a kick and a thrill telling these kids that Marine bootcamp was going to kick their butt and they would be whining for Mommy. I knew that if they could handle that thought, they went with a realistic and determined attitude. I find it hard that there are kids out there that actually believe the Marines will be summer camp complete with surfboard! Takes all kinds I reckon.
Bah, i knew the f18 part was bogus. I wanted to join anyway. It was them saying I would be done with training in september and I wasn't done until December. Basically any question I came up with they gave me the answer they though i wanted to hear.
A ship's gunner, home on leave, was sitting with his cat before the fire. His wife had to go and visit some relations, and warned him to keep an eye on the fire. She went out. The gunner fell asleep. Two hours passed. The fire died. The wife returned. She took one look at her husband sleeping before the dead fire, and screamed:
"Fire!"
The husband leapt to attention, tore open the door of the over, rammed in the cat, slammed the door, and cried, "Number One gun ready!"
Lefty wrote:A ship's gunner, home on leave, was sitting with his cat before the fire. His wife had to go and visit some relations, and warned him to keep an eye on the fire. She went out. The gunner fell asleep. Two hours passed. The fire died. The wife returned. She took one look at her husband sleeping before the dead fire, and screamed:
"Fire!"
The husband leapt to attention, tore open the door of the over, rammed in the cat, slammed the door, and cried, "Number One gun ready!"
Back in 1992, as some may recall, the British luxury liner Queen Elizabeth 2 struck a rock in Buzzards Bay off the coast of Massachusetts. An aquaintence of mine knew some of the US Coast Guard crew that were on duty at Castle Hill, RI, that day. According to him this is what was said during the initial radio call. Keep in mind that the radio operator on the QE2 was speaking with a formal British upper crust style and the Coast Guard watchstander was probably some 18 year old kid fresh from a farm in Iowa:
QE2: United States Coast Guard, United States Coast Guard, this is the Queen Elizabeth 2. Over.
USCG: Queen Elizabeth 2 this is Coast Guard Station Castle Hill. Over.
QE2: United States Coast Guard this is the Queen Elizabeth II. We appear to have run aground. Over.
Joint Chiefs of Staff wrote:Again Meggie my apologies for sounding like I was bashing the Army. I did not mean to offend you, our troops or anyone else in any way shape or form.
No problem, i respect your observations. I just dislike public displays of what could be percieved as insults questioning our abilities. If this conversation was between the two of us im sure it would have been different.
Its sort of like, you can talk to your cousin about your mother being fat.. but you wouldnt want him going on TV and talking about how she could use to lose a few pounds.
brembo wrote:"This is a stick-up...I have an armadillo in my pants"
Meggie wrote:No problem, i respect your observations. I just dislike public displays of what could be perceived as insults questioning our abilities. If this conversation was between the two of us im sure it would have been different.
Its sort of like, you can talk to your cousin about your mother being fat.. but you wouldn't want him going on TV and talking about how she could use to lose a few pounds.
