USMC on Youtube

[Rogue Hawk]

When I think of military, I think USMC:bowdown: I know, I was in the Air Force, but it was my second choice. When I was 17 I took the ASFAB with the Marines. I qualified for all their jobs. I was looking for something in avionics or computer maintenance. So why the AF? At the time, a 17 year old could only enlist with parental permission. My mother was a teenager in Germany in the 50's, and there where solders all around her. She was afraid of them. So even when the Marine recruiter showed up at my house they could not convince her to let me join. They where in their sharp military uniforms so my mother was scared to even talk to them. So I went to the Air Force recruiter. I coached him on what happened with the Marine recruiters, so he was ready to handle her. He came in uniform, but Air Force uniforms are less intimidation to her than Marine. A light blue shirt and dark blue pants with a normal corporate hair cut. Unlike the Marines, I could not pick my job. They picked it for me. I ended up in an office in front of a computer. My supervisor was a civilian.

I could have waited until I turned 18, then she would have no say. But at the time, 1980's Reagan era, it took almost a year from the time they accept a recruit until boot camp. I wanted to que up a soon as I could. In retrospect, it was a mistake. But young and dumb me wanted it now. So all I can do these days is watch marines on Youtube. I would still sign up today if I could even though I would take a big pay cut, even as an officer. I was medically discharged from the AF.

I found this interesting video of Marine advanced infantry school.

 

[Grandpot]

Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know. You did your part, no matter which service it was. Welcome home.

 

[3 Wheel Rider]

I too joined the USAF (circa 1984) and was given a pretty expansive list of AFSCs to choose from.

Like the OP, the USAF wasn't the first service I looked into. I too love the USMC uniform and went to them first. I then spoke to the USN followed by the USAF. I visited each several times before choosing the USAF. It proved to be a good choice -- for me anyways -- as I served 22 years, 4 months, 25 days on active duty. After a 4 year break, I returned to the USAF as a civilian and have accumulated an additional 8 years (and counting) of service.

I hold deep appreciation and respect for all the services and for all whom have served!!!

USA: Grandfather (WWII, 3yrs, European Campaign), Great Uncle (WWII, 3yrs, European Campaign), Cousin (Vietnam, x2T), StepMom's Brother (Vietnam/KIA), Nephew (OIF, 8yrs+)
USMC: Great Uncle (WWII, 3yrs, Pacific Campaign), StepMom (6yrs), Cousin (6yrs), both of my sons (OIF, 8yrs each), exBrother-in-Law (20yrs)
USN: 2 Cousins (6yrs each)
USAF: Daughter-in-Law (3yrs and counting), exFather-in-Law (29yrs), exBrother-in-Law (20yrs), and I (Operations... Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom)

 

[canamjhb]

Thanks for the post. I watched the video and found it interesting. That is, the weapons were a lot different than those I was trained to use. In the mid-60s this was called ITR (infintry training regiment) that I experienced it at Camp Pendleton, CA. Every Marine experienced this training before going on to individual MOS schools. What the video didn't show was the physical demands of this training period. Lots of forced marches to ranges in full gear carrying weapons. Real life experiences. Others may chime in but I found ITR to be more physically demanding than Basic Training.

 

[Rogue Hawk]

I too joined the USAF (circa 1984) and was given a pretty expansive list of AFSCs to choose from.

Like the OP, the USAF wasn't the first service I looked into. I too love the USMC uniform and went to them first. I then spoke to the USN followed by the USAF. I visited each several times before choosing the USAF. It proved to be a good choice -- for me anyways -- as I served 22 years, 4 months, 25 days on active duty. After a 4 year break, I returned to the USAF as a civilian and have accumulated an additional 8 years (and counting) of service.

I hold deep appreciation and respect for all the services and for all whom have served!!!

USA: Grandfather (WWII, 3yrs, European Campaign), Great Uncle (WWII, 3yrs, European Campaign), Cousin (Vietnam, x2T), StepMom's Brother (Vietnam/KIA), Nephew (OIF, 8yrs+)
USMC: Great Uncle (WWII, 3yrs, Pacific Campaign), StepMom (6yrs), Cousin (6yrs), both of my sons (OIF, 8yrs each), exBrother-in-Law (20yrs)
USN: 2 Cousins (6yrs each)
USAF: Daughter-in-Law (3yrs and counting), exFather-in-Law (29yrs), exBrother-in-Law (20yrs), and I (Operations... Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom)

I joined in 81' and did not have a choice. They had a few general areas to pick from. Electrical Mechanical General and something else. I scored best in General and ended up picked for Intelligence. It was a small field and promotions where very slow. Plus there was a bonus attached to the AFSC so cross training Staff Sergeant would come into my field and clog up the middle ranks. I was in for 10 years and was not looking at Tech until 15 or 16 years time in service. I had my college degree by then and it was time to make a decision. Since my degree was in Business and I had average grades there was no hope of getting into OTS.

 

[Rogue Hawk]

Thanks for the post. I watched the video and found it interesting. That is, the weapons were a lot different than those I was trained to use. In the mid-60s this was called ITR (infintry training regiment) that I experienced it at Camp Pendleton, CA. Every Marine experienced this training before going on to individual MOS schools. What the video didn't show was the physical demands of this training period. Lots of forced marches to ranges in full gear carrying weapons. Real life experiences. Others may chime in but I found ITR to be more physically demanding than Basic Training.

You may find this interesting. A documentary on Marine Boot Camp. I imagine it has changed a lot since then. The Gunnery Sergent Hartmens are gone. They can't use bad language or hit recruits. AF basic was a joke for me. We only did PT five times because it was deemed 'too hot' to work out recruits. I gained fat weight in basic. Only one day of rifle training. One day on the obstacle course and no combat training. We probably would have ended up shooting each other if there was an attack. When I was in Korea. I got a WW 2 steel pot helmet, a Vietnam era flak jacket, and a gas mask that didn't work.