My son told us this morning he's joining the Marines

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It’s been proven time and again. A report just came out from the Navy that the average sailor is 30% over the weight standards. Stereotypes exist for a reason.

And of course the response from the Navy is classic…move the bar…change the uniforms yet again!

Not rash, totally true, fair.

But you’re a “last word” guy…so have at it.
 
Separation is very hard, but it’s not the end of the world. Your son has made a good decision for his own development and his future. So many his age manage to waste these years after high school. He won’t. He’ll be developing and learning and maturing in many ways.

And even if he is thousands of miles distant; this is 2018—communication with family is still possible. (But even if you skype, write to him. Mail call is important.)

You are not losing your son. He will return to you as a Marine, but still your son.

I was USAF myself, but my best friend at work years later was a Marine. We had no interservice rivalry but enjoyed exchanging stories.
 
Was in your place twelve years ago. Did all I could to talk him out of it. It was the best thing he could have done. There were ups and downs. It was hard when he returned from overseas but we lived through it. We are better because of it. If I could go back, I wouldn’t have tried to talk him out of it. He served eight years and is now using the benefits to get his education. He is one and a half years from graduation. I don’t think he would be if it weren’t for the Marines.
One of the best things we did was go to his graduation. There was an on line help from a Marines’ dad but I don’t remember what the address was. Will he be graduating from Paris Island or San Diego a search brought up help for both. God Bless You and your family.
 
He would love to hear this. Thanks for this useful information. Where can he see a list of MOS’s? Is that available online? Thank you again
 
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SEALS are great…the best when they’re in the operating forces.

But I’ve run across fat SEALS, and lazy seals.

We had a detachment with us in An Nasiriyah…the MEU commander would give them taskers and they were say “we need 24 hours to plan and execute this mission…and oh by the way we also need a C-130 gunship on station”.

Eventually, General Mattis famously said…“if the SEALS keep this up, they’re going to find themselves in Kuwait doing flutter kicks”.

The MEU commander instead gave the missions to the Marine Recon detachment we had.
 
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Thank you so much, does he get to pick Paris Island or San Diego, I have no idea where any of these places or terms are. Oh boy. Thank you again
 

Keep in mind that not all MOS’s are available to enlisted folks, and some MOS’s require a certain qualifying score on the ASVAB (a standardized test he’ll take before he can join.) And some MOS’s might be “full” at any given time. But at least he can get an idea with this.

How far along is he in the process? Has he signed a contract? Has he been medically cleared?
momof2angells said:
Thank you so much, does he get to pick Paris Island or San Diego, I have no idea where any of these places or terms are. Oh boy. Thank you again
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No. If you are west of the Mississippi, he’ll go to basic training in San Diego. If you’re east, you’ll go to Parris Island in South Carolina. It makes no real difference where he goes.
 
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I have family, friends and parishioners in every branch. I’ve yet experienced a situation where the serviceman/woman does not get leave.

From what I see, the service tries to work with their people and get them home for things like weddings and family reunions as long as they have plenty of notice. Of course there will be deployments, missions, push times when leave is blacked out (heck, civilian jobs also have black out vacation times).

There is also the possibility that the young man does not want to go home on his leave 🙂

It just sounds as if the OP thinks that her son is going to be cut off from all connection with his family for the entirety of his enlistment, like some WWI movie. The closest thing to that today would be sailors when they are underway, but, they will almost always be able to turn on that cell phone once they get shore leave.
 
Wow thank you. He met with the Recruiter yesterday who gave him all this paperwork. My son said he is getting his diploma this June and that’s all I know. He told me this as we were leaving to work this morning! Thank you again.
 
TheLittleLady said:
I have family, friends and parishioners in every branch. I’ve yet experienced a situation where the serviceman/woman does not get leave.
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Oh, you’ll always earn leave. That doesn’t mean you can USE it whenever you want. If I had tried to take a week of leave the month we were leaving for Iraq, it would have come back with a big fat “disapproved” unless there was some true emergency, like a death in the family.
 
2.5% of Marines are overweight.

I’m not sure what a particular branch having a problem with obese servicemen has to do with that branch being less important than any other.

The Army is actually the worst with obesity, does that automatically mean the Army is useless and nobody should join it?

Recent studies have shown a steady decline in IQ amongst Marine Officers, and the Marine Corps also accepts lower ASVAB scores than the USAF.

Should I denigrate the Marines and write them off because they’re a bunch of dullards?

The Marines allow high school grads to join with an ASVAB of 31, and GED with a 50. The USAF on the other hand requires 36/65. So the USAF is more intellectually rigorous. I guess no intelligent person should enlist in the USMC then, eh?
 
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In my experience, the recruiters will be happy to meet with mom and dad to answer questions. Heck, I found out that my husband had enlisted when the recruiter called me to congratulate him on his ASVAB score. That recruiter was happy to talk to me and answer any questions.
 
San Diego MCRD (Recruit Depot) is on the far side of San Diego aiport!! He gets to see people “flying in and out” as he’s doing his mountain climbers and flutter kicks.

Parris Island (“the land that God forgot”) is in the swampy coastal areas of South Carolina. That’s where I started.
 
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Thank you, I forgot about FaceTime but still. …he loves coffee and I won’t be able to call him down to let him know I made fresh thermos coffee and see him happily coming down the stairs. …oh great waterworks again
 
The Marines allow high school grads to enlist with an ASVAB of 31, and those with a GED with a 50. The USAF on the other hand requires 36/65. So the USAF is more intellectually rigorous. I guess no intelligent person should enlist in the USMC then, eh?
 
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That’s the way it is. I asked the Lord to guide him for years and now I have to let Him.
 
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Hi Edward I appreciate your (name removed by moderator)ut and thank you. My husband said my sons score was 71. I dont know what test it was.
 
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