anyone in the marines?

[Rah Dude]

I was wanting to see if anyone knew about the tattoo policy? I have one tattoo on my wrist and would like to join just don't know if I can or not

[JohnnyWadd]

You can , they might make you write a letter. Talk to a local recruiter.

[Walker]

I was in the Marines from 99-04

 

Tats on the hands and wrists are prohibited....but the policy then was that you could get a waiver for most visible tattoos except the neck or face....however from my understanding most recruiters have an easy time meeting their recruiting quotas since the economic downturn and less waivers for things are being given.

 

it's best to talk to a recruiter about it

[JohnnyWadd]

We had so many guys with tattoos in out unit . And then the last few weeks in lots of us went and got more too. The recruiter told me I had to write a letter and I could reenlist with this ...http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z388/starionkiller/pictures%20of%20me/th_C360_2012-08-03-22-54-33.jpg

[Rah Dude]

I was planning to go to a recruiter tomorrow. I read that if you could cover it with your hand then you're fine so I'm hoping that's true. what do you have to write a letter about?

[JohnnyWadd]

I was planning to go to a recruiter tomorrow. I read that if you could cover it with your hand then you're fine so I'm hoping that's true. what do you have to write a letter about?

 

I was told I had to write a letter to the recruiters c.o. asking for a waiver and telling why I wanted to re enlist. Probably recruiter b.s.

[Rah Dude]

I seen where recruiters take pictures of your tats and send them in with a waiver explaining what it means and all that. no biggie.

 

getting off topic but why did you guys join and what was it like?

[JohnnyWadd]

I joined to be in the infantry and did good on my asvab so they offered me mos 0352. it was fun. Edited June 3, 2013 by JohnnyWadd

[Rah Dude]

did you get stationed anywhere cool? I got a friend stationed in Japan and two others in north Carolina

[87redcat]

I was in from 86 to 92. tats wernt a biggie back then as they are now. My former OIC's son wanted to enlist but had half sleeves. Both the recruiter and his father wrote letters to CMC. He was rejected because of his tats. His father was a CWO4. He spent over 20 years in the Corps with an outstanding career, including wearing a hat as a DI. Made no difference to some pencil pusher at HQ.

I say go talk to the recuiter. If its just one tat, you may get in. I wish you luck in your pursuits. Takes a hell of a person to become a Marine. They dont say "The Few, The Proud" for nothing.

Semper Fi to all my fellow quest Marines.

And to answer you other question... best part of my life. Keep your mouth shut and listen in boot camp and you will be fine. I was a 1345 heavy equipment operator. Spent 3 yrs State side and 3 yrs in Oki. Loved every minute!

Good luck and let us know how it goes

[Walker]

I joined because my family was dirt poor and it was the only way I could afford an education. I was in the air wing(aviation) aspect of the Marines. The job itself was enjoyable...but the extra nonsense that came down was too damned irritating to deal with. The menial crap they did that was a waste of time. Like shining your boots...starching and pressing your cammies.....cutting off freaking loose threads from your uniforms.... inspecting your rooms under threat of NJP if you had dust in 3 places....

 

Most of my time was spent in Beaufort SC on the air station near Parris Island.

 

I did spend time in Japan tho. a place called Iwakuni which isn't far from Hiroshima. It's not the "cool" place in Japan like Tokyo but there was plenty to do if you got over the culture shock

 

boot camp was insanely fun tho...if you get in...just think of boot camp as a game and you will love it

Edited June 3, 2013 by Walker

[Rah Dude]

the reason I want to join is because I went to college to be an electrician, I just graduated.. something that I don't enjoy at all. the only reason I stayed with it is because I started in networking and didn't like it so I switched over to electrical and didn't like it either but couldnt switch to anything else because I would lose the hope grant (live in Georgia) without hope I wouldn't be able to afford it.

 

the job I have now is going downhill, get fussed at almost every day and threatened to get fired. they say I don't work hard enough but I work my tail off! the problem I have is I'm now again working with networking and I don't know how to do any of it so how am I supposed to work hard at something I don't know how to do? they tell me to learn on my own because they're not there to train me and if I don't learn it then they'll find someone who already knows how to do it so that they won't have to waste their time training anyone. pretty pointless to me so I'm just going to ride it out until I get fired lol

 

I've tried putting my resume out there for electrical but everyone close to where I live wants licensed or experienced electricians since I just got out of college I have no experience. I found a job in Marietta (2 hours away) that would consider hiring me as an apprentice for $8 a hour. that's a no go, moving right near Atlanta having to support myself in a new environment working for less than what I am now won't work out. in my opinion anyway.

 

military came up because I've always wanted to do it, took jrotc in high school and liked it and was going to join right out of high school but decided to go to college first. it's always seemed like a good experience and you get a lot of benefits out of it too

[Shelby]

why take a course in some thing you don't like ?

and as for the job you have right now ,you appear to have a poor aditude about work , almost all of us have had to work at some thing we did not like ,after all likeing a job is not required only getting paid matters in the end ,, and you doing your share to earn the money you are paid ,,being a dead weight until they fire you , dude basic training is gona eat you for breakfast with that aditude

 

 

cp> the job I have now is going downhill, get fussed at almost every day and threatened to get fired. they say I don't work hard enough but I work my tail off! the problem I have is I'm now again working with networking and I don't know how to do any of it so how am I supposed to work hard at something I don't know how to do? they tell me to learn on my own because they're not there to train me and if I don't learn it then they'll find someone who already knows how to do it so that they won't have to waste their time training anyone. pretty pointless to me so I'm just going to ride it out until I get fired lol

 

 

none of us knew the job we got hired to do , unless it was some thing you had done before , but when you are young it's hard to know how to do some thing right off,, but if you can read and you seem to be able to do that, that and the internet will teach you just about any thing you can think of .

 

heres the main thing you asked them for a job , that infers you will try to learn how to do it with haste and apply your self , and that will hold true for the rest of your life , get used to it

[Rah Dude]

you misread what I was saying, I took electrical because I thought I would like it. I did at first but when it got down to it it's just not something I would like to do every day.

 

about my attitude at work I've been working there almost a year temporary part time now that I graudated I'm full time, but still get paid 1099 they told me once I gruaduated I would be permanent full time taxes taken out of my check and benefits but nothing. I do know that getting paid is all that matters not if I like it or not that's why I'm still there.. I'm not quitting and I'm not going to start slacking. I do my work to contribute to the company to make them money with the stuff that I know how to do. it's not like I'm just sitting there doing nothing waiting for them to fire me I'm still doing my job to the best of my ability. I said that I was going to ride it out until I get fired because no matter how much harder I work it's not going to change how they see me. I come in to work every morning on time and start doing what I'm supposed to do, sure I have to ask to see what I need to start on that morning (that's what they don't like, but how am I supposed to know? if I know theres something planned then I do it but if I don't know then I ask)

 

sure I know I can look up how to do my Job but I don't have the resources to do it. I don't have the programs to learn and I don't have the hardware to practice on. I work with ubiquiti and mikrotik radios and routers and if you know anything about them then there's thousands of options to choose from leaving me not knowing where to start. the point that I'm getting at is that I was hired not knowing how to do any of it, I've learned how to do a lot but now I'm getting into more stiff that I don't know how to do and they won't teach me.

[vbrad511]

Be careful with that 1099 situation. I'm still dealing with "The Man" because a former employer didn't take taxes out, and I wasn't making enough to pay them on my own. I'll be stuck like this for a few years. As for USMC, I can't answer that, I've never been in, but I do know they're cutting corners everywhere they can. I already know they'll welch on paying for your education if they can (seen it happen to a close friend). Just read a few days ago that they're cutting meals down for the troops in Afghanistan.

[Rah Dude]

yeah I'm dreading the end of the year. I got lucky last year because of school hopefully it'll help me this year too.

[sayaovang dsm]

Im not marine, but i am army strong. and the army accepts tats, but u cant get more after that they will let u kno at your first drill, i actually joined the guard army, because its state and fed owned, id prefer 2 benefits over 1

[Rah Dude]

marines recruiter said that I can't join, can't get a waiver either. he said the only way I could would be to get the tattoo removed but still have to take a picture of it before to send it to the guys above him to process.

[Shelby]

you know who is standing beside that marine don't you , a soldier in an ARMY UNIFORM

don't be so quick to cut the ARMY down

[sayaovang dsm]

confused here atm.. O.o

[Rah Dude]

didn't cut em down.

[JohnnyWadd]

you know who is standing beside that marine don't you , a soldier in an ARMY UNIFORM

don't be so quick to cut the ARMY down

 

that's just how we do it all in fun. we used to make fun of the army guys when they came to 29palms they where allowed to roll up there sleeves, walk around with there covers off, OR in the p.t. gear while we where in sleeves at 120 degrees. they got made fun of but we where baking in our own juices.

 

[mistapickles]

I was in for eight years... I wouldn't exchange that time for anything. I started in the reserves as an 0100, most boring thing in the world but I must say this, ALL Marines are 0300, infantry. So don't get it twisted when the crap hits the fan, it's not like the Army where some mos aren't fighters. Anywho, I started 0100, adminstration, it was boring as hell but I was with battalion so we had every mos available and I OJT'd 0300 with our infantry unit, then went on to 0331 machine gunner for COC security... I had an M240G, a 1000 round per minute machine gun with a 4000 yard kill range that I could shoot semi-automatic and double tap your tail at 1000 yards with iron sites... After that I started OJT'ing in our Scout/Sniper unit but my contract ended before I could claim the mos. I joined at 26 because my father wouldn't let me join out of high school, he did two tours in Viet Nam, but mainly I joined because I hit that age where I was wondering what it was that I wanted to do when I was younger that I wouldn't be able to do after I started my business. Like I said, really great memories. I will tell you this, the military will use you up if you don't have a plan to use them first. When you talk to your recruiter make sure you have the mos that you want on the contract, any of that talk about once you get in you can transfer is bs, more than likely they will spend $40,000 on you to finish the mos school they send you to, so they aren't going to just let you switch that easy. Plan on doing that mos for at least a couple years before a transfer and plan on that transfer now. When I went in I needed to learn computers and office management, thus the 0100, and since there is never enough infantry in the Corps, I knew I could get my Rambo on after I got bored. Never start out as infantry... never start out as infantry... If they say you have to start out as infantry tell them you're going to start looking at other branches to get them to loosen up the reigns... Good luck... and move west of the Mississippi otherwise you'll go to Perris Island for bootcamp, that's where the girls go. Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego is where you want to be, Hooorah...

[quickStarion]

I was in from 86 to 92. tats wernt a biggie back then as they are now. My former OIC's son wanted to enlist but had half sleeves. Both the recruiter and his father wrote letters to CMC. He was rejected because of his tats. His father was a CWO4. He spent over 20 years in the Corps with an outstanding career, including wearing a hat as a DI. Made no difference to some pencil pusher at HQ.

I say go talk to the recuiter. If its just one tat, you may get in. I wish you luck in your pursuits. Takes a hell of a person to become a Marine. They dont say "The Few, The Proud" for nothing.

Semper Fi to all my fellow quest Marines.

And to answer you other question... best part of my life. Keep your mouth shut and listen in boot camp and you will be fine. I was a 1345 heavy equipment operator. Spent 3 yrs State side and 3 yrs in Oki. Loved every minute!

Good luck and let us know how it goes

 

I mean not really pass rate for Marine bootcamp is 90%-95% which is pretty much the majority of those who enlist, pass.

[87redcat]

well, first off...mistapickels... you forgot that you were issued suntan lotion and sunglasses out in Cali.lol

Parris Island is where it began. nuff said.

and quickstarion... were you in the Marines? or in the service at all? a lot of people can talk the talk. but when it comes down to it, its all about the training. Ive been out over 20 yrs now and can still pick up a rifle and shoot bulls at 500 yds all day long. the ones that drop out are mentally incapable of withstanding the daily mental beating giving out by the Drill Instructors. others fail due to physical problems. Being a Marine is more than wearing a uniform. Its a state of mind, knowing that you are part of the worlds smallest and yet toughest fighting force on the planet. Yes the graduation rate is high. Recruiters help keep that in check too. The process starts with them. Used to be, they would take anybody. But times have changed. They will not take you without your high school diploma. and good God, they wont take you with tats. Marines are who we are, a band of brothers that stick together to the end...

 

dont mean to offend anyone here, just my thoughts on the matter.