A Few Questions

[Devilpup88]

I got some questions I'm going to ask, though they all deal with enlisting, it all leads to me becomong an Officer of Marines.

1. Are LAT moves from one MOS to another hard? I know if you're in a "critical" MOS you're chances of transferring are slim to none. But if it isn't, is it all just a matter of paperwork and a little waiting?
2. Is Combat Engineer a combat arms MOS or a non-combat arms MOS?
3. Is Combat Engineer a "9-5 job" so to speak? As in, if I went active duty Combat Engineer, would thay job allow me to do my course work for college if I wanted to go to college while on active duty? Of course, if I was deployed, I wouldn't be going to college, but if I was not deployed, would college be possible for that MOS?
4. If I am in the USMCR, do I receive any tuition assistance?
5. What is the shortest active duty enlistment contract I could get for Infantry? I thought I saw a guy with a 2 or 3 year contract, he was Infantry. Is this possible?
6. If I can get a 2 or 3 year contract, when that contract is up and its time for re-enlistment, can I get into the USMC Reserves? What would the process be for that? Would I just say I want to be in the Reserves at this Unit? Easy as that? I'm asking because I was thinking about doing a 2 or 3 year stint, going reserves, college while reserves, then applying for OCS. Given that, when I went Reserves, would I get any tuition assistance? I know for sure if you go active duty, you do, right? Or do you have to sign a longer active duty contract, more than 2 or 3 years, to ge any tuition assistance?


Here are some other options I've been considering.

1. Grad High School, enlist in USMCR when I turn 18 (September 21), go to boot camp, MCT, Combat Engineer School, and start college as soon as I can.
2. Grad High School, go to college, enlist in the USMCR and get into DEP, and the next summer go to boot camp, MCT, Combat Engineer school, continue with college.
3. Grad High School, enlist when I turn 18, go active duty, 1300 Engineers, hopefully get 1371 Combat Engineer, and go to college while on active duty after a year or so.


It sounds like I am thinking about a lot of stuff here...I'm just keeping my options opened. I want to know all my options, and the ups and downs of those options. So, any opnions/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any and all help.
Devilpup

 

[HH-60H]

Well, I am not a Marine, but I think most people would agree, if you want to become an Officer, it is easier/smarter to join the USMC as an Officer. I know some people give the "enlisted experience" arguement, but that only really counts if you put some time in and make a deployment or two. If you are trying to get the USMC to pay for college so you can become an Officer, try NROTC.

 

[phrogdriver]

Talk to a recruiter for exact details, but I'm pretty sure the shortest contract you can get will be a 4-yr. Joining the reserves afterward will not be difficult. The hardest part will be finding a reserve unit near where you'll be living. However, with operational tempo the way it has been, you may end up deploying while in the reserves, which can make college problematic.

As far as combat engineering goes, I am not a duty expert by any means, but I will offer some observations. It really isn't a "combat arms" MOS, but the guys in the engineer battalions are armed about as heavily as an infantry unit. They can spend a LOT of time attached to the infantry, anyway. As such they spend a lot of time deployed these days, which could make attending off-duty education difficult. Their expertise blowing things up is pretty handy.

The table of organization for combat service support MOSs is in some flux of late, so I won't try to display my ignorance on this, but an engineer, depending on his exact MOS may also end up in a unit providing support services for the grunts or the air wing, whether that be driving a bulldozer or pumping potable water.

As far as lat moving, it depends on what your MOS is and what MOS you want to go to. If yours is full and the one you want is empty, piece of cake. The other way around just isn't going to happen.

 

[Devilpup88]

Hey, thanks for the help. I'm going to ask my recruiter all this stuff. I just don't want to get all my information just from one source.
Thanks again.
Devilpup

 

[phrogpilot73]

I'm pretty sure that combat engineers are not a combat arms MOS, seeing as how women can be engineers. With that being said, however there is a difference between Engineer Support Battalions (women are there) and Combat Engineer Battalions (no women there). As for enlisting, you can enlist directly to the reserves. I would agree about not enlisting for the experience. I enlisted because I had pissed away high school, and it was the only way I could get into the military. It took me a LONG time before I was able to get comissioned. If you're doing it for the experience, pocket money, etc... Then that's a decent argument. Just don't think that enlisting will help you get a comission. It's only one piece in the pie of your application package.

 

[jrodlandruff]

Just go to college and graduate, then join the Marine Corps as an officer. Trying to go to school while on active duty right now is the biggest pain in the a$$ right now. If you arent going on a deployment you are constantly going to CAX or WTI and stuff, and the odds are pretty good right now that if you go into the reserves you will be going on a deployment or two. I am in Iraq right now and the is a combat engineer battalion here with us with plenty of acivated reservists attached to them. Take it for what it's worth buddy, but if you want to be an officer go to college first, then join as an officer.

 

[Devilpup88]

Thanks for the advice. I am enlisting in the USMCR to gain experience, and possible recieve some tuition assistance for college. Is there any way when I get on active duty combat engineer, I can request being attached to an Infantry Battalion/Combat Engineer Battalions?
Thanks,
Devilpup

 

[mattr]

What about MECEP?

Obviously I don't know much about it, but that's another option you have....