College / Active College Classes

[JWallAvionic]

I posted this on military.com, not to great of a reponse yet so now I am going to post it here see if you guys can help :

Alright, I have a few things I would like to know and I am sort of confused on. I am a high school junior currently and kind of in the near future need to get a hold of my plans for the future. Now, I have always wanted to enlist and become a Marine, be a grunt, then work my way into an officer. Now I know while you are in service you can take classes and the such, but I am confused about PLC, now I can apply for this, if good enough and command allows, 1-2 years in am I correct? Or would going for the NROTC scholarship and going through college be a better chance / better expereince at becoming an officer?

Now I have two different goals, either or I would be entirely happy with. One being in the Infantry as a heavy weapons specialist, carry the heavy weapons / gear as an officer etc. Two would be becoming an Aviator, now my last question, without going to college full time and going to college classes while active, would I be able to get a flight slot out of OCS after PLC?

Thank-you for your time, tried to make it as clear as possible.

I believe it all comes down to, is there a shot if I enlist, take college classes while in service, can I get a USMC pilot slot through OCS etc.?

 

[towbubba]

Forget about anything but HS for now kid. Your post was as clear as mud but here goes. I hope you are smarter than you sound because it is hard to get an NROTC scholarship slot unless you have good grades with a decent SAT score and do something extracirricular besides posting on this site.... ie play a sport, student body pres. You will not get your BA degree while serving as an enlisted Marine in the infantry. The command and the op tempo won't allow it. So I suggest you say no to drugs, stay in school, drink milk, get 8 hours of sleep, and talk to the recruiter about NROTC, other than that don't bother with this site anymore because any "gouge" you hear on this site will be ancient history by the time you get here. Oh by the way best asset any Marine has is thick skin so if this offended you work on it.

 

[JWallAvionic]

Nah I am fine, I am sorry about it being somewhat garbled, tryed to jot it down in the easiest format. I come here to seek advice just like that, yea I have good grades 2.8-3.0+ in AP/Hon Classes, took the SAT for the first time got a 1100, play football, double season track (indoor / outdoor), weight-lift, run, Mock Trial, History Day team member, coach little league baseball, Umpire, work 9-10 hours a week at a job. So yea, I would say I am fairly active, just need information here and there / look for information where I can get it and post questions.

 

[RyanVR]

Don't even worry about PLC until you have completed your first semester of college. I'm pretty sure you can't apply until then.

NROTC, as mentioned, will take some work.

You don't apply for PLC if you are enlisted.
PLC is for current college students
OCC is for college graduates

for enlisted it is (and i forget the exact name) but MECEP or something similar.
You have to be at least a Corporal to even apply for it though (i believe) and that could take you anywhere from 3-4 years (again i'm not sure because i haven't done it)

Now I have two different goals, either or I would be entirely happy with. One being in the Infantry as a heavy weapons specialist, carry the heavy weapons / gear as an officer etc. Two would be becoming an Aviator, now my last question, without going to college full time and going to college classes while active, would I be able to get a flight slot out of OCS after PLC?

I encourage you to read this again.

notes:
1. If you want to be an Officer, you have to want to lead Marines first and foremost. Your MOS is secondary to that fact.
2. You don't "get a flight slot" out of OCS. To get a guarenteed flight slot you must meet the additional requirements that a flight slot include. (vision, depth perception, grades on ASTB test, etc) and then you must be accepted by the board. You would be judged against the other applicants that are competing for a limited number of slots.
3. OCS is a screening of your ability to lead and your ability to do so under mental and physical strain. You have to first graduate OCS and then go to TBS (The Basic School) where your performance over 6 months determines your chances at MOS selection.

In the case of a guarenteed air contract, your selection process at TBS is different but in general it means is that you have a slot in flight school scheduled for you and it's yours to lose. Unacceptable performance at any level as well as failure at flight school will easily lose your flight slot.

I encourage you to read up more before asking these questions. It shows a lack of effort to ask things in such a way that indicates you have not really done more than read a few buzzwords.

www.marineocs.com
www.marines.com
www.marineofficercandidate.com
etc.

Good luck,
Ryan Von Rembow
PLC-186 candidate

 

[JWallAvionic]

Thank-you very much for the information, I have read up on alot, I had just became confused with several things people were saying and wished to clear them up.

Thank-you again.

 

[Pat1USMC]

Man, you guys aren't putting up with very much nowadays are you? Poor kid was just a little excited and confused. I'm sure you guys were the same way in HS.
Anyway, the above posts were good info for you Josh. I guess you just have to make up your mind now whether you want to enlist first or not. I hope you know some people with experience with this because its always better to talk to someone in person and get as much info out of them as possible. Good luck

 

[46Driver]

Man, you guys aren't putting up with very much nowadays are you? Poor kid was just a little excited and confused. I'm sure you guys were the same

I say the same thing about my ensigns and lieutenants.

And the O-6's said the same thing about me at the Naval War College.

Always someone higher up on the food chain....

Anyway, best of luck.

 

[EA-6B1]

I'd say go to college, get educated, and apply through some sort of commissioning program. Enlisting would be a remarkable experience, but if your unit gets called up, then say goodbye to college for a while. Most importantly though, do what you think is right for you!

 

[JWallAvionic]

I do, I know a former Naval Submarine officer, (I know not Marines but officer) so I have sat down and talked to him about his experienes, he also went through USNA.

My cousin is current Active in the Marine Corps, so o nce he comes home I will be sure to have lunch with him and c hat with him on enlisted life when he comes back up in this neck of the woods.

Thank-you again for the info.

 

[jamesd]

In my opinion, PLC is a better program than NROTC. Go talk to a recruiter and he can explain all of the differences. Right after high school I talked to a Marine Corps recruiter. My record looked about like yours does, and they actually steered me towards PLC and away from immediate enlistment.

 

[JWallAvionic]

Also, one last thing here, I am a bit confused on.

Should I speak with a regualr recruiter, or an OSO officer, I have gotten mixed comments on that.

Thank-you again you all for replying.

 

[46Driver]

If you want to go enlisted, talk to a regular recruiter, if you want to go officer, talk to an OSO. I'm not trying to sound like a smart @ss (its early in the morning...) but simply put that is who you have to talk to because they both have recruiting quotas to make.