Hello, everyone. I have just decided to go ahead and start going for a career in Navy/Marine Corps (have not figured out which one yet.) Before I go officer, though, I would like to spend some time enlisted, to gain a feel of the service. So, could anyone tell me about enlisted life in both the Navy and Marine Corps? I prefer to know the downright worst of both of them, so I will know whether to enlist, or skip it and pursue a commission.
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enlisted life
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Dave Shutter
Registered User
How's the saying go..."I have been enlisted and I have been commissioned and let me tell you, commissioned is better!
My $0.02 but you have to make that decision for yourself. Of course there's nothing wrong with being enlisted and my above remark in no way is meant to discredit the experience. If you have your degree already and are eligible for it it's a serious consideration. I wanted to enlist Navy after Hight School but my brother actually talked me out of it and into the Army, citing being a E-1 to E-3 on a ship as one of the worst places to be, but being enlisted can be whatever you make of it.
My $0.02 but you have to make that decision for yourself. Of course there's nothing wrong with being enlisted and my above remark in no way is meant to discredit the experience. If you have your degree already and are eligible for it it's a serious consideration. I wanted to enlist Navy after Hight School but my brother actually talked me out of it and into the Army, citing being a E-1 to E-3 on a ship as one of the worst places to be, but being enlisted can be whatever you make of it.
Paul Burke
Registered User
quote: being enlisted can be whatever you make of it.
The entire time I was enlisted I heard that the Navy is what you make of it. It can easily be the best, most exciting and rewarding place on Earth and it can also be Hell painted gray. It all depends on your own personal attitude and outlook. Of course, being an officer has many perks that have a substantial effect on your quality of life.
The entire time I was enlisted I heard that the Navy is what you make of it. It can easily be the best, most exciting and rewarding place on Earth and it can also be Hell painted gray. It all depends on your own personal attitude and outlook. Of course, being an officer has many perks that have a substantial effect on your quality of life.
There are certainly some perks to officer life that the enlisted folks don't get right away, but remember that they come with responsibility. Commissioned life isn't all white gloves and chocolates on your pillows at night (unless you are in the Air Force). A great deal is expected of officers begining day one out of training and unless one is ready to accept the responsibility, one might consider another route first. Anyway, that's just my 2 euros.
Mike the Grunt
Mike the Grunt
Ok guys
I wont lie to you. Being enlisted sucked. I enlisted at the ripe ol age of 17 and did some really cool stuff in the Navy for 5 years. But even as cool as it was, it still sucked. I grew up the son of a career AF Fighter pilot, so I was used to the officer life style. So to say the least, I was not thrilled. But hey, to each his own.
Dave
I wont lie to you. Being enlisted sucked. I enlisted at the ripe ol age of 17 and did some really cool stuff in the Navy for 5 years. But even as cool as it was, it still sucked. I grew up the son of a career AF Fighter pilot, so I was used to the officer life style. So to say the least, I was not thrilled. But hey, to each his own.
Dave
I was enlisted in the Marines for 6 years before I started college and I don't have anything bad to say about being enlisted. At times you have to do some things that really suck, but it's what you make of it. There is a big difference between being enlisted in the Navy and being enlisted in the Marines. If you want to gain some experience and do so enlisted, then join the Corps. Being prior service enlisted can benefit you, but how much it can very depending on what service you go into and the job field that you choose. Decide what you want to do in military and then decided which service is best for you. No matter what I recommend that you get your degree and go into the officer corps of either service.
I don't know if anyone caught the NPR show about life on a carrier but it's fairly interesting. It's basically about the fact that the carrier is there to fly the planes but there are so few on board. It starts out on the enlisted side and moves to aviators about 20 minutes into it. The link is.... http://www.thislife.org/ra/206.ram
Let's just say that after about the first two years of my 4 year hitch I was ready to get out. I got to travel a lot and liked working on the catapults, launching planes, but there was a lot of other B.S. that I could have done without. However, I would not trade the experience for anything, and believe that being an enlisted guy will make being an officer that much better!
Charlie
Charlie
Dave Shutter
Registered User
To re-iterate what was said earlier, and I don't know why I didn't say it before because it's my standard advice: do yourself a huge favor and make an educated decision! If you do go enlisted then don't just take the recruiters word as the last on everything. There's virtually nothing you can't learn about practically every job in the military if you just go looking for the info. Find someone who's done the job your interested in and pick their brain. The new Army commercials make the service look like being in Starfleet but I'm telling you; 90% of the Army experience consists of driving antique trucks and tracked vehicles through some of the worlds cheapest real estate at 3:00 in the morning in freezing rain. The reason I say all this is because there are a lot of enlisted jobs out there that are piles of sh*t with thin layers of shiny paint over them. I loved the MOS I had but was surrounded by miserable people in other jobs. Good luck.
Thanks all for the info. Just a little background on me: I graduated HS wanting to go into the Navy. However, my dad, a retired enlisted solider, talked me into going to college for a year before signing up. That was about three years ago. I am about to graduate with the "money making" degree of Criminal Justice, and, still interested in joining the service. However, I think I'll go Marine officer, due to a lot of reasons besides what I have read here.
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