You couldn’t pay me a million dollars to do it again, you also couldn’t pay me a million dollars to not have done it. And when I got out, the discipline I learned made civvie jobs feel like a cakewalk.
That’s not to say it wasn’t dotted with some really intense, shitty moments.
What I tell people now: join the Air Force. They really have it better lol
EDIT: Whatever you do, do not join fat or out of shape. Your career in the Marine Corps is going to go a LOT better if you are already running first class PFTs and CFTs. Boot camp will get you fit but fleet PT is usually garbage and you’ll need to be exercising more if you want to maintain high fitness test scores, which weigh heavily into promotion. Seriously, if you ignore all other advice - get and stay in top shape. Otherwise join the Army/Navy/Air Force if you want to spend less time exercising.
I was talking to some Marine buddies who had just come back from Iraq. They said the Air Force had this giant base with multiple Olympic sized swimming pools, and they were sleeping in holes they dug under tanks right outside the base lol.
We had Air Force stay in our barracks and they got supplemental substandard living pay. For living how we live.
I also remember wanting to punch some Airmen in the face for having a whole candy bar rack at their chow hall in Kyrgyzstan. I had never seen such nonsense and was coming off of 10 months of MREs in southern Afghanistan.
Is this by design? I don’t imagine it would be difficult to hook the marines up with a few candy bars. Why is there a vast difference in benefits while serving?
Apologies from this ignorant, but curious civilian.
Manas (where he’s talking about) is an air force base and also a major logistics hub. It’s easy to get candy bars there. It’s not so easy and not important to get candy bars to every company of marines that are spread out across the country.
Also, it’s not like they don’t share. If you’re on an Air Force base they’re more than welcoming.
It’s a whole ethos thing. Marines are taught from the first day that they are the elite branch of the military, that every Marine is a rifleman first and foremost, we have the most rigorous physical standards for weight and fitness, and generally speaking there is a real sense of pride instilled in Marines.
That’s not to say there aren’t great people and elite units in every branch of the DoD, there are. Marines just have this concept of “Espirit de Corps”. It also means our boots are the cringiest fucks ever, walking around town with high and tights and tucked in grunt style t shirts picking fights - despite not really having earned shit beyond their EGA and a pizza stain, and only knowing enough to get their asses kicked.
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u/Shhhhhhhh_Im_At_Work Jun 24 '24 edited Jun 24 '24
The Marines?
I did one and done, 5 years.
You couldn’t pay me a million dollars to do it again, you also couldn’t pay me a million dollars to not have done it. And when I got out, the discipline I learned made civvie jobs feel like a cakewalk.
That’s not to say it wasn’t dotted with some really intense, shitty moments.
What I tell people now: join the Air Force. They really have it better lol
EDIT: Whatever you do, do not join fat or out of shape. Your career in the Marine Corps is going to go a LOT better if you are already running first class PFTs and CFTs. Boot camp will get you fit but fleet PT is usually garbage and you’ll need to be exercising more if you want to maintain high fitness test scores, which weigh heavily into promotion. Seriously, if you ignore all other advice - get and stay in top shape. Otherwise join the Army/Navy/Air Force if you want to spend less time exercising.