Considering the marines after high school?

Question

i graduate this year (class of 09) and i was considering joining the marines. what i want to know though is the benefits i will get? how do i get paid? what if i die?

Answer 1

My husband joined the army right after high school. I personally I love it but then again I'm not the one in the military:) While your in basic at the lowest level your pay will only be about 600 every 2 weeks. I don't know the way marines get promoted but in the Army it's at like 6months then 9 months and then 18. Then you have to work for your E5 and up. Ask about the pre-basic test, if you do it this will earn you a rank before you even go in. Also if you can do about 4 college classes, or 12 credit hours this will earn you another rank, if you get someone to join with you that's another rank. So you could potentially go in as an E4. You get all your benefits, which is great. If your on post you get everything paid for. If you live off post you get an allowance, this mayn not cover everything, so be careful. My husband is an E4 promotable and if we were in the states our housing allowance would only be about 700 a month, that wouldn't cover everything..... Your benefits are the best medical you could hope for, dental and eye for you, if you have afamily you have to pay for eye and dental for them in the states. We're overseas, we get dental free. If you need lasix or braces, that would be free after you pass an evaluation. And yes if you sign up for the GI Bill then you get a big part of your college paid for. The laternative would be to get your bachlors and go in as an officer, then they pay your whole school bill off instead of giving you the GI Bill. Then you would get paid a whole lot more. If you die...well I was watching the Petagon channel the other day and it said something along the lines that in the marines their no longe saying "if" I go to Iraq but "when " I go...becasue these days it's almost guarenteed. Try  something a littler safer if you want to join, like the Air Force, their deployments are nothing like 3 to 6 months max. Army and Marines are 12-18 months. I  think it's honorable that you want to join in a time a war, but make the right decision. Remember recruiters will say anything to get you to sign that dotted line, so do your research and be sure, cause once your in there's no getting out.

added: I'm sorry if I gave wrong info on deployments. I had an ex boyfriend in the marines and he did 2 deployments both were a year so I just assumed that their deploymets are just like ours-army. Sorry again to misinform!

Answer 2

Give yourself some time to enjoy life after high school before you enlist in the service. I would suggest waiting a year before making a life changing decision like that. If you do decide, make sure you are guaranteed the job you want. Don't let the recruiter 'work' you.

Answer 3

Talk to a Marine recruiter and then talk to all the other armed services, make an informed decision about which branch is right for you.

All Armed Services Rock!

Thanks to all who serve!

Answer 4

My co-worker actually just left for boot camp Monday. He is going to get paid about 1,600 a month on and off base for a few years. And while he is on base, they pay for his food, shelter, clothing, water, electricity... all he has to pay is phone bills, personal bills, etc... And when he is living off base, he still gets the 1,600. After he finishes his time in the Marines, he can go to school and I'm pretty sure that he said they were going to pay part of it. The only way he could die is if he got shipped to Iraq, which is pretty likely now a-days. The reason why they give you so many benefits and pay you so much is because they need boys to send to Iraq. I personally would not do it.

Answer 5

Joining the Marine corps is a good choice.

Benefits:

Free medical care including dental and vision

Housing is paid for

Meals are paid for you'll probably still buy most of your own food because it's not really convenient to eat when they're serving the food

Your choice of a job that may or may not help you get a civilian job depending on what it is

Tons of other things that can't be listed and make me sound like a recruiter like pride and confidence

You get paid by direct deposit to your bank account on the 1st and 15th of every month. Pay depends on your rank, and a few other things like if you're married, in a combat zone, or work on a flight deck. If you're deployed in certain countries your pay is tax free while you're there.

If you die you get a super cool funeral and whoever you select gets $400k, your last paycheck, and a flag. Dying isn't really that likely though. Sure it's horrible that so many people have died in the war, but more people die sitting at home every day. At least if you die in a war you were doing something that made a difference.

I was in the Marine Corps infantry for 4 years and I would recommend the experience to anyone considering it.

Edit: I saw someone said deployments were 12-18 months. that is not true, for the army perhaps, but for the Marine Corps it's about 6-8 months. You'll do heavy training in the US for about 5 months prior though, so don't expect to have the time between deployments completely free.

Answer 6

You might want to wait to see who gets elected President first.

If John McCain is elected you definitely DO NOT want to be in the military. You will be involved in bombing Iran and attacking innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If Barack Obama is elected you will have a better chance of living. The only war will be the one in Afghanistan, and Military Personnel will be paid more, since he is cutting the taxes of the lowest 95% of Americans. That includes all of the Soldiers.