My son wants to be a Jarhead

[shotsup 832]

How do I talk him out of it. He’s 17 and already played the when I’m 18 you have no say in the matter card. 

[EternalShinyAndChrome 2,517]

Why would you talk him out of it?  It's a noble and honorable thing to do.

All I can say is that I would not have traded my experience in the Marines for all the money in the world.  It made me who I am today and I still regularly get together with my fellow Devil Dogs I was in with.  Nothing toughens a dude up and turns him into a real man than being in the service, especially the Marines.

Yeah, it's a bunch of BS at times (hurry up and wait, a$$hole leaders, etc..), but it's not like you don't have that in non-military professions either.

I get where your coming from, though.  Your a parent and don't want your son to be in danger, but you will be so proud of him.  Ultimately he's right though, you have no say when he's 18.

[Frozenbeernuts 1,652]

Steer him toward a part of the military where he uses his brain more than being on the front lines

[fandandy 3,311]

Just now, Frozenbeernuts said:

Steer him toward a part of the military where he uses his brain more than being on the front lines

It's Shots son, dude.  They'll prolly just drop him out of a plane to try and smoosh the bad guys on the ground.

[EternalShinyAndChrome 2,517]

2 minutes ago, Frozenbeernuts said:

Steer him toward a part of the military where he uses his brain more than being on the front lines

Agreed.  But he needs to get a good score on his ASVAB where he can basically pick his MOS.  You score low, you're going infantry. 

 

[EternalShinyAndChrome 2,517]

17 minutes ago, shotsup said:

How do I talk him out of it. He’s 17 and already played the when I’m 18 you have no say in the matter card. 

Another thing I thought of is you could try to get him to join the Marine Reserves first.  If he likes it, then he could go full time Active Duty whenever he wants.  However, if you go Active Duty first you can't go reserves until your contract is over.

The only thing about going reserves is that he's going to be stuck with an MOS that only his Reserve Unit accommodates.  For example, I went Reserves but here in Milwaukee the Marine Reserve Unit was an Infantry unit, so I had to go Infantry (0311) as my MOS, despite scoring high on my ASVAB.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,646]

Don’t believe the recruiter. Good luck. 

[shotsup 832]

19 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Don’t believe the recruiter. Good luck. 

That’s exactly what I told him. 
 

 

[shotsup 832]

27 minutes ago, fandandy said:

It's Shots son, dude.  They'll prolly just drop him out of a plane to try and smoosh the bad guys on the ground.

That’s dumb. 

[Cdub100 3,380]

 

[Cdub100 3,380]

Also I understand why you wouldn't want your kid to join but if he's into it best to just support him in his decision.

Being in the military can lead to very good things.

[shotsup 832]

To all

i am not against the military and wish I went that route myself. 
 

and you all know I am not political at all but I do not want him joining Trumps military- that’s the bottom line.  

[Cdub100 3,380]

2 minutes ago, shotsup said:

To all

i am not against the military and wish I went that route myself. 
 

and you all know I am not political at all but I do not want him joining Trumps military- that’s the bottom line.  

That's really really really stupid. I mean really stupid.

[Djgb13 2,338]

3 minutes ago, shotsup said:

To all

i am not against the military and wish I went that route myself. 
 

and you all know I am not political at all but I do not want him joining Trumps military- that’s the bottom line.  

Convince him to go in the AF. With high enough asvab score he could work with NASA. Just be aware that some jobs will have a wait time for them before he can secure it to go to basic. Had to wait a year for mine. 

[shotsup 832]

17 minutes ago, Cdub100 said:

That's really really really stupid. I mean really stupid.

No it’s really really not stupid. 

[EternalShinyAndChrome 2,517]

15 minutes ago, shotsup said:

No it’s really really not stupid. 

Respectfully, I think you're over-reacting here.

I signed up and while i was in boot camp Iraq invaded Kuwait.

Joining the military at any time will ALWAYS come with the risk that a war or skirmish will break out.  There is absolutely no way to foresee those things.  I mean, the whole point to having a military is to fight battles and protect American interests and people.  You absolutely know that going in.   For those who think that they can join the military and not have to worry about that are fooling themselves.  You might get lucky, but that's all that it is.

[Cdub100 3,380]

14 minutes ago, shotsup said:

No it’s really really not stupid. 

You're correct if you're into endless conflicts, little to no pay raises, transgender mandatory training, and low morale.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,646]

42 minutes ago, shotsup said:

To all

i am not against the military and wish I went that route myself. 
 

and you all know I am not political at all but I do not want him joining Trumps military- that’s the bottom line.  

I joined a few weeks after the Marines got blown up in Beirut. My mother said she didn't want me joining Ronald Regans military. Nothing fockin changes over there. 

[shotsup 832]

8 minutes ago, EternalShinyAndChrome said:

Respectfully, I think you're over-reacting here.

I signed up and while i was in boot camp Iraq invaded Kuwait.

Joining the military at any time will ALWAYS come with the risk that a war or skirmish will break out.  There is absolutely no way to foresee those things.  I mean, the whole point to having a military is to fight battles and protect American interests and people.  You absolutely know that going in.   For those who think that they can join the military and not have to worry about that are fooling themselves.  You might get lucky, but that's all that it is.

I get that. It’s just that he’s real smart and college has always been the plan. Now some recruiter goes to his high school and everything changes. Promises this. Promises of that. 
We will see  

[EternalShinyAndChrome 2,517]

14 minutes ago, shotsup said:

I get that. It’s just that he’s real smart and college has always been the plan. Now some recruiter goes to his high school and everything changes. Promises this. Promises of that. 
We will see  

Yeah, I understand.  And like @Hardcore troubadour said, DO NOT believe the recruiter under any circumstances.  Their job is to get bodies in the service by any means necessary.  They aren't held accountable to their lies because the potential recruit won't know they are lies until AFTER they sign the contract.  Breaking a military contract is impossible, BTW.  They will hunt you down and throw you in jail if you don't honor it.  Anyways, my recruiter told me my college would be 100% paid for if I signed up.  Turns out "100% paid for" meant that the Marines would give me like $200 a month while I was in school (and "while I was in school" means literally only the months of the year I was actually going to classes).  Of course, the school is looking for the entire tuition to be paid up front so $200 a month didn't help when I was staring at a $2000 semester bill.  Of course, I was pissed because I had to take out loans ANYWAYS, which defeated one of the main reasons I signed up.

If your son is smart and he's still committed to joining, then he needs to make sure he scores really high on his ASVAB so he has the luxury of picking his MOS.  He could pick Administration or Intelligence or anything that won't necessarily be infantry.  Like someone had mentioned earlier, the Air Force is probably the safest way to go and probably has more MOS's to choose from than the Marines.

[cyclone24 1,814]

Show him the pictures of solemani that just came out. 

[EternalShinyAndChrome 2,517]

Just now, cyclone24 said:

Show him the pictures of solemani that just came out. 

Showing him pictures of your Salami would scare anyone off.

[cyclone24 1,814]

1 minute ago, EternalShinyAndChrome said:

Showing him pictures of your Salami would scare anyone off.

Truth. 

[TimmySmith 2,782]

Always a risk of deployment, even if Bernie is President.  I wish him well. 

As an aside Trump is probably the biggest pacifist we've had in the White House since Reagan.

[Cdub100 3,380]

17 minutes ago, TimmySmith said:

Always a risk of deployment, even if Bernie is President.  I wish him well. 

As an aside Trump is probably the biggest pacifist we've had in the White House since Reagan.

Truth! I'm loving it because we are still ready and strong, but not inserting ourselves into every conflict. 

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

If he is smart, then have him look into one of the academies or even ROTC. I had a ROTC scholarship, found out the recruiter was lying his ass off and I also realized that I did not want to spend 6 months at a clip underwater in a SSBN.  I took that first year for free and went to regular college.  

[Mungwater 588]

3 hours ago, shotsup said:

To all

i am not against the military and wish I went that route myself. 
 

and you all know I am not political at all but I do not want him joining Trumps military- that’s the bottom line.  

Get help

[Hardcore troubadour 12,646]

Another thing working against you is the song, and the dress blues. They are both awesome.  

[shotsup 832]

2 minutes ago, Mungwater said:

Get help

F U

[EternalShinyAndChrome 2,517]

8 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Another thing working against you is the song, and the dress blues. They are both awesome.  

Oh hell yeah.  The dress blues are a guaranteed p#ssy magnet.

[RaiderHaters Revenge 3,584]

Shots, less troops have died during "Trumps Military" per year than any other time in the last 100 years fwiw

 

[Hardcore troubadour 12,646]

1 minute ago, EternalShinyAndChrome said:

Oh hell yeah.  That's a guaranteed p#ssy magnet.

The song is special to you forever. 

[shotsup 832]

1 minute ago, RaiderHaters Revenge said:

Shots, less troops have died during "Trumps Military" per year than any other time in the last 100 years fwiw

 

Okay maybe I misspoke. College was always the plan. Not happy some Dbag recruiter comes in and changes that plan. It’s not signed nor set in stone. I hope he changes his mind. 

[Mungwater 588]

7 minutes ago, shotsup said:

F U

No, you’re right.  I’ve only spent 22 years and counting in the military.  Brother retired at 24 years, but you know.  

[Mungwater 588]

Just now, shotsup said:

Okay maybe I misspoke. College was always the plan. Not happy some Dbag recruiter comes in and changes that plan. It’s not signed nor set in stone. I hope he changes his mind. 

Tell him to do ROTC instead.  

[shotsup 832]

Just now, Mungwater said:

No, you’re right.  I’ve only spent 22 years and counting in the military.  Brother retired at 24 years, but you know.  

Thank you for your service. Seriously 

[TimmySmith 2,782]

Just now, shotsup said:

Okay maybe I misspoke. College was always the plan. Not happy some Dbag recruiter comes in and changes that plan. It’s not signed nor set in stone. I hope he changes his mind. 

Its your son. Worry is what dads do. Moms too. I leave the tough ones to God.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,646]

3 minutes ago, shotsup said:

Okay maybe I misspoke. College was always the plan. Not happy some Dbag recruiter comes in and changes that plan. It’s not signed nor set in stone. I hope he changes his mind. 

Before he signs anything, you have to have him actually visit some colleges. Let him see the scene, and the co-eds. Same thing happened with my nephew. Straight A's, college bound. I asked him to hold off, that the Army (yuch) would always be an option.  Emphasize option, it shows you're not totally against it and it lets him know it's up to  him in the end.  Very empowering for a young guy. My nephew is at SUNY Binghamton now.  Once he went there he was enamored and the army stuff went away. Plus let him know he can get puzzy all the time in college, not just on leave. 

[RaiderHaters Revenge 3,584]

12 minutes ago, shotsup said:

Okay maybe I misspoke. College was always the plan. Not happy some Dbag recruiter comes in and changes that plan. It’s not signed nor set in stone. I hope he changes his mind. 

Shots, you say he has good grades, why not having him apply to Citadel, AF academy or Naval Academy?  Then point out to him that the Marines don't even have a college

[EternalShinyAndChrome 2,517]

5 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Before he signs anything, you have to have him actually visit some colleges. Let him see the scene, and the co-eds. Same thing happened with my nephew. Straight A's, college bound. I asked him to hold off, that the Army (yuch) would always be an option.  Emphasize option, it shows you're not totally against it and it lets him know it's up to  him in the end.  Very empowering for a young guy. My nephew is at SUNY Binghamton now.  Once he went there he was enamored and the army stuff went away. Plus let him know he can get puzzy all the time in college, not just on leave. 

Great advice, HT! 

Also, make sure he takes his boy in the SPRING when it gets warm - that's when all the short shorts, halter tops, yoga pants and short skirts come out en masse.

No way he'll be able to resist all that.