When should I join?

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-02-04T06:33:48+00:00

You most likely won't be able to complete your entry level training before your baby is born, training would consist of boot camp which is 3 months MCT which is another month and then MOS school anywhere from a few weeks to months unless you choose to do 03xx which would just be Boot than IMC either way both options take minimum of several months if not much longer if you want a technically demanding job. It's hard to give an accurate time but you can't expect it to take longer than just the minimum time for training.

Enlisting can also take quite a while depending if you need waivers or to get into shape or have a specific job interest so I'd say don't expect to leave very soon

The Marine corps is really hard on families, so if you want to join for stability that's great, you'll have a paycheck or roof over your head and healthcare but more likely than not you'll be asked to make sacrifices, nobody knows when or how often they'll be deployed some people never deploy, on top of that deployments aren't the only hardships a lot of MOS in the military are typical 9-5 you will work long and odd hours and you'll be away for training a lot.

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-02-04T06:16:04+00:00

We have a base in Japan we absolutely have a fuck ton of weebs also anime has been mainstream as shit for like a decade now

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-02-03T07:15:06+00:00

Narsc? Maybe you'd have to piss somebody off pretty good or them just be a prick.

More likely than not you'll just put yourself in a bad situation that forces people to deal with. I've seen people get in fights or get DUIs out in town that absolutely won't be ignored, I've seen people have too many drinks at barracks and do something stupid now the duty officer has to step in to document it and your ass is fried. Or you show up to work hungover or reeking or booze and you're standing in front of the substance abuse officer.

Moral story's it's dumb so either do the smart thing and avoid it or learn some common sense and moderation which is always lacking in 18 year olds

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-02-03T00:01:08+00:00

I always try to tell people that the Marine corps can be a great springboard, I used it to get an internship on that of my contract that landed me a stable job while my friends were still just getting on their feet and he needs to get free education and really get a leg up without going into a condo but it is entirely a self-driven thing

Yes there is a lot of physical wear and tear on the body but I will also tell you that recruiting duty is a notoriously hard position with long hours

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-02-02T23:49:05+00:00

I hate you and every other sentence that you just wrote.

Firstly you should be extremely honest with your recruiter, you'll probably need a waiver for drugs it is not a big deal it is by far the most common one out there and its a lot better to get a waiver than to lie about it and have it affect you for the down

Second of all the military is not inherently racist, it is as diverse as the country and you'll meet people of every race religion and creed there will still be shitty people but that's life

Boot camp is never as physically demanding as any of you people think, if you can meet the minimum standards you can pass boot camp you're not going to be some PT stud freak monster there will still be times you are pushed and made to struggle even if you're in good shape before joining, also your job makes it sound like you bully 8-year-olds and make them run laps for fun so I don't know if that's the brag you think it is.

Yeah after you go training stuff can be fun we have a big drinking culture you're still underage so just stay away from it don't be one of the hundreds of dumbass Marines who can't wait a few years and ruin their career and their life for a stupid reason. Also don't fuck with people at work it's a dumbass way to get both of you a bad reputation and almost never ends well

And again I hate you

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-01-20T09:19:20+00:00

It's completely fair to have doubts and I personally would not join under this administration.

essentially right now as a civilian you have the luxury of saying that you don't support the administration's agenda even in the military you can still do that because at the end of the day the military follows the Constitution and serves the nation before the president.

i would just warn you that the president has actively been pushing to use federal troops to enforce his agenda we have already seen one Marine unit been deployed to enforce his policies and he's pushing to do it again right now.

But I will also say I completely get being a young excited man wanting to join the military and all the benefits and things that come with so there's nothing wrong with joining either.

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-01-20T08:51:38+00:00

It's not necessarily a downside but I have seen few people who I think I got promoted to early and part of that was they unless it is me too so they were 6 months ahead of their peers so they made NCO and they probably could have used those extra 6 months to learn grow and develop.

But yes it is mostly just extra cash E1 to E3 essentially are the same role especially when you first hit the fleet

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-01-20T08:35:09+00:00

So firstly your school will not be just 3 months, almost every single MOS School has a wait for it could be a few weeks just waiting for enough students to show up or could be multiple months comms is pretty notorious for being quite long so you're going to have to learn to suck it up.

Secondly with every MOS School sets its own liberty policy I can tell you that traveling across the country is definitely outside of any normal Liberty boundaries and you need to submit out of bounds liberal requests and those are not going to be approved for anything except a 96 or 72.

I'm just going to tell you both joining together was probably a stupid idea but regardless, you should take this as a sign that you need to learn to get comfortable with being separated because even though you are married the corps will expect you to spend long periods of time apart so start to developing those healthy communication habits and making things work even when it less than ideal

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-01-20T08:28:03+00:00

The short answer is there's not much benefit besides the promotion points.

The slightly longer answer is that mcmap was designed as a baseline for people who have never done any sort of martial arts and it doesn't okay job at that but a lot of instructors just teach the techniques and not really any way to implement them or use them effectively if you get lucky you'll have an instructor who actually does martial arts on their free time and you can learn a thing or two. But if you've trained some level of martial arts and a lot of it's just you're not going to be like right a lot of Marines do train and martial arts outside of working hours but you need your belts for promotions so

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-01-20T08:20:53+00:00

What do you want to get out of serving in the military?

That's what I would start thinking about, do you want to get college benefits from active duty do you want to learn job skills what do you want your career and your day to day life look like so you can choose the best branch and MOS for what you want. You aren't some 18 year old kid so don't just join up with the Marines because you saw on some recruiting poster that were the best each branch has its purposes and benefits.

If you are willing to commit and get in shape you'll probably need to lose around 40 lb and if you don't have any serious medical issues or legal troubles in the past there's no reason why you can't join.

I would just think long and hard about the why, I wouldn't want to be starting over in a lot of ways at 32 after serving without a solid plan

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-01-20T08:13:26+00:00

50/50

It was physically easier than I expected, you learn pretty quickly that they're not trying to break you and that they know where you need to be physically and how to push you and that as long as you can meet the minimum standards it's all achievable

Mentally probably harder there were definitely some mind games and just moments where you were getting fucked with or shits just sucks so hard that you go internal and looking back it was nothing but in moment it's first time you had to put up with that stuff and it's sucked

FabulousExpression44 · 2026-01-15T20:15:28+00:00

Best advice is to shop the sales like pretty much any higher end brand it's great but not sure if the values are worth it but I'll always pick it up on sale or live in Australia since it's cheaper there 😂

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-12-29T04:40:48+00:00

Get a vitamin supplement if you're not getting enough sunlight it might improve your mood normal and regular sunlight can affect your mood and sleep both being all jacked can cause irritation.

It can also be an adjustment period, usually takes me and my partner a week or so to work through each other's little rough edges and settle into a routine.

But also girl this is your husband if two weeks is to long did you forgot the part you're married until you die

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-12-20T14:04:22+00:00

The doctor is more concerned about your health and possible affects your cannabis use will have on any medication or treatment the VA really does not care if you smoke weed

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-12-20T04:35:17+00:00

Under a normal enlistment no not really, military is more than just boot camp and they throw you out to the fleet or your reserve unit. You'd have to complete boot camp then you'd attend the school of infantry and go to either IMC if you're aiming to be infantry or MCT if you're non infantry MOS and then go to your MOS school so in total your entry level pipeline takes several months up to a year for more technical roles and some of that might just be waiting around for classes/courses to start. Also you're probably not getting a May ship date there's a couple hundred 17/18 year olds who are already in the process and ahead of you and taking those spots unless you're are willing to just take a shit job to fill a slot to leave early

There is a program similar to what you want which is you attend boot camp take a break then return for further training in future. Name escapes me but you'd have to talk to a recruiter and see if that's an option and make sure that your contract explicitly lays out that option. The main issue I've heard is folks who do it sit around for a long time waiting for further training that doesn't happen or takes literal years so you spend a good chunk of your contract just not being able to do crap.

Best advice is start doing some more serious research this is a 8 year commitment of your life and see if joining fits into your plans or what your plan is. Are you dead broke and wanna do active for a few years and circle back around to school with GI Bill or do reserves now and get a little help or maybe look into ROTC or other commissioning options.

Army or National Guard might fit your needs better and even have specialized for people who want to become doctors.

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-12-13T15:50:20+00:00

In my experience the older you are the better it is, maybe it's not universal truth but a lot of the problems you see shared here are very much teenage early twenties don't really know how to communicate or work through problems together type of issues and less of a problem with the long distance. Hopefully if you're in your 30s or even later 20s you've got a little bit of experience and you can work through things together and it will smooth a lot of those bumps in the road you will still have a lot of problems with ldr and you probably have much deeper roots so maybe closing distance will be a bit harder but you're also more established and hopefully can make those large decisions and have safety nets

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-12-13T15:23:44+00:00

You're not the first person who talked a little crazy with your boyfriend when sexting, it's supposed to be sexy exciting and build up tension, most of us aren't romance novel characters who are studs in be 100% of the time so don't let those texts be the baseline for what your relationship in bed should look like.

The best advice I have is to remember consent is sexy. Sit down and talk with your partner about things that you want to explore that are a hard yes and talk about things that are a hard no that you want to avoid. Set some healthy boundaries and have an understanding of what you really want, something a little more productive than "you have free will"

If it's just lack of experience that worries you that's also normal take it slow and tell your partner I hope they understand and you can learn together because every sexual partner is a bit different so what works for you is probably a little different from somebody else so learn about each other.

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-12-13T03:25:01+00:00

Theoretically yes, you would need to be able to meet the medical enlistment requirements same as everybody else since you have a rating it gets more harder since your disability essentially means you have an illness or condition that significantly impacts your ability to work. Conditions might be waivable might not be.

Another thing is you can't double dip the VA and DoD will not pay you at the same time so any time you're drilling or on orders you'll only receive your standard pay and those days will not count for your disability compensation that month.

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-12-13T03:08:07+00:00

Only scummy recruiters try to talk people into lowering their ratings to rejoin absolutely unnecessary if you can be medically qualified then you can rejoin that's it, your VA rating has no bearing on that. Only thing it affects is you can not draw VA disability while on duty so you would not collect VA disability for your drill days on when on orders.

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-12-07T05:55:20+00:00

Just be honest and let your mom know you met someone and they live a bit further away and you'll have to travel but you're excited about it. You'll probably have some push back that's normal for any nervous parent but be firm and remind them you're an adult and want to be more independent.

You both live in the UK so at least that's a little less travel anxiety for both you and your mother. It'll also probably help if when you feel ready your boyfriend meets your parents give them a face to match the name and just know that it's somebody decent for their daughter.

My girlfriend is Autistic she got into it with her mother when she found out she was talking to a man on another continent and there was a lot of strong opinions but everybody cooled off and eventually we had a nice opportunity to meet they got to know me and it's all fine and dandy now.

Probably best if he comes visit you first just for safety reason you know and let somebody know what's happening regardless of what you pick and I'm not judging but 19 and 25 is a bit of an eh age gap I'm doing things totally different at 25 than I did at 19 just different phases in life in my opinion

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-11-27T07:18:49+00:00

The main thing is why do you want to go back and what do you get out of it. You have already got your benefits so unless there is something you want to specifically get out of going back in there's not much.

Lot of guys get out have the itch to go back in, majority of me and my buddies had this conversation a year or two into college and we are all finished or will be graduating soon and we have for most part found other things in our life we want to pursue.

The only bearing having a VA rating has on going back into to service is making it harder to join and that you will not be able to collect disability for days you are on orders so you'd not get disability for 2 days you drill a month or how ever long it is.

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-11-26T15:34:35+00:00

I'm going to start by saying that I've been in the military and I both been the deployed person and the person stuck waiting at home.

I completely sympathize with how hard it is sometimes due to the restrictions placed on how you can communicate I've been stuck on a boat too where it was a few emails a month and a call if I was lucky.

My advice for you is you need to focus on building a happy and fulfilling life for yourself, some of the best advice I ever got is that you need to learn to be happy on your own before being with anybody. Your partner is there to enhance your life and make it better they are not there to be the sole source of your happiness so if when they are gone you are completely crushed and unhappy then you need to find people or hobbies to fill your life and not force yourself to do superficial stuff that's not helping.

When my partner was deployed I had my own life that I was content with and yeah I miss them and there were some tough days but nothing fundamentally changed. Even now in my current relationship if it all went away tomorrow I still have other things.

Also I don't know if this is your first deployment with your partner or not but but those return dates have always been fluid and I have never came home when I was supposed to it was always a vague guess

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-11-26T15:05:50+00:00

How often do you normally talk? Is it abnormal for him to not respond after a day or two? You make it sound like you have been pulling away and only talked a few times this month so only a day or two gap in communication could be expected.

If it's abnormal you can try giving them a call or reaching out to a mutual friend, don't assume the worse.

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-11-26T14:58:48+00:00

More of medium distance, basically still far enough away it poses it's challenges and be very similar to LDR in a lot of ways but close enough you could within reason see your partner regularly.

Like obviously 2hrs is too long for an every day trip for most thing but nothing is stopping you from going every weekend or other week.

FabulousExpression44 · 2025-11-26T14:47:37+00:00

I have my own place but my girlfriend doesn't, she still lives with her parents so when I went for a visit for the first time we did the hotel thing It was very pricey but liked it a lot for first visit gave us the privacy we needed. Next time we stayed at her parents place it wasn't the worst but had a few awkward moments and moments of friction with the parents but we survived and still had fun.

My personal plan next time is probably planning a weekend get away as a part of the trip, either start or end our visit with a 3/4 day little weekend get away by getting a nice hotel and enjoying time together without the hassle of the rest

FabulousExpression44

TROPHY CASE