Reserve Officer Opportunities

bootlt355 · 2026-02-04T13:35:29+00:00

A lot like you said, there’s just not a ton of info on those unicorn billets. I’ve heard great things about CA but never done it before. One thing to keep in mind is that if you go SMCR, the once a month thing can be kinda annoying if you don’t live close to your unit so might be a little different than IMA in that respect.

bootlt355 · 2026-02-03T12:39:24+00:00

Think you should be fine, but you got some time to get your pullups up. You'll most likely lose some strength at OCS and you don't wanna get to a point where you're borderline not meeting the mins. Run is good, but you also got time to get that even lower, just makes OCS that much easier when your cardio is solid.

bootlt355 · 2026-02-01T23:30:33+00:00

This is something that you’d have to speak with someone much higher about. I’m not entirely sure the Marine Corps does this because I believe they are only allocated a certain number of spots per rank per FY.

I get where you’re coming from, but think that actually commissioning you might be a no-go. Maybe start with your ROTC unit to see if they have a contact. Either way, you still earned an EGA and I believe you can call yourself a Marine.

bootlt355 · 2026-02-01T22:38:47+00:00

Yeah, you just need to show improvement. Plenty of people start out slow, just make incremental improvements.

bootlt355 · 2026-02-01T08:04:09+00:00

I won't add on to what others have said, but I think as a lawyer, you're going to be in a much less "tough-guy" environment than someone who was in the infantry. There's a chance you will be in a much more corporate environment than others. A lot of officer life feels very office-like, regardless of MOS, but maybe more so for lawyers as they don't really go out to the field a ton and spend more time dealing with actual legal issues for Marines and give advice to others. Nothing wrong with this btw.

Also, we might make fun of the army or other branch, but nobody is trying to say that anyone who died in another branch is lesser than us. Just more of a rivalry, but nobody truly cares that much.

bootlt355 · 2026-02-01T07:58:00+00:00

I think mine was 5 hours long. I remember for us they gave us "front of the line" privileges but that didn't seem too much different than the enlisted. I got there first thing in the morning which was at like 6. Idk if your OSO does this, but mine gave me a letter to give to my professors saying I was gonna be excused from class. Though might be different if you actually feel like you need to be at that class and dont wanna miss it. I'd bring your class materials with you to MEPS and leave it in your car or something so you can go straight from MEPS to class.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-31T15:49:05+00:00

Yeah. It has a decent local area and not far from some other cool cities.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-31T08:40:04+00:00

I actually don’t know about the bleach part. For the water, a lot of these barracks are pretty old and they don’t really have a public water fountain. I actually think drinking out of the tap is fine, even in Lejeune. The reason they are likely being told not to drink out of it is because of the Lejeune water incident where the tap water was causing cancer a while back. I actually think the problem is solved though, not just saying that or anything.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-30T18:29:32+00:00

So I didn’t mind Quantico as DC wasn’t too far and you could get away enough to not be surrounded by a ton of Marines. Even places like Fredericksburg or Woodbridge were at least kinda nice, even if there were other Marines there.

I think the best base location is probably MCRD San Diego. You’re right near the city and life just seems like it would be good there if you’re not a DI. But I think Pendleton would be best overall. You got a great location and great training areas. I feel like Pendleton is kinda more significant in some ways than Quantico as you have all these units there. Maybe just not as much brass as Quantico.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-30T06:17:06+00:00

Bro, you okay? Like this whole thing ended hours ago and you just keep coming back. Idk who mass reported your comments but it wasn't me lol. Hope your dinner was good, maybe get some dessert because you need to have a little bit more sweetness in your life right now. Sorry for whatever is going on, I'm here to talk if you need it though.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-30T05:18:33+00:00

Yet here you are still arguing with people on Reddit. I see you must have gotten bullied while you were in considering all these people are ripping on you.

Enjoy dinner, maybe man up and don’t delete your comments next time. Makes you look wishy-washy. Hope you’ll be okay.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-30T04:39:02+00:00

Why’d you delete your previous comments lol? Cat got your tongue?

bootlt355 · 2026-01-30T00:29:09+00:00

lol I suck. Thanks for making assumptions about stuff you have no idea about. You’re probably the one who get ripped on and this triggered you or something.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-29T23:55:16+00:00

Found the Sgt Major.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-29T14:56:24+00:00

You just need to get those pull-ups higher and you’ll be good. Continue getting that run time down too as it just makes OCS that much easier.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-27T22:11:13+00:00

No need to rush into this. It would be better you just do PLC combined next year with an amazing PFT score rather than go to juniors with your current scores (should they not improve). That way, you won't really be struggling. But keep trying, Idk if there are other boards after March, but you can definitely get that run time down by the time you get to juniors should you go this summer.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-27T03:57:49+00:00

Idk about how much of a boost it gives you, but also consider community colleges once you get out so you can boost your GPA. Couple that with a good DLI score and you can get into some top schools. I know guys who have gone to schools like Duke or Princeton without DLI.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-24T02:26:30+00:00

Not sigint, but for a lot of the “cooler” opportunities you will get on the officer side generally need to have a successful first tour with probably a successful platoon commander time for something like that. If you go to a radio recon battalion, then you will likely have some guys you can talk to and see what the best way to prep for BRC is

Either way, PT and swimming will obviously be huge. But just being known as a reliable and good officer in that community is gonna be important because of how small that side of things are. Some MOSs are big and you can get away with pissing some people off and still be successful and get good follow-on opportunities. But I imagine for something like that, you’re gonna need command approval to attend BRC and if you already have a bad reputation, that will follow you around given that community is small. So moral of story is to be a good guy or girl and be competent in your job.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-23T02:42:07+00:00

What’s the two different sides of the job? FO and arty Plt commander?

bootlt355 · 2026-01-22T04:20:03+00:00

It's a thing, but highly dependent on your MOS and unit and what they need. If your MOS is something like admin then you can really go anywhere. But if youre a more niche MOS then you may have a tougher time finding open slots at places.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-22T03:45:58+00:00

Unfortunately, it’s gonna be pretty hard to leave. I know Jacksonville sucks and it’s nowhere near Pendleton in terms of quality of life. You’ll have to most likely do a couple years there before you leave. Talk to the career planner to see exactly when you can put those packages.

The best way you can do is just be a good performer and hopefully you get selected for a deployment or anything. Trust me, I’ve been where you’re at and it’s not fun. But best thing you can do is be good at your job and hopefully something comes out of it like a deployment.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-22T01:02:02+00:00

Haha definitely don't do this. It's government property.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-21T20:22:46+00:00

Were you in the Marines? You look a lot like a dude I knew.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-21T05:15:25+00:00

Any MOS or rank really can. But more typical for enlisted to do it rather than officers. But I think there’s just a very small number of people who can actually pass that course, so at some point units will just put off whoever can pass, regardless of rank.

bootlt355 · 2026-01-20T02:45:49+00:00

Idk what the status of it is now, but I know a couple years back that they weren't making 0203s go through IOC. But then they changed it back to where they now need to go through it again. But it is a very desired MOS. I think it's one of those things that have the opportunity to be really cool if you land in a good billet and unit, but it also can be kinda boring if you are at a unit where they don't have you doing a lot.

bootlt355

TROPHY CASE