Initial Meeting #1: USMC

Well, my first meeting with my Marine OSO was pretty good. Captain Pages is a very straight-forward guy and he did a great job presenting me with my options as well as outlining what I can expect if I choose to pursue this route.

For starters, he asked me why I was there. As I've written before, this was a question that I definitely expected to be asked so I had spent a little time thinking out a decent, intelligible answer. I feel called to serve and the Marine Corps appeals to me because of its strong emphasis on leadership and being the best. I've been through all of this before here so I'll leave it at that.

The next step in our conversation was for Captain Pages to get a good idea of what I was looking to do in the Marine Corps. I made it pretty clear that I wanted to go for an air contract, but if all else failed I would certainly consider ground. With the Marines, OCS candidates apply for either a ground, air, or law contract. It's reasonably self-explanatory; ground contracts go on to do traditional military jobs on the ground, air contracts work in aviation, and law contracts go into the JAG Corps. As I said earlier, I'm trying to secure an air contract but I could certainly go with ground, if need be. That would partially depend on what kind of contract I could secure with the Navy and Army. I'm partial to the Marine Corps, but this is all about finding the best situation for me personally, so we'll have to see what the other branches say also. 

Captain Pages made it clear that aviation in the Marine Corps is a hot commodity today. They have an increased need for pilots with the new F-35 JSF coming into circulation soon, however this also has caused many current Marine pilots to hold off on retiring. There are aviation slots to be earned though, which is encouraging. 

Just ruling the skies with impunity, nothing to see here

Simply put, I have three big options. My first would be to apply for an air slot for the ten-week PLC-combined OCS this summer. This route in generally meant for juniors in college to get their training at OCS done in their last summer before graduation. While this certainly would fit my time-line for May 2012 graduation, I would have to have a PFT score in at least the 280 range. While that's possible to do (and I plan on having that level of score), the real question is whether or not I have time to do this in two-and-a-half months before the selection board meets. The second option would be apply for an air slot in the PLC Juniors OCS. PLC (Platoon Leaders Course) is divided into two six-week increments (Juniors and Seniors) to be done in the summers after Sophomore and Junior year. This would give me the opportunity to get in decent shape but not necessarily have the ultra-competitive 280 PFT that it would take to get selected for the combined ten-week course. It's also a positive that I'd still be at OCS this summer, even if I'd have to come back for another serving the next year. The only catch of the second option is that I'd have to push my graduation back to December of 2012 in stead of May. That's hardly a deal-breaker for me, just means I'd tack on a minor to my history degree.

A minor in Women's Studies: Both informative and enriching

The third option would be to apply for OCS (PLC or the combined course) with a ground contract. This would mostly be if I couldn't get aviation for any reason or I didn't really feel like waiting to graduate. It's definitely a possibility, but right now I'd say it's a back-up plan.   

All are pretty decent choices. I'll have to think about whether or not I'd like to stick around school for another semester (and compare these options with offers from the Navy and Army), but for right now I think the second option is probably my best bet. At the end of the day, it's about getting the situation that's best for me - and I'll be more than happy to stick around another semester if that helps secure a slot in aviation.

The second half of my conversation with Captain Pages was spent going over my application to be in the Marine Officer program. He addressed the items I need to procure (birth certificate, SS card, etc) as well as the various letters of recommendation that I would need for my application. He also took this time to make absolutely sure that I wanted to be in the program. This is a good time to point out that OSOs are not recruiters - they're selection officers. Captain Pages isn't there to try and convince me to do anything to fill a recruiting quota; he's there to be a career advisor and help me get the situation that I'd like with the Marine Corps. OSOs don't want people who aren't going to be serious, dedicated applicants. So the Captain made it clear that if I left his office with that program application, that my evaluation started with it. No, I'm not a Marine officer, but now I'm expected to conduct myself like one. Captain Pages can't force me to go to PT, but he'll know when I'm not there. He can't make me work on my application, but my failure to do so only hurts me in the end. The expectations are high, and I like that.

So, with my gazillion-page application packet in hand, I was given three big things to consider and work on in the coming week. First, I need to start working harder on my PFT score. I'm expected to PT with the other candidates in my area and it'll be my ass on the line if I don't. My next assignment is to begin working on that application. It's long and the recommendations take a little bit of time, so it's best to begin immediately and get that back ASAP. My third assignment is to start studying for the ASTB (Aviation Selection Test Battery). This test is the flight exam and I only get three chances to pass it, so studying is quite necessary (especially if you suck at math, like me). My OSO will be up at FAU in a couple of weeks so I better have made progress on these by the time I see him again.

I've definitely got a lot on my plate, but I'm pretty excited to start the process. Captain Pages was very helpful and I look forward to working with him in the future. There's a serious culture of accountability and it's somewhere I think I'll do very well.

Stand By To Stand By

Unfortunately I wasn't able to see the Marine OSO yesterday so we rescheduled for Monday morning. On a side note, I swung by the National Guard office to talk to someone, mainly for kicks. Sadly, no one was home.

Alas, now I'll always wonder what could have been

Good news is I've got another two days to kill in Miami before my meeting. I'll get to see my friends at UM, do some running and even a little schoolwork. So I hope y'all have a nice weekend, I'll update after my meeting with the OSO.

Thursday Night Update

Hello there. This post comes on the eve on my first meeting with a selection officer, in this case a Marine OSO (Officer Selection Officer). After class my two classes in the morning I'm heading down south to see some people in Miami for the weekend. It just so happens that my OSO for the Marine Corps is located in Miami, making this the perfect opportunity to start that dialogue and process for getting my package together for OCS after graduation.

Right now there's not a whole lot to say since I haven't met with the OSO yet, but I figured it'd be a good time to put down some thoughts going into the meeting. It seems elementary, but the first thing that comes to mind is dress. After six years of private school it's safe to say I know how to dress professionally and I plan on doing so tomorrow. First impressions are vital, regardless of who you're interviewing with. A friend of mine who's an Ensign in the Navy gave the sage wisdom: "Dress fratty. Trust me, they love that shit." While the tone was obviously humorous, the message was clear: don't walk in to meet a military officer looking like a total shitbird. It sends all the wrong messages to a group of people who tend to be meticulous and dress impeccably.

Too much?

It seems like a simple enough concept, but I guess the best way to put my approach is to say that I plan on acting professionally. Shower, shave, dress nicely and be prepared to talk about wanting to be a Marine officer. It's safe to say after the first post that I have a pretty clear idea of why I'm joining the military so it really shouldn't be a difficult thing to convey tomorrow. I'll be sure to update some time over the weekend. Take care.

Edit: In honor of the branch that I'll be speaking with tomorrow, here's a clip of some of the Marines portrayed in HBO's miniseries, "Generation Kill." Read the book too if you get a chance.

Physical Preparations

Since we're still in the introductory phases of this blog, I feel like now would be a good time to outline the physical aspect of my military preparations. 

Way back in 2009 (do your best to remember back that far. If not, improvise), I moved home to take some time to work back home after the great financial crisis reared its ugly head the previous fall. While that move had some good (and necessary) financial implications, one negative aspect was I stopped being active. The lack of running and intramural softball (serious business) coupled with a continuation in my college drinking habits did not do good things for my body. In six months of being home I went from an athletic 195lbs to 215. I'm only 5'9 - there's simply nowhere to hide twenty pounds like that. 


So once I decided that I wanted to serve, one of the bigger obstacles that I faced was getting back to being in decent athletic shape. And really, that was only part of it. To post a competitive PFT (Physical Fitness Test) score for the Marine Corps, one has to be a lot better than just in decent shape. I chose the Marine Corps standard as my goal because, as a branch, they take physical fitness the most seriously. Marines fucking love to work out. And I can respect a branch that takes pride in being the most physically ready to wage war. It just makes sense. 

Oo-rah

Getting in good shape serves a multitude of purposes. For starters, it's just a good idea to be healthy. I'm going to avoid being on my political/social soapbox as much as possible with this blog, but America's simply too fat. It's a shame that in today's country the US Army has to change to match the people and not the other way around. Aside from general healthy concerns, I want to be in the military as an officer and I'm not going to get selected unless I post a very competitive PFT score. With the Marines, I need to be shooting probably around a 280 (out of 300) to get selected in the current ultra-competitive selection climate. And logically if I'm physically ready for the Marine Corps' OCS (Officer Candidate School), I'll be ready for every other branch as well. 

Well, maybe not the Air Force

Over the last six months, I've done pretty well. Nothing extraordinary, but through eating right, drinking less, and being more active I've lost the twenty pounds that I gained after my college hiatus. I won't go into the specifics of my diet, there are plenty of other people that can explain nutrition far better than me, but the general rule of creating a calorie deficit is a good one to live by. I've still got a long way to go. For my height (5'9), the highest weight I'm allowed to be at is 185lbs, which is still ten pounds less than what I am now. It's true that the military will measure your body fat % if you don't make weight, so it's not the end of world for shorter, stockier people that are actually in shape, however, I know that I still have at least ten pounds that I can lose and doing it will absolutely help my PFT score. I don't think it's out of the question for me to drop 15lbs and be at a lean 180lbs. It'll just take some more work. Which sucks, a lot. 

This is also probably the time to go a little more in dept into the actual Physical Fitness Test for the Marine Corps. Like I've said earlier, I generally look to the Marines when it comes to getting in shape so I'm most familiar with their fitness test. I'm sure the other branches do a fine job, but personally I'm focusing on the Marine PFT. The PFT is divided into three sections: pull-ups, crunches, and a three-mile run. The more pull-ups one can do, the higher his or her score. Same with crunches (in a two-minute time period) as well as the timed run. To achieve a maximum score of 300 points, one must get 20 pull-ups, 100 crunches (in two minutes), and a 18-minute run time. Yes, 18 minutes. That's a 6-minute mile back-to-back-to-back. Just to clarify, those are the necessary numbers to get a perfect score. You can technically pass a PFT with much lower, but that simply won't cut it for OCS selection or OCS itself. 


My own training is revolving attaining the highest possible PFT score. In theory, that should get me prepared for the physical aspect of OCS. There are also other parts of training I need to take into account, like running in boots, but a good PFT score is a great place to start. 

For the pull-ups, I have a bar that fits into my door frame. This allows me the opportunity to do pull-ups at any point in the day, and honestly - if it's right there a few steps away, I'll do them much more often. There are a number of decent programs for pull-ups, but generally speaking the only way to improve is just by doing lots and lots of pull-ups (Sorry, no magic method). I personally follow the popular Armstrong Plan, but there are many others that will work. 


Crunches are similar in the sense that to improve your abdominal strength, you simply have to keep doing more and more crunches. I wish there was an easier way, but there just isn't. Another thing to keep in mind with crunches is that it's an area where gains are made and lost very quickly. Consistency is they key here. I follow a pretty simple method that I found on a USMC recruiting website. It's called Killer's Crunch Workout. They don't take a whole lot of time, so just go out and do them already. 


The final portion of the USMC PFT is the 3-mile run. I'll preface this section by stating that I absolutely hate running. Distance running was never something I did much of as a baseball player growing up and just the thought of more-or-less sprinting for nearly twenty minutes makes me cringe. But it's necessary. Very, very necessary. Fortunately, the PFT run is very close to a 5K race (3.1 miles) and there are a ton of programs for runners to train for running a fast 5K. For now, I've mainly been running longer distances to get used to running again. It sucks, but it's a process. There are a lot of methods for increasing speed with you runs (speed intervals, for instance), but the one constant is consistency (notice a trend here?). To be a better runner, you have to run. And I hate that. 

Fucking showoffs

Those are the basic physical aspects of my training. I'm in decent athletic shape right now, but I could certainly be in much better. To accomplish my goals I'll have to. Every week or so I'll try to devote a post to my process in the physical aspects of my journey and hopefully there will be some marked improvement in a few months. We'll see.

Parameters

Alright, now that the pesky introduction is out of the way - let's get down to brass tacks. As of right now, I have not made contact with a recruiter or selection officer with any branch; my journey has thus far been limited to physical preparations and research. Lots and lots of research. That does not mean, however, that I'm starting this journey with every branch on equal footing. For instance, I know myself well enough to know that I realistically have no business joining the Coast Guard. I'm not particularly a huge fan of the water and let's be honest: the Coast Guard loves them some water. 

Ehh, no thanks

So at this point in the process we've already eliminated one of the five branches. Not too shabby. The USAF is probably the weakest of the remaining, but I'll let them hang around for a little longer for consideration's sake. The frontrunner right now would have to be the USMC. For starters, I have a family history in the Corps. My father was an E-5 (Sergeant) in the late 1950's/early 1960's and my half-brother is currently an E-7 (Gunnery Sergeant) serving in Afghanistan. 

Yes, the Gunny is terrifying

Suffice to say, I grew up with the idea of Marine Corps superiority drilled deeply into my head. Although I'm starting my military search with an open mind, I'm completely willing to admit that I identify most closely with the Marines. There's much to be said for a group of warriors that takes pride in being the absolute best and I really like the standards that Marines set for themselves. The Navy isn't too far behind. I do like similar opportunities that the Navy offers in some fields (aviation) and it's certainly appealing to not necessarily have to spend most of your time in the mud. Sorry, Marines: Any Clime, Any Place does have its setbacks. 

North Korea: lovely during the winter

The third of the major contenders is the US Army. It may be puzzling to have the Marine and the Army (two seemingly-similar branches) on opposite ends of the spectrum, but I have my reasons. The first and most obvious is the aforementioned Marine Corps bias. Marines do everything better at the expense of the slacker branch that just fucks everything up. While that's not always a fair criticism, the Army hasn't helped itself in my eyes by lowering their standards to keep people from washing out of Basic Training. The military is tough for a reason, and I'd hopefully not have to worry about having to command sub-standard soldiers because the Army needs to hit a recruiting quota. Marines thrive on the idea of being able to trust the rifleman on either side of them in a firefight. I like that confidence in being the best trained and at times the Army has given me doubts with some of the people they're accepting now. 

Above: Army Strong

The Army does have its merits though. Some of the best advice I've gotten in terms of selecting a branch for the military is to treat each branch like a potential employer and go with the people that will give you the best deal. And because of their recruiting woes, the Army does offer the best enlistment incentives (dollar, dollar billz) of the five branches. While it wouldn't be wise to select the Army based purely on the enlistment bonus, a sizable one certainly doesn't hurt. For all my criticisms of the Army, they also have plenty of top-notch warriors in their ranks. Army Rangers, the US Airborne, and Special Forces are the best of the best in the US Military and easily comparable to the Recon Marines (sorry fellas). So there are plenty of opportunities to be with elite warriors in the Army, I'm just personally a little disturbed by the discrepancy between the Army's regular and elite. 

Actual Army Strong

For the three branches that are most closely in the mix (Army, Navy, USMC), I'll begin talking to recruiting officers within the next couple of weeks. I didn't mention it earlier, but it's important to note that I'm only considering a career as an officer. This isn't a slight against enlisted soldiers, sailors, or Marines - this is just part of knowing who I am and my capabilities. I'm college educated, I want to lead, and quite frankly - the pay is substantially better. 

So, to summarize: The Coast Guard wasn't ever a real possibility and the USAF is hanging on by a thread, which leaves the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps as the primary branches of consideration to start out. I'm pumped - let's do this thing!  

Introduction

I imagine the best way to start this blog would be a proper introduction. My name's Jeff and I'm a college junior that has recently decided to look into a career in the United States military. The first question that might come to one's head would simply be: Why? 

At least one person would like to know

It's a fair question, no doubt, and certainly one that I have to be able to answer before I make any major commitment to any employer, military or otherwise. I guess the best way to answer is simply that I believe in service. Truthfully, I never grew up thinking I'd want to join the military. I grew up in an upper-class, private school environment where military service was something to be appreciated and respected, but it was generally reserved for someone else. We were expected to go to college and put our intellectual talents elsewhere and leave the fighting to some other guys. 

In the midst of my college career, things got rough for myself and my family (and everyone else) - so I moved home and worked for a year and a half. In that time of economic crisis, our country became more divided than ever. I'll generally try to avoid taking too much of a political stand in these writings, but a certain group of Tea Party Activists predicted (early Spring 2010) a time not too far from now that they would have no choice but to stand up in armed revolution against the Federal Government for their transgressions. As an American, I was outraged. The language was filled with hate and undertones of racism, desperation, and political sour grapes. I firmly believe that if you want change politically it's something you voice at the ballot box. That's the system, and advocating hate and armed conflict because you didn't get your way just seems childish and incredibly selfish. 

Law-abiding patriots

I realize that these groups are a very vocal minority (stressing the minority part here). I'm certainly not going to lump the vast majority of reasonable Americans with these crazies, however, my reaction as an outraged American really caused me to re-evaluate the trajectory that my life was following. After a lot of reflection, it dawned on me that I felt strongly about service to the country, especially in times of great crisis. That's when America needs people to step up the most. There's also an obvious financial motive, especially in a recession like the one we've experienced. But financial motivations alone aren't going to get someone through Boot Camp or Officer Candidate School. There has to be a burning desire to serve and that part of me really awakened in the Spring of 2010. 

My entire life and the opportunities I've had have been made possible by generations before choosing service and making a sacrifice on behalf of their country. It's extremely hard to come away from that realization with anything but gratitude, and now I'd really like to repay the favor.