Jarhead..need some help here

[Raptor2216]

How's it going there jarhead? Listen, I just finished plc juniors and i have been invited back for seniors and I do plan on going in a couple of years. What I need to ask you is you experience at TBS. I am a little concerned that I might get seriously injured at TBS and lose my pilot contract and get stuck with an occupation that I might hate. Also, what was TBS like compared to OCS as far as freetime and being yelled at is concerned? Right now, 6 months seen like a very long time and it feels like it will take me forever to get to flight school. How was your time at TBS? did it go by fairly fast? Also, I want to fly hornets like a lot of other future hopefulls and I need to know how much competetion is there when it comes to USMC hornet slots? Sorry for asking so many questions but I will appreciate any help you can give me here. Thanks in advance.

 

[Q-ball]

Raptor,
Maybe I can help you out. I went through PLC Jr in 98, PLC Sr in 99, and TBS Charlie Co. 2000. I am currently at Whiting Field learning to fly helos. As far as TBS goes, you'll get a different response depnding on who you talk to. It's basically just learning to be a grunt for 6 months, you learn how to be a provisional platoon commander. It's not OCS II, so get that thought out of your head, there are no Sgt. instructors on your butt 24/7. As far as getting injured at TBS, you have a much higher chance of getting hurt when you go back to Sr's, so watch yourself next summer.
As far as jet selection goes here's how it was about six months ago when I went through primary. The cut-off for Marines was a 50 nss. If you had a 50 or above and wanted jets you got it, simple as that. The only real competition is with yourself, whether you wanted to work hard enough to get the grades or not because it always seemed like any Marine that had the grades and wanted jets got it.
Finally, there is no such thing as being "stuck" in the Marine Corps. No matter what you end up doing you are still an Officer of Marines. I know a lot of officers that for some reason or another didn't finish flight school, and if you ask anyone of them they will tell you that they love what they are doing now and wouldn't trade it for anything else.

Q
"To fly is fine. To Hover is Divine"

 

[Rainman]

Don't sweat getting hurt @ TBS. You can get hurt going to the bar tomorrow night. Should you get crazy and volunteer to go to IOC, well that's another situation. By the time you get done with TBS you will be good and brainwashed that there aren't any bad MOSs in the MC. . who knows. After you graduate TBS, it seems to me that everyone is on your side to get you to flight school. If you get injured @ TBS, you will get better and continue on your way. MAKE SURE YOU WEAR GOGGLES FOR LAND NAV! I "risked it" a couple times and had too many close calls. A scratched retina (oops--I mean cornea) is a bad thing. As far as hornets go. .. .yeah. .have a dream. You do need to do it to be a leader of Marines first. . .do as well as you can @ TBS. . API. . Primary. . . . But first you gotta graduate Seniors healthy. . ooh rah!



Edited by - joshmountain on 07/27/2002 15:07:00

 

[Raptor2216]

hey jar, you said that the majority of people want hornets in the Strike pipeline and as I understand hornets and harriers are the only thing to select from in the strike pipeline, correct? I'm just wondering if one can select harriers at flight school or do you first have to fly some other platform in flight school and then move on to harriers since they are tough to fly. Does the Corp have a whole lot of C-130's, or are those fairly limited? Thanks.

 

[O-man]

I just got back from the School of Infantry's INfantry Training BN. its nine weeks of grunt school for 03's. whats this about glasses on the nav part? we had day and night land nav with no such things. I guess they trake better care of you on the Officers side. Whats this NSS I read about- some mean score of some sort? What's the average person have? New river air station is right next to Camp Gieger where we were- and while in the field we had helo's over head All the time- the ylook like a lot of fun- even the 53's. I (just like every other person in the world) would love to get into the jet pipe line, but I wont be crying in my boots if I got helos. Arrhg. Semper Fi- LCpl O-man

 

[Rainman]

yeah, you aren't issued any eyewear; it is just recommended that you go out and put them on. Scratchd cornea not a common occurence, but according to the medical folks, a handful of eye injuries requiring medical attention every year--if the damage doesn't fix itself, you're screwed. . .Even if it's rare, why take the chance? Fumbling around on an evening with zero moon illum, you'll have a new appreciation for the thorned trees in Quantico and, if you're super fortunate, for some racoons, beavers, and worse a delicious smelling skunk. . ..fond memories.

 

[O-man]

Lima 3/24- whats that in Tenn.? A bunch of my buddies from ITB (we were B Co.) were from Kilo 3/24 and I think maybe Lima....And they wree all Tenn. We had a few go to 1/6 as well. they had a little thing for them on grad. day b/c they got the french (Now, I cant spell any better than you average drunk five your old- so pardon the contraption ahead) for-teh-jay (roll the "jay"). At least I think it was that outfit. I am going to stop making myself look odd- Oh Rah...LCpl O-man

 

[airgreg]

Jarhead,

A captain named "Mental" was nice enough to show me around Miramar a few months ago. I think he was a WSO in 101, but I'm not sure. He may have gone somewhere to be a FAC. Sound familiar?

I work in a tall brown building in the UTC area. You can probably see it, it would be on your left just after I-805. When you guys fly west from Miramar to the ocean, you shake our windows. I'm the only one in the office who likes that.

Happy flying,
-Greg

 

[ghost_ttu]

Jarhead:

In USMC is it likely, feasible, heard of, for someone to go to Helo's, Heavy's to jets later on? I know this is heard of in the other branches, but I'm curious if the Marines facilitate such moves.

 

[patbrown08]

This does happen but is evidently rare. VT-6 just had 2 IPs selected to transition. One will be transitioning to C-130s the other will transition from Cobras to jets. A third IP was selected as an alternate. The skipper said it was a very rare occurance. You should expect to stay with what you get out of primary.

 

[mcbride_t_m]

Don't worry about getting hurt in TBS. You have a greater chance of drinking yourself into a stupor and drowning in a puddle of water than getting your flight contract removed by injury at TBS. To answer another question posed, there are about 50 KC-130s in the Marine Corps right now. We are purchasing some J models, but the transition is slow and cumbersome. For any jet jock who thinks refuelers/tankers are just an Air Force kinda mission, think closely about that comment when your skosh on gas and there is a big fat Marine Battle Herc waiting to fill your tank and keep you in the fight. We all do our part for the Corps, even jets. Cheers.

 

[Rainman]

SERE? good times I hear. .anything broken?