Marine Officer program

[Indeejordan]

I am just curious about the exact path a Marine officer takes. I will do OCS, then TBS, than my specific job training, then...? I have heard that Marine officers have to do a tour of duty as an infantry officer before you can do other things. I just started researching and I haven't read anything like that, but my father thought he had heard it. I will have a BA in Finance and Real Estate in a year and would like to continue to develop my business skills in the military as an officer. Is it hard to get a related job in the Marines? And how difficult is it to get into Grad school in the Marines? Thanks a lot.

 

[teufelhunden83]

1) http://www.marines.com
2) http://www.ocs.usmc.mil
3) http://www.tbs.usmc.mil
4) http://www.marineocs.com

Read through those sites. They should answer most of your questions. If not, feel free to ask. I'll also add, if you want to become an officer in the Marine Corps your primary concern must be for your Marines, not your own advancement.

 

[Herc_Dude]

Here is the short version of the path we take:
-Officer Candidates School (OCS) - different versions of OCS are PLC, OCC, so if you hear these terms, they are talking about OCS.
-The Basic School (TBS) - after you are commissioned, back to Quantico you go. 6 months.
-Follow on school (MOS school) - this could be flight school, IOC (infantry officers course), logistics, comm, etc ... If you sign an air contract, you will be heading to Pensacola. If you sign a ground contract, you will find out at the end of TBS what your MOS will be.
-The Fleet - after all your MOS training is done, you go to the fleet and start to really earn your pay.

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

Standard advice to newbies: use the Search function to search this site, along with the others listed, prior to opening a new thread.

 

[livefast]

I have a problem with reading "I would like to continue to develop my business skills in the military." The Marine Corps is not a finishing school, and if your sole purpose for wanting to become an Officer is to pad your resume, you should look elsewhere. Also, Infantry Officer is a separate MOS, and it's not "required" for advancement to other MOSs. What you might have heard is that Combat MOSs can switch to non-combat MOSs, but not vice-versa (i.e., an Infanty Officer can become a Logistics Officer, but never the other way around.)

 

[BackOrdered]

I have a problem with reading "I would like to continue to develop my business skills in the military." The Marine Corps is not a finishing school, and if your sole purpose for wanting to become an Officer is to pad your resume, you should look elsewhere. Also, Infantry Officer is a separate MOS, and it's not "required" for advancement to other MOSs. What you might have heard is that Combat MOSs can switch to non-combat MOSs, but not vice-versa (i.e., an Infanty Officer can become a Logistics Officer, but never the other way around.)

The topic creator cleared it up in another of his topics. I believe he just wants to apply his skills to better serve the military, not use it solely as a vehicle.

 

[narfmasta]

FWIW my OSO is a Finance Officer so if you want to do something in the field you are getting your degree in, it's an available MOS

 

[Indeejordan]

The topic creator cleared it up in another of his topics. I believe he just wants to apply his skills to better serve the military, not use it solely as a vehicle.

Thanks for the backup, I really do want to be in the military, it would be awesome if I could use my degree as well and use those skills that I have been developing for the past 4 years to benefit the Marine Corps.

 

[zippy]

I have a problem with reading "I would like to continue to develop my business skills in the military." The Marine Corps is not a finishing school, and if your sole purpose for wanting to become an Officer is to pad your resume, you should look elsewhere.

And you should to wait until you are less brainwashed before you pass judgments on other peoples motivation for wanting to serve.

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

I think the Army's biggest selling point is preparing you for life after the Army. Did you check them out?

 

[narfmasta]

I think the Army's biggest selling point is preparing you for life after the Army. Did you check them out?

I agree. Here's a video showing some of the good things you can do w/ their training!

 

[Crowbar]

I think what everybody is getting at (in both of your threads) is that very few officer MOSs, for Marines anyway, that will be directly related to your degree. If you want to serve, knock yourself out, but be prepared to do something completely different than what you learned about in college. Use this link to find out a little more. Normally I use the TBS site, but it wasn't working for me today.

it would be awesome if I could use my degree as well and use those skills that I have been developing for the past 4 years to benefit the Marine Corps.

Here's another way to look at it. If you end up as a Marine, or an officer in any branch, it would be awesome if you took those experiences and used them to develop yourself to benefit your future employers.

 

[narfmasta]

I think what everybody is getting at (in both of your threads) is that very few officer MOSs, for Marines anyway, that will be directly related to your degree. If you want to serve, knock yourself out, but be prepared to do something completely different than what you learned about in college. Use this link to find out a little more. Normally I use the TBS site, but it wasn't working for me today.



Here's another way to look at it. If you end up as a Marine, or an officer in any branch, it would be awesome if you took those experiences and used them to develop yourself to benefit your future employers.

From what I've read, military officers are in high demand in business because they are confident, able to think quickly, and are well disciplined. I'm sure there are other reasons but I remember hearing those specifically.

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

And they're acclimated to beaurocratic politics and arse-kissing.