Originally posted by Tessone
Originally posted by Adrenaline Rush
well it would still be nice for the marines to offer more of a money incentive than they do at the moment. In order to be eligible to be a marine officer you need a degree, so for some the navy bdcp may be the only option because they simply cannot afford tuition without major assistance..
Adrenaline Rush, you're incorrect about the Corps not offering financial assistance. If you contract to go to Platoon Leader's Course (PLC) during the summer, they pay you cash for school plus pocket money (I can't remember the exact figures) every year you're in the program. You must complete PLC-juniors to receive the cash, which happens after sophomore year, but that's not really very different from BDCP (which starts after soph. year except for technical majors).
However, advertising how much money they'll give you is not the way the Corps recruits (at least not the recruiters I've encountered), and to be honest, that's why I initially had an interest in joining the Corps. My OSO talked to me more about the honor of a commission and what responsibilities I'd have than cash. At some points, I felt like he was almost trying to talk me out of it, he was stressing how big the responsibility is so much.
As for lifestyle, all the Marines I know are nice, personable, fun people. If you want a look into the personality of just one Marine officer, check out Capt. Grose's web page (http://members.tripod.com/jdgrose115/). He's a mustang ground officer (an adj) and an exceptional person. He's honestly a big reason for my choosing that this was the road I would take. Marines care a lot about honor, but it doesn't have to come at the expense of a sense of humor. Right now, I wouldn't give up trying to attain the title of Officer of Marines for anything.
By the way, well said Q-ball. It's that attitude that makes me want to serve with you.
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Chris Tessone
http://www.polyglut.net/