Enlistment question

[Snake]

I'm finishing up high school right now and I'm hoping to enlist in the Marines around the middle of next year and was wondering, Could I sign up for 0321 (Recon) or do I have to take a screening process? I'm asking because there's a reserve recon unit stationed at fort sam houston and it would permit me to stay in town and do college.

[dwhitehorne]

I was in Infantry Training School in January 1988 so it may have changed but Battalion Recon came to our training in the first week or so and gave a breifing and solicited volunteers. I started the endoc and did not pass the swimming on the first day. (S3 Oh Well) It was my understanding that they selected from the 03 field. I joined in 87 and knew in bootcamp I was going into the 03 field, but I did not know which specific 03 position I would have. After the first 2 weeks of ITS they broke us up into 11's, 31', 41's, 51's and 52's and we went to 4 more weeks of MOS specific training before going to the Fleet. There was no 21 position in ITS. A year later I was on a UNITAS float and two guys from STA took the Force endoc. They came back to the squad bay very tired and very quiet. David

[Snake]

If I can't go 0321, I'm hoping for 0351 (Assaultmen).

[tugsus]

If I can't go 0321, I'm hoping for 0351 (Assaultmen).

0351 is a Javelin thrower these days. Back in the 80's it used to be a Dragon (fart rocket).

O352 is a TOW Gunner. (You ride in a HMMV.)

Go to boot. Go to SOI. Get to your unit and train. There will be plenty of chances to be HSLD.

Concentrate on being the BEST at whatever you do. Oh, and PT, PT, PT. Then PT som more.

Good luck to you.

[Low Drag]

0351 is a Javelin thrower these days. Back in the 80's it used to be a Dragon (fart rocket).

O352 is a TOW Gunner. (You ride in a HMMV.)

Go to boot. Go to SOI. Get to your unit and train. There will be plenty of chances to be HSLD.

Concentrate on being the BEST at whatever you do. Oh, and PT, PT, PT. Then PT som more.

Good luck to you.

To that I'll add: Eyes & ears open, mouth shut. Look and listen, think fast, move fast. Remember the DIs are there to stress you out, do not take it personal.

Get out into the FMF and have fun with the travel. Work hard, play hard and if you end up in the sand box keep your wits about you and DO NOT ALLOW COMPLACENCY TO TAKE YOU.

[Matt in AZ]

I'm asking because there's a reserve recon unit stationed at fort sam houston and it would permit me to stay in town and do college.

Good advise above, but it looks like you are considering the Reserves. A 4th Recon Bn Company is structured like an INF Bn (-) with the associated support staff. So, where you don't get the 0321 MOS right away (it is a secondary), the unit has am impetus to get you through all of the required training.

Here is my educated speculation:

Provided you enlist into 4th Recon as an 03XX contract (very important), Recruit Training will be followed by SOI. While transparent to you, your unit will dictate to the SOI school house which 03XX MOS you train for and pick up. Following SOI, you return home, go to college, and execute the initial join to the 4th Recon Unit. That unit will send you Jump, Dive, BRC, and probably SERE. They may send you during breaks in the semester; or they may send you whenever they can. I predict you will be fully qualified in your secondary MOS following the first three courses.

Again, this is educated speculation. I was an 04XX. A board member here “gunny” is dual cool and may know the exact path of training for reservists.

[dwhitehorne]

Snake, if you like walking everywhere be an 0351 like I was. I you want to ride in a hummer and wave at all of the other 03's walking :D try to be an 0352. David

[tugsus]

Snake, if you like walking everywhere be an 0351 like I was. I you want to ride in a hummer and wave at all of the other 03's walking :D try to be an 0352. David

Hey!! As an 0352 we :cough: sometimes :cough: had to walk places too.

So what if it was only to chow and to the motor pool. :D

[gunny]

I'm finishing up high school right now and I'm hoping to enlist in the Marines around the middle of next year and was wondering, Could I sign up for 0321 (Recon) or do I have to take a screening process? I'm asking because there's a reserve recon unit stationed at fort sam houston and it would permit me to stay in town and do college.

Unless something's changed since I got out in '97 you cannot be guarunteed 0321 in an enlistment contract. You had to be 03XX, 2431 (field radio operator) or, if you were a squid, FMF Corpsman to be eligible for the indoc. For active duty Marines you can be offered the indoc while in the later stages of your training at SOI, depending on needs, or anything after you reach the fleet. Since you are thinking about SMCR, you will be advised to contract for infantry if that is the make up of the unit near you & will ojt the art of recon with your reserve unit, however, you can get a slot for ARS. You most likely will wait longer for a slot than your active duty counterparts. You'll be assigned an MOS out of the 03XX field, which will prolly be whatever the unit you will be training with needs. Bear in mind that you can sign up for the MOS field you want if you qualify, however, the Corps has the ultimate say in what MOS you will be assigned to based on needs.

Your recruiter will have all the current intel you'll need to make your decision so that's where you should be directing your questions. I'm a former SDI so feel free to IM if you want the scuttlebutt about recruit training from a different view point.

[Snake]

Going back to the recruiters next week to get some information that one of the recuiters needs to give to me. I'll ask for some more information then.

thanks for your reply guys.

[Snake]

Snake, if you like walking everywhere be an 0351 like I was. I you want to ride in a hummer and wave at all of the other 03's walking :D try to be an 0352. David

what was it like being a 0351? that may be what I might go with.

[dwhitehorne]

Now I don't know. It use to be that the 0351 MOS was broken into 2 positions and you received training on both weapons in Infantry Training School. The two weapons were the M47 Dragon Medium Anti Tank Weapon and the SMAW Shoulder launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon (which is kind of like a bazooka in the WWII movies). The Corps had since replaced the Dragon with the Javelin missle. Same medium anti tank concept just more modern and powerful.

If you are lucky you will be a Anti Armor gunner and be assigned in a weapons company with 81mm mortars and heavy machine guns (ie MK19 40mm and M2 50 cals). The weapons company is one of the companies in an infantry battalion that provides support to the infantry companies. I was fortunate to start out in a weapons company. I ate and slept with a platoon of Dragon gunners, but on every exercise the platoon would be broken up and assigned to the rifle platoons in the battalion. I started out in the 2nd Battalion 6th Marine Regiment and the two or three man Dragon team I worked with would usually get attached to 2/6 Gulf company, if I remember correctly. The fun part was the Dragon disposable round weight about 30 pounds. The night sight was about 29 pound and the day sight was 7 to 8 pound. This doesn't include the three batteries and 6 freon tanks that powered the sights. So the three of us would divide up the three different components. A Dragon platoon also rated three M60E3 machine guns so my team also got to carry the M60 with the tripod and spare barrel.

If you were unlucky, which I was after I came back from Okinawa, you will be assigned to a weapons section in a rifle platoon Each rifle platoon contains a weapons section of M60 gunners(0331's), 60MM mortars(0341's) and SMAW gunners(0351's). The rifle platoon is full of rifleman carrying M16's and M249 SAW's. They are a light and fast fighting force and they patrol alot. You as an 0351 in a rifle platoon are expected to be a light and fast rifleman and a SMAW gunner at the same time. I thought the SMAW was a piece of equipment that had a very limited role in my time and I was normally used as just another "buttplate" as we use to refer to the 0311's.

That was what the daily grind was in the Fleet. Hurry up and wait and stand by for "The Word" (liberty pass)while you constantly cleaned weapons. I had it very easy in my opinon. I started out in a weapons company at Camp Geiger and went to Okinawa and Korea. My unit 2/6 was disbanded when we came back and I was transfered to a line company where I was immediately sent on a UNITAS deployment to Central and South America. I sat on a ship near the Bridge of Americas waiting for the invasion of Panama and then I came back to go on Embassy duty for 3 years. I watched Desert Storm on TV in Moscow and got off active duty from Canada:D . That was some really rough duty in Canada.

Tried to be honest, hopefully I did not discourage you. You are aspiring to be a member of the finest fighting force on the plant. I would guess only about a third of the 160,000 in Iraq are actually the trigger pullers the rest are support. If you volunteer for an infantry MOS you will Locate Close with and Destroy the Enemy on a daily basis. As long as you do your best and never quit you will make a fine Marine. Good luck. David

[Snake]

Now I don't know. It use to be that the 0351 MOS was broken into 2 positions and you received training on both weapons in Infantry Training School. The two weapons were the M47 Dragon Medium Anti Tank Weapon and the SMAW Shoulder launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon (which is kind of like a bazooka in the WWII movies). The Corps had since replaced the Dragon with the Javelin missle. Same medium anti tank concept just more modern and powerful.

If you are lucky you will be a Anti Armor gunner and be assigned in a weapons company with 81mm mortars and heavy machine guns (ie MK19 40mm and M2 50 cals). The weapons company is one of the companies in an infantry battalion that provides support to the infantry companies. I was fortunate to start out in a weapons company. I ate and slept with a platoon of Dragon gunners, but on every exercise the platoon would be broken up and assigned to the rifle platoons in the battalion. I started out in the 2nd Battalion 6th Marine Regiment and the two or three man Dragon team I worked with would usually get attached to 2/6 Gulf company, if I remember correctly. The fun part was the Dragon disposable round weight about 30 pounds. The night sight was about 29 pound and the day sight was 7 to 8 pound. This doesn't include the three batteries and 6 freon tanks that powered the sights. So the three of us would divide up the three different components. A Dragon platoon also rated three M60E3 machine guns so my team also got to carry the M60 with the tripod and spare barrel.

If you were unlucky, which I was after I came back from Okinawa, you will be assigned to a weapons section in a rifle platoon Each rifle platoon contains a weapons section of M60 gunners(0331's), 60MM mortars(0341's) and SMAW gunners(0351's). The rifle platoon is full of rifleman carrying M16's and M249 SAW's. They are a light and fast fighting force and they patrol alot. You as an 0351 in a rifle platoon are expected to be a light and fast rifleman and a SMAW gunner at the same time. I thought the SMAW was a piece of equipment that had a very limited role in my time and I was normally used as just another "buttplate" as we use to refer to the 0311's.

That was what the daily grind was in the Fleet. Hurry up and wait and stand by for "The Word" (liberty pass)while you constantly cleaned weapons. I had it very easy in my opinon. I started out in a weapons company at Camp Geiger and went to Okinawa and Korea. My unit 2/6 was disbanded when we came back and I was transfered to a line company where I was immediately sent on a UNITAS deployment to Central and South America. I sat on a ship near the Bridge of Americas waiting for the invasion of Panama and then I came back to go on Embassy duty for 3 years. I watched Desert Storm on TV in Moscow and got off active duty from Canada:D . That was some really rough duty in Canada.

Tried to be honest, hopefully I did not discourage you. You are aspiring to be a member of the finest fighting force on the plant. I would guess only about a third of the 160,000 in Iraq are actually the trigger pullers the rest are support. If you volunteer for an infantry MOS you will Locate Close with and Destroy the Enemy on a daily basis. As long as you do your best and never quit you will make a fine Marine. Good luck. David


thanks. I've actually decided to wait until the end of 2008 to enlist so I can get a couple semesters of college in. 0351 or 0331 is probably what I'm gonna do. My brother went in as an 0341 and was assigned to a Mobile Reaction unit.