I've read this entire chain and this pretty much nailed it. I'm 47 and former enlisted Marine and have stayed near my Marine weight and exercise hard. I've asked myself could I do it now and yes I could pass all of the tests easy and do well on PFT ... BUT I honestly would be very likely to be constantly getting injured. Also the mentality of being in barracks with 18 - 21 year old kids would totally suck. I'd honestly very strongly recommend a technical job and preferably as an officer. I think the barracks like with people 15 years younger than you will be total Hell. Good luck in your choice and curious what you do.
Theres a reason dudes put a ring on the 1st piece of ass they come across
Barracks can really suck. I got lucky at one point and had a roommate with a German girlfriend so after COB on Friday's he'd shower, pack a bag, and not be back until Sunday afternoon when we had to GI the common areas and get uniforms ready for Monday. Some guys got stuck with non-showering slobs who lived nasty...at least until the other guy had to complain to that persons 1st line about how disgusting they were lmao
On top of the potential for shitty buildings you'll get to listen to drunk idiots fighting and yelling late into the night. Barracks thieves suck, too. Living off post gives you that mental separation on days off and privacy that becomes important the older you get.
Thats one reason I suggested the AF. They take care of their people a lot better than the Army in that regard. Something a person in their 30's would appreciate. We had AF guys on the top floor of one of our buildings in Germany, and they got 1 person per room...then also got paid a stipend for living in sub-standard housing. Their rooms were also spruced up with ceiling fans, carpeted floors, and nice furniture. Never had to do CQ or clean common areas, either. Our chow hall was also deemed sub-standard so they didn't get meal card money taken out. Rank for rank they ended up with about $500 extra per month while living better than we did.
When I PCS'ed from Germany back to the states, and got to my unit I never even signed for a barracks room. Took a look at the barracks while I was still doing post in-processing and was like nope. Got into a place off post before I even reported and told the supply NCO who was in charge of assigning rooms that I was already living off post. Worked out perfectly because that 1SG had never deployed and was coming off a DS tour. Dude was still in DS mode mixed with 90's garrison mentality and had those poor barracks ****ers on their hands and knees scrubbing floors on Fridays after COB. That didn't stop until he started trying to drag married guys into the fun, and wive's were in the parking lot with the post commanders office on speed dial if their husbands weren't released by 5PM sharp. Turns out if the post CG has a standing order to release people by 5PM that means by 5PM and not 10PM.
I found out when I was dating my wife those barracks were tagged condemned at one point from asbestos insulation but re-opened due to lack of space for resident units. Her step-dad was an on post contractor that built a lot of the buildings on Lewis. Same style of buildings made the news at one point with constant flooding problems. I looked at that area of post on sat maps not long ago and that whole row of shit facilities are empty razed lots now.
^^^ What he said
The Army, and Marine Corps I'm sure also, tend to treat lower ranking enlisted like 5 year olds. The stupid shit you'd encounter in either of those two services, especially in combat arms, is why quite a few of us have recommended the Air Force. It probably isn't as obvious to an 18yo but in your 30's it would stand out big-time. Hell, even off-post personnel had to be in the barracks for first call (even for non-NCO's), so you could watch everyone else scratch their nuts as they rolled out of bed. That is only one example of the stupid shit I'd have issues with as I got older (and smarter!).
In Panama we had a "joint" base where I was, since we were an Airborne BN so were close to the air base. Ft. Kobbe/Howard AFB. Was talking to some Air Force guys one day and they would all chip in a few bucks a month to pay some Panamanian chick to come and clean their barracks, no "GI parties" for them. For us remedial shit like that was part of our "training". I remember mentioning the "Expert Buffer Badge" and those zoomies looked at us like they had no idea what we were talking about.
Last edited by ABNAK; 08-07-20 at 19:01.
11C2P '83-'87
Airborne Infantry
F**k China!
I won't bore you with a bunch of hindsight, but I was infantry and EOD, and EOD has lasted 20 years longer than my infantry time. While I probably 'needed' the infantry when I was 17, it would be hard, if I were doing it again, to not skip the infantry and go straight to EOD.
Something I did not know about in my youth was Intel. They have some really cool jobs not directly tied to your PT score, if that matters.
Cyber security.
I joined as a 12B (combat engineer) at 28, currently 32.
My knees and back are ****ed up, but its been fun. I was the oldest guy in the platoon at Ft Campbell (even our E7 PSG was only 26) and a struggle with some new E5’s trying to swing their dick to the world when I first got in.
Easiest job I’ve ever had but also the most retarded at the same time.
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I went in a bit older, and I was with some decent/high-speed units. But being superbly physically fit in one's 30s is a much different animal than being superbly physically fit in one's 20s. Late 40s? Forget about it. I did the work but the recoveries were much longer, and I was sore much longer.
I agree, it sucked ass being treated like I was 18, when I was in my mid and late 20s.
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