USMC mechanic

[Brownie Mobile]

So i'm enlisting in the marines here pretty soon, my top 3 choices are going to be Combat Mechanic, Transportation and Equipment/Vehicle repair. I'm curious if anybody here has had any experience with the marine corps or any of these jobs what i can expect? Hows boot camp? What kind of vehicles will i be working on? I'm pretty sure i heard its all diesel engines. Looking for input! just wanted to get a broad spectrum of the type of people that have been in Marine Corps ( i've talked to a bunch of elderly people about it but no body that loves Rangers!) Even if you haven't been in the USMC feel free to submit your two cents!

 

[Mark_88]

I've read a few posts from ex Army mechanics...not sure about Marines...but I didn't like what I read...actually met a guy who was a Canadian Army mechanic...and my friends Husband was a mechanic in the European Armed forces (Greek I think)...both said the same thing...boring...repetitive, and limited exposure to other vehicles...but that doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile endeavor.

It's not as glorious as it sounds...but it should be a good training basis...and military experience always looks good on a resume later...

I tried to become a jet mechanic when I was 16 back when there was a Canadian Air Force (before they merged them into one) and they rejected me for my wonky hearing...said I'd be deaf in a year with those screaming jet engines...offered me Military Police as an alternative but I didn't like that choice (still kicking myself for not going).

 

[armadillon]

I've always been told by prior servicemen that you need to always pick a job that you want to continue with after your service ends. If you can anything more technical, do so.

Just my $.02

 

[Mazda]

I would think that the Marines probably do the same thing as the Army does. I have 2 brothers that are in the Army both were "mechanics? ". One is now a recruiter. In the army really all they do is change this out. Engine blows, tranny blows and like are just changed out with new or remand engines, trans.

There real diagnosing or problems and then repairing them as a normal mechanic does.

You will do a lot of maintenance items though. Oil changes and such.

But go in do your time, get your money for school or try to promote and stay in if you like it. One of the best options these days with the job market the way it is these days.

 

[pontiacfieroguy]

if you're just looking for a future I've got a buddy in the navy that did 2years of nuclear training for subs and has already had the labs here in oak ridge contact him and offer him 120k starting wage and better benefits than most congressmen

 

[kryptonitecb]

In the SeaBee's ( Navy version of marines...kinda sorta) the mechanics did as mentioned above. Oil changes, filter changes, etc etc.

My $0.02 don't do marines, they all had a screw loose imo. Army was full of retards, SeaBee's where rednecks, and AF thought their shit never stank. That being said the AF has better equipment, marginally better training, and less suck ass deployments. Plus the AF women where way better looking

Option #2 get a degree and go officer so you can be the one telling the g.e.d.ers to do the grunt work while you sit and make 2x the pay.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[Will]

What's a Combat Mechanic? That's bullshit. Don't get into bullshit. Whatever you do in any branch of the service will be deserving of respect. We'll know if you are full of shit, so don't be. I don't associate with many vets because I never knew while I was in that there were so many special forces people. I never even heard of special forces while I was in, and now everyone was in special forces or was a sniper. My dad is a Vietnam vet and served as the VA administrator for his county and accessed the records of everyone who came in to his office. That didn't stop them from trying to bullshit him. Through 5 wars, there were no supply guys or Motor T guys--just 8 million Scout Snipers and Special Forces.

I was in the Marine Corps from 1986 to 1996. I was a field artilleryman. We had M101A1 105mm and M198 155mm howitzers. We moved them with M813 and M923 trucks. We were airlifted by CH46s with the 105s and CH53Es with the M198s. We had Motor T guys that drove our ammo trucks and did the maintenance on our vehicles. Cannoneers drove the gun trucks, which I did, but when the shit broke, Motor T guys fixed it or replaced it.

There are tons of specialized jobs in the Marines. Not that many people are in combat arms jobs. From an artilley viewpoint, we took our gear to different units that calibrated tools, repaired our optics, assembled our ammunition, painted our vehicles when we went from green areas to desert areas, refueled our vehicles, built our boxes for shipping our gear, repaired and set up our radios, providied our weather reports for daily firing data, guided us through combat zones as traffic cops, provided us security during moves through hostile areas and even infantry, who are no special forces, hitched a ride with us at times and gave us the addition confidence and security of having another 150 rifles pointing outboard as we traversed risky areas.

Don't worry about boot camp and such. You ever watch What About Bob? Baby steps. There ain't nothing complicated. It all comes at you in bite-sized chunks.

Special Forces? Combat mechanics? Combat Supply Specialist? Combat Dental Assistant? Christ...dude, I hope you get to be full of shit. Anyone can be a marine. It's more about committing yourself than it is about being a difficult thing to accomplish. Even when what you are doing is obviously stupid, you just do it and don't think about it. You will make it through. Let things come as they will and deal with them when they arrive--Baby Steps. Don't worry about it. Don't be a bullshitter when it's behind you.

I don't know much about Motor T, but every unit has vehicles and a Motor T section. All of the vehicles are diesel powered, so just like your local dealership, you won't do any of the work on the important components. You will pull off the assemblies and send them in for repair. That doesn't mean you don't have to know how to troubleshoot--you do. It's not like a vehicle has 10 parts and you just take off the bad one and swap on a good one. Shit breaks in all sorts of unusual ways and you are going to do more repair in the field with whatever you have on hand than you will swapping parts.

If you end up there. Who knows. You can sign up for decorating birthday cakes for the Marine Corps Ball and end up in graves registration stacking bodies. It's a box of chocolates.

 

[Will]

In the SeaBee's ( Navy version of marines...kinda sorta) the mechanics did as mentioned above. Oil changes, filter changes, etc etc.

The Marines are the Navy version of Marines.

The SeaBees are the Marine's version of Engineers. Ten years in the Marines, most of it in the West Pacific--I never saw a SeaBee. The only SeaBees I ever saw were when I was on Embassy Duty. Where-as the Marines do Embassy Security, the SeaBees do Embassy construction. Not many people know that. They look like total ass, but they show up for work and do the job.

Don't ask me about the ambassador disarming Marines. Yes, she can do it. No, the Mrines can't ignore her becauce an ambassador answers only to the president and the marines at her post answer only to her, through the RSO. Further, a Marine Detachment carries police-type weapons, not combat-type weapons. The reason FAST teams exist is for this situation. A FAST team has lots of firepower and is tasked to blow shit up. An MSG detachment is armed only for light-duty defense with pistols and shotguns. They are detailed to protect the embassy from internal threat and protect classified material. In the case of a major attack on the building, they are equipped to delay, but they don't have a response to RPGs and machine guns.

Most ambassadors don't know anything because they are political appointees--not career Foreign Service officers. They don't know anything about anything and they think their Marines are a liability. I don't know anything specific about the current Cairo situation, but it seems likely the ambassador made a good decision. The marines there have no machine guns and mortars. They have tear gas, buck shot and anger. That's not enough. My typical day as an MSG involved scolding some State Department person about procedure for getting a visitor through security and then calming a grandmother in the VISA section who was just informed she could not go to the US to visit her now grandchild.

 

[kryptonitecb]

I didn't want to type out a long explanation on who the SeaBee's are and what they do. Hence the "kinda sorta" disclaimer.

Seabee's are Construction Battalions, they only build and in combat they typically fall behind the first wave to build bases. Primarily CB's in Iraq & Afghan built S.W.A. huts (southwest asia huts or a big shack with no windows). Once upon a time CB's did destructive projects but that doesn't happen anymore. They use Navy & Marine training although hand to hand skills are not taught. And yes I have heard of guys getting embassy security duty but more often its either Battalion commands or public works departments.

I went to Iraq, Afghan, and Kuwait. While there my battalion built a few roads, hangers, and more swa huts than I can count. In Africa we tried to build a bridge but that's a story for another day.

Each branch has its pro's and con's. Since you can't try a job on for size just do your best to make an informed decision and hope you choose correctly.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[Thed]

I know a guy that went through both Army and Marine boot camps, and he said that the Marines treat you like shit. I'd go into details but it's getting late lol

 

[doorgunner]

Like they said.....pick something that you wanna be when you grow up....excel for promotions...do your job right (others depend on YOU)

Air Force has the best set-up in my opinion.....they get food/water/ammo when nobody else does....

As for the Marines.....I wasn;t crazy enough or brave enough to be a Marine...

but after being a doorgunner....I qualified in the Crazy Dept.

 

[Brownie Mobile]

Well i definitely spent about 15 minutes writing a response before the site crashed guess it didnt take long story short, thanks for the posts sorry but im not gonna type all that again .

 

[hoosier1104]

If you can follow orders blindly then it is Army/Marines for you. If you like to make semi-informed decisions Navy. If you like making informed decision AF. I did 6 yrs in the AF as telephone maint. I regret getting out. While I at the school house TDY for fiber training, there where a few Marine wire dawgs in training. They go through the same training I went through; however, they hold themselves to a very high standard.

My advice to you is make an informed decision. Find the branch that will put you in a position to be successful AFTER your service is done.

 

[straycat]

Well i definitely spent about 15 minutes writing a response before the site crashed guess it didnt take long story short, thanks for the posts sorry but im not gonna type all that again .

Bro....be what you wanna be. Look for something you can do after your out with the free training you will get and you can't ask for anything more than that. If you like the service and stay in then you can get a retirement out of it like I have.

 

[hank857]

Any mech job any service will be the same. AF uses more civilian type equipment, generally have some sweet areas to be assigned, but have those that no one wants, Altus ok is 1, why not minot is another for example. the army has some such as lost in the wood s in missouri, and such heavenly places as ft hood or campbell (sarcasm). The marines well they live mainly on boats (they call them ships sometimes), and their vehicles are like the armys except they have some different requirements. Most maint will be 1st echelon which is is basic maint. there are then direct support shops and 3d echeclon where all the repairs are done, but mostly by civilian workers. So you will have basic training in theory and some hands on but thats about it unless you stay for more than a basic 2-4 years. If not a lifer you will not progress much. Same is true in aviation, but depending on assignments will determine what you learn. Some army aviation are their own DS with again 3d shops for major maint., then there are depots.

So no matter what you decide as stated earlier if not going for a career, find an mos that will be useful on the outside. Also take all the CLEP tests and make sure you maintain OJT sheets so that some of the training you get will be awarded for college or advanced degree. In aviation if you work right you can get your FAA cert, but you must be in the right MOS and have a maint off and NCO willing to work with you, BUT, you must also be a worker not a slacker. If you spend a lot of time in parades etc and your partners who are workers dont then you know what you are considered to be.

So yes if you join and work hard you can take your service and gain from it. However you must be a worker that has knowledge of the mos because cililian jobs will not tolerate a non worker. I know this because we hired ex mil at my last job, and if they were not as represented they didn't stay.

BTW I retired as a Aviation Chief Warrant Officer USA 24 years. What ever job you get do it to the best of your ability ALL the time that is what makes a successful mil career and service.

Best of luck (BTW also take all the college courses you can and save for the GI bill for future training education).