So my son wants to be a Marine.

[vcdgrips]

I concur from the human behavior POV that the recruiter was giving you the path of least resistance kind of answer-NO.

1. There is a waiver for many things and it would have taken real work to get a real answer that would "bind" the USMC

2. Given the likely timeline on said work plus your son's age (16.5), there would have likely been no career benefit to the USMC recruiter at all

3. This recruiter in this area may have so he simply does not have to work that hard to get his numbers. I know from the "news" the the Marines have hit their recruiting number over the past few years even when the other services have not.

Re the FBI agent route

"The only person I know who made it from undergrad to FBI was a woman who had a degree in forensic accounting who spoke absolutely fluent Farsi."

The only one I know of in 24 years as a federal prosecutor was a male who earned his BS/MS in Comp SCI in 5 years max from either Texas A & M or Tech and worked in the school's computer lab during the pendency of his application. He was assigned to a BTDT Agent for a couple of years of seasoning and now he is rumored to do some serious work in the cyber arena on a national/international level.

I have no doubt that your son with you as his father, coupled with his work ethic and accomplishments to date, will figure out a way from him to scratch his service itch.


EDITED to ADD: Re the Medical Field

Here in the KCMO area- they are paying 12, 000 hiring bonuses for nurses. I scouted with a kid (BA in Business for MU) who decided after 2 years of selling real estate with his father (top 5 agent in the metro) and his father surviving a serious head injury re a moto accident that he wanted to, at least initially, be a nurse.

Given the needs of the field in general and being a fit looking male, he has been told since day one that he will make the short list in any hiring situation right off the bat.

IF I had a child who excelled in STEM stuff, I certainly would steer to Pharmacy. Everybody loves them. Good money. Predictable hours. Solid working conditions. Highly portable.

I have often thought that a married/partnered set of Pharmacists could bet set for life by 50.

Presume a Combo BA/Pharm program that takes 6 years to complete. v. Med School (4 yrs BS + 8 yrs Med School)=8 yrs

In year 7 the Rx makes 125 k working 40-50 hrs a week/Med student makes =0
In year 8 the Rx makes 127k working 40-50 hrs a week/Med student makes =0
In year 9 the RX makes 130K ....................................../Newly minted Dr in residency makes 65K working 80 + hrs a week
In year 10 the Rx makes 133K..................................../.................................................. ......67K.....................................
In year 11 the Rx makes 135K.............................................. ................................................70 K.....................................

Finally after 3 years of residency, the Dr is making real money as a Family Practitioner-200K maybe? If the MD is going for a more specialized field, the residency could be 5 years with a fellowship year after such that it could be SIX years before they are making 350+

The Rx is about 400K ahead/gross all day long min. if there are two and the Dr is not married/partnered, the "Rx Family" is 800k ahead.


I digress as neither of my twins will be going down this route.

[BehindBlueI's]

In addition to what BBIs said, the USMC has dissolved it's 0351 Assaultman MOS and replaced that battlefield capability with extra squads of combat engineers. So in the eventual conventional war with China, if he isn't the guy doing the stuff that BBI listed, he'll be the guy making a Hail Mary run into a minefield with a big pack of line charges on his back...which, if he doesn't first get smoked by a CHICOM sniper, he then launches the line charge into the minefield to clear a path and has to make it to cover so he doesn't blow himself up with the mines.

If he's interested in engineering as we know it in the civilian context and applying a degree in engineering, those opportunities are extremely limited and usually filled by direct commission "restricted line officer" type positions....not the sort of thing you get to through normal channels like enlisting or ROTC.

Army Combat Engineers already had that under their umbrella, what I meant with the "breach" part. We trained to be do foot breaching, as well as armored. I got to touch off a MiClic at NTC, definitely the biggest boom I personally got to do. On the foot side, I learned infantrymen don't like to sit next to they guy with primed blocks of C-4 in his cargo pockets....

Warrant officers did (and I assume still do) most of the "real engineering" stuff in the Army. Or civilians.

[JDD]

Former Combat Engineer here. Don't let the name fool you, much like a train engineer it has nothing to do with a degree in engineering, combat engineers aren't college-degree sort of engineers. It is dumb grunt work with some basic algebra thrown in.

Combat Engineers are a combination heavy equipment operator, demolitions man, and construction laborer. They are tasked with "mobility, counter-mobility, and survivability", meaning you try to get your guys where they need to be, keep the other guy's guys from getting there, and keep your guys alive. You build and breach things like wire obstacles, mine fields, etc. Dig fighting positions for armor or infantry. Lay temporary bridges. That sort of thing.

^ This ^

In a previous life I studied Civil Engineering. I also got lost on my way to gainful employment and spent some time that I will never regret/forget/repeat as a 1371. Oddly enough, I have used civil engineering training more in my current job (without engineering in the title) than I ever did as a combat rock.

...That said, it's one of the best MOS's, but experiences vary. When I enlisted, all contracts were for the 11XX/13XX field. That meant you were rolling the dice that you would get 1371, or something much less cool like 1171 or 1391 (water purification specialist / bulk fueler).

Another plus up on what TGS posted, it's spot on.

[DIESEL]

Former Combat Engineer here. Don't let the name fool you, much like a train engineer it has nothing to do with a degree in engineering, combat engineers aren't college-degree sort of engineers. It is dumb grunt work with some basic algebra thrown in.

I will definitely share this with him. I didn't do any research on mos's but let him do it himself, pretty sure that's not what he was thinking.

@Nephrology.
I can't thank you enough for what you do.

While my family and I have great respect and amazement at what doctor's do and the miracles we have seen them accomplish. You are correct in assuming he doesn't want to spend any more time then needed in a hospital setting. It was not an easy time in our lives. For two years he was inpatient more than he was out, sometimes for weeks and a couple times for over a month straight. I would like nothing more than for him to repay some of that in the medical field and maybe he will come around to that but for the time being he is pretty turned off by the idea. My daughter on the other hand at 13 already knows she wants to be a PT in the children's hospital to help kids be able to do the things that "normal" kids can.

[Nephrology]

I will definitely share this with him. I didn't do any research on mos's but let him do it himself, pretty sure that's not what he was thinking.

@Nephrology.
I can't thank you enough for what you do.

While my family and I have great respect and amazement at what doctor's do and the miracles we have seen them accomplish. You are correct in assuming he doesn't want to spend any more time then needed in a hospital setting. It was not an easy time in our lives. For two years he was inpatient more than he was out, sometimes for weeks and a couple times for over a month straight. I would like nothing more than for him to repay some of that in the medical field and maybe he will come around to that but for the time being he is pretty turned off by the idea.

That’s 100% understandable as mentioned I felt exactly the same way. I didn’t think I was a “science person” and going to the hospital again was the very last thing I ever wanted to do. Now you can’t keep me out of the damn place and I have a PhD in pharmacology.

My mom was the one that told me to consider medical school which I thought was ridiculous at the time. She wasn’t pushy, didn’t get down my throat about it, but like a lot of young people I eventually realized my mom was right . Just think about planting the seed and letting it grow - you can drop me a PM any time

[Nephrology]

Finally after 3 years of residency, the Dr is making real money as a Family Practitioner-200K maybe? If the MD is going for a more specialized field, the residency could be 5 years with a fellowship year after such that it could be SIX years before they are making 350+

You can do a 4 year anesthesiology residency and make $350-400k pretty easily in lots of parts of the country without the need to do a fellowship at all. There are lots of great, well paying jobs you can get with an MD. If you do an MD-PhD, the government will pay for your education and give you a stipend and benefits to boot. Also lots of opportunities outside of clinical practice (ie pharmaceutical industry) available to MDs that are not available to those without. I don't think you have the most complete understanding of the medical jobs marketplace, which like every field, changes over time.

That said if your priority is purely financial then yeah don't do it. I'd rather be in finance than be a pharmacist. I'd make way more money for less work. Instead, this morning, I got to see one of the biggest operations out there which saved the patient's life. Can't put a dollar value on that.

[luckyman]

….She wasn’t pushy, didn’t get down my throat about it, but like a lot of young people I eventually realized my mom was right . Just think about planting the seed and letting it grow…

Your mom is pretty damn smart.

[DIESEL]

You can do a 4 year anesthesiology residency and make $350-400k pretty easily in lots of parts of the country without the need to do a fellowship at all. There are lots of great, well paying jobs you can get with an MD. If you do an MD-PhD, the government will pay for your education and give you a stipend and benefits to boot.

Man you're making me want to go back to school and get a new career and I've got 20+ years in the same industry and am 40 years old!

[Spartan1980]

EDITED to ADD: Re the Medical Field

Here in the KCMO area- they are paying 12, 000 hiring bonuses for nurses. I scouted with a kid (BA in Business for MU) who decided after 2 years of selling real estate with his father (top 5 agent in the metro) and his father surviving a serious head injury re a moto accident that he wanted to, at least initially, be a nurse.

Saw this and remembered that my area ambulance service just posted an ad that they are paying $20,000 sign on bonuses. Don't know the details or stipulations on that but it got an eyebrow raise from me. I have a friend that has worked for them for 20'ish years in IT and he does pretty well. Just another idea.