You're most certainly wrong, there IS a marine rotc, we have that at my school and I had the option of joining it (although I didn't know about it until after I joined ARMY ROTC...I was going to enlist in the corps instead of going to school but plans changed) and saying I'm not in the military is the same as saying you aren't a marine until you finish boot camp...in that respect they're both true statements. Upon graduation, I become a second lieutenant, and I have the option of going on active duty or being in the reserve, or national guard, etc.Originally Posted by Thantos
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ROTC, even the ARMY counter part, isn't as bad as being enlisted in the corps, but the PT is hard, and I do get yelled at by sargeants on a regular basis, and I also think I could make it through parris.Well I have never participated in ROTC so I have no idea how well they prepare you. At least for Marine boot camp the biggest challanges were more mental than anything. As such I don't think there is anything that can prepare you for it. I can't see it being that much like the military because its only at the college, its not 24/7, and there is no threat of the UCMJ if you refuse to do something.
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the classroom part of it is a joke, and a very small percentage of the time we spend doing rotc stuff. four days a week we have PT at five am and noon, which consists of whatever-in-the-hell they want us to do. The week usually starts off with a four mile timed run on monday and tuesday, then later in the week we do something like '12 minutes of fun' (timed push ups, crunches, sit ups, all that I am sillyI am sillyI am sillyI am silly), guerilla drills (lifting the rifle above your head), or anythign else. Note that the ARMY RANGER challenge consists of much harder PT, usually forced marches, and then land navigation.Thantos, maybe you could tell me what your former corps colleagues think about ROTC? I was under the impression from most of the Navy and Air Force personell that I have talked to that ROTC is absolutely nothing at all like the military and that it doesn't even really prepare youfor boot camp. The reason I am wondering is I am actually thinking of maybe doing some of the Military Science courses(for ROTC members), and don't want to waste time with something that is worthless except on resumes.
Once a week we have a two hour lab, which usually consists of us crawling around the woods with the rubber duckies(fake m16s) practicing squad formations with our BDUs (battle dress uniforms), LBE (load bearing equipment), kevlar (our helmets) and whatever else they force us to carry.
Earlier this year we learned how to rapell off of tall I am sillyI am sillyI am sillyI am silly. A few times a year we go out to the target range with the real stuff and shoot rifles. We fly out there on blackhawks. We also do camp-outs and junk, as well as have "military simulation training" (we play paintball )
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main difference between officer school and being enlisted in general:
-enlisted training is much more brutal, but doesn't last as long, and you aren't also taking any real classes at the same time.
-officer school isn't as brutal in the 'in your face' sense, but lasts four years, and on top of that you still have to somehow try to get good grades.
and, officers are technically supposed to be able to boss around the enlisted men...but everybody knows its the NCOs (master sargeants and experienced sargeants) that command most of the respect, unless the officer already has a lot of experience.