For Oerdin and Lonestar...

[Al B. Sure!]

Hold on,

Thousands of E-3s live off that pay all the time. You seem to be under the impression that an E3 is incredibly poor: they aren't, unless they have a gazillion kids or manage their money poorly(which is really hard because the military either specifically pays for your rent, or provides you with housing).

If you're dead set on being a Marine you should just sign a 2-4 year contract and enlist. I think you're avoiding that because you don't want to take your lumps as the low man on the totem pole.

Let's see...

$2784/month vs. $1729/month... yeah real hard decision that one.


And on some real stuff, I'm getting a bit too long in the tooth to be a Mustang. 28 at the time of commissioning is the age cutoff for OCS. It is waiverable, though, but it makes no sense to me to go through PI now after doing OCS twice to the point where OCS is going to be so (relatively) easy.

[Asher]

Let's see...

$2784/month vs. $1729/month... yeah real hard decision that one.

I couldn't survive off that. Not even if either were every two weeks.

[Al B. Sure!]

I couldn't survive off that. Not even if either were every two weeks.

That's just base pay.

And what the hell are you spending your money on, Asher? Seriously. It aint clothes seeing how you dress. I know you don't eat THAT much. Where is your money going?

[Asher]

Buying a house, investing for retirement, gadgets. Going to retire by 50 at the latest, hopefully earlier.

[Asher]

My SO's making bigger bank than I expected as a chemical engineer here in oil-town, so I may revise my target retirement date to 45.

[Lonestar]

Listen to this man, Alby.

If he is paying his own day-to-day bills with $3k in the bank then he can live on E3 pay(as housing costs are covered either through BAH or the barracks). Got that? The base pay is the money he has AFTER groceries and housing costs are covered.

Since he has removed out of hand the idea of enlisting it doesn't bode well for him as a future leader. I seriously think he doesn't want to be the low man on the totem pole and the idea of having to do scut work first before getting a better job absolutely repels him. I really think that he is not actively looking at all options in his job search.

[Egbert]

There seems to be excessive emphasis on getting a role as officer in the USMC. I agree with Lonestar, a wider range of career options should be considered. One more injury at OCS would be the end of the USMC and what then...

[Al B. Sure!]

If he is paying his own day-to-day bills with $3k in the bank then he can live on E3 pay(as housing costs are covered either through BAH or the barracks). Got that? The base pay is the money he has AFTER groceries and housing costs are covered.

Since he has removed out of hand the idea of enlisting it doesn't bode well for him as a future leader. I seriously think he doesn't want to be the low man on the totem pole and the idea of having to do scut work first before getting a better job absolutely repels him. I really think that he is not actively looking at all options in his job search.

Please don't respect me, Lonestar. I have nothing but the utmost respect for enlisted persons. If this were a case of me having got sent home from OCS for sucking, I probably would have enlisted. But the fact is, I got this. I know I got it. I did very well my second time through. There's no surprises. It's just a matter of doing it.

As for the civilian jobs, you're right. I'm not making $7.15/hr scrubbing floors. Excuse me for being so arrogant that the fact that I rose up through the ranks and became a manager at every job I've had and that I have a business degree means that minimum wage is beneath me. You're damn right it's beneath me. I've been a supervisor at McDonalds, a manager at Checkers, a manager at Burger King, and a manager of a 100+ employee, $12M/year Sodexo operation on a college campus. I'm not ****ing working for minimum wage. $10/hr is the lowest I'm taking. Sorry. Call me arrogant but until I have absolutely not a cent and am starving, I aint working for minimum wage.

My resume is far better than minimum wage.

[Asher]

There seems to be excessive emphasis on getting a role as officer in the USMC. I agree with Lonestar, a wider range of career options should be considered. One more injury at OCS would be the end of the USMC and what then...

French Foreign Legion?

[Al B. Sure!]

There seems to be excessive emphasis on getting a role as officer in the USMC. I agree with Lonestar, a wider range of career options should be considered. One more injury at OCS would be the end of the USMC and what then...

Army

[Lonestar]

My resume is far better than minimum wage.

"Wow there's a huge gap in this guys resume. Seems he literally sat on his ass and did nothing for a year. He is totally the guy we should hire!"

[Al B. Sure!]

And Lonestar, if I could get a job scrubbing floors that pays me $10+, I'd take that, too. It's not about being the low man. I'll be the low man if you pay me right.

[Asher]

"Wow there's a huge gap in this guys resume. Seems he literally sat on his ass and did nothing for a year. He is totally the guy we should hire!"

Yep. Gaps are some of the worst things you could have on your resume.

It means you either:
1) Completely lack initiative
2) Are completely unwanted

[Al B. Sure!]

"Wow there's a huge gap in this guys resume. Seems he literally sat on his ass and did nothing for a year. He is totally the guy we should hire!"

Bah... I could just lie and say that instead of me leaving the Sodexo job in January 2010, I left in January 2011. What difference would it make? A 1 here, a 0 there, whatever.

Or maybe I took a 'year off' to find myself. White folk do that sort of thing from what I hear.

[Asher]

Bah... I could just lie and say that instead of me leaving the Sodexo job in January 2010, I left in January 2011. What difference would it make?

Everything when they call your references.