[Research] Marine corps US Army

[Grim Reaper 6]

2 hours ago, Leon G said:

And after finishing your boot camp? They send you directly or is it waiting for a few months?

When you finish  basic training and AIT you are given a duty assignment, which is a Military base where you will report and then where you will be assigned to a specific unit. Depending on the unit you are assigned to you could deploy immediately to a combat zone, it all depends upon your units position in the assignment rotation and how critical the need for your units mission is needed. So in the end, it all really comes down to what you have enlisted for, if your job in the Military is in the Combat Arms field or like another posted said in the Engineering field you could deploy very quickly. Also keep this in mind, when you complete Advanced Individual Training ( AIT ) you are not really ready for deployment. AIT, is designed to give you the basics of what your mission will be, you actually receive your real training on the job at the unit you are assigned too. So keeping this in mind, I think a combat deployment is something new soldiers should be required to do as soon as possible, because you will learn more in a combat zone than you ever could at a states side duty assignment. After a one year deployment, a soldier will come home fully trained and better prepared for what's ahead during the time they are going to spend in the military, now I know some may not agree with me on this point, but my opinion is based on my experience with such deployments, and the positive effects it had on my soldiers during deployments.

Peace

[Leon G]

17 minutes ago, Manwon Lender said:

When you finish  basic training and AIT you are given a duty assignment, which is a Military base where you will report and then where you will be assigned to a specific unit. Depending on the unit you are assigned to you could deploy immediately to a combat zone, it all depends upon your units position in the assignment rotation and how critical the need for your units mission is needed. So in the end, it all really comes down to what you have enlisted for, if your job in the Military is in the Combat Arms field or like another posted said in the Engineering field you could deploy very quickly. Also keep this in mind, when you complete Advanced Individual Training ( AIT ) you are not really ready for deployment. AIT, is designed to give you the basics of what your mission will be, you actually receive your real training on the job at the unit you are assigned too. So keeping this in mind, I think a combat deployment is something new soldiers should be required to do as soon as possible, because you will learn more in a combat zone than you ever could at a states side duty assignment. After a one year deployment, a soldier will come home fully trained and better prepared for what's ahead during the time they are going to spend in the military, now I know some may not agree with me on this point, but my opinion is based on my experience with such deployments, and the positive effects it had on my soldiers during deployments.

Peace

So lets say after 9/11 US reacted quickly on sending troops (aditional troops) most of them probably already with more than 1 year under the belt?

Asking this because 9/11 and the bombing on the Zaventem airport in Belgium in march 2016 are both parts that are important in the development of the main character. it is basicly essential in the plot.  

 

Thank you very much for all the info I got so far.

Also found some work on youtube that actualy shows a lot of bootcamp for the Marine Corps, that also helps a bit.

 

[Grim Reaper 6]

7 minutes ago, Taun said:

I was in for 34 years so I had a LOT of home duty stations, lol...  I was in the Active Army for just over 10 years and the Reserves for the remaining 24... While in the Active Army I was mostly in Communications - both tactical and strategic (Tactical is usually radios, teletype and other voice comms, while strategic is mostly data and Satellite comm)... In the Army the Signal Corps is probably the most technical of the branches (Others may disagree) and generally responsible for all forms of communications, computer systems and most electronics. I was also in Ordnance (meaning "weapons systems") and assigned to a Pershing Missile Unit as electronic maintenance. In my 10 years active I served full tours in Italy, Japan (just outside Tokyo), Germany, White Sands Missile Range New Mexico and Fort Hood Texas. In the Reserves I went on a few "Humanitarian missions" (Earthquake relief, etc) I was sent to Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Guatemala and East Timor - and that's all as a "Part time soldier" lol...

In the Reserves I was Infantry (mostly as a Drill Sgt) and back in Communications. I was in Commo when I was assigned to an Engineer Brigade and deployed to Iraq. And you are right Engineers (and other "Support" personnel came under some heavy fire while there.

I loved the Signal Corps because you could be assigned anywhere in the world - to any type of unit - you have to be really "flexible"..

 

And what desertrat56 says about time of training is true... The shortest MOS (or job) producing school I ever went to was 3 weeks and the longest was two 42 week courses, one in Russian language and the other in Pershing Missile systems.

My friend we have a lot in common, I joined the Army Reserve in 1977, as a 68B which was a Depot Level Aircraft Engine Mechanic. The AIT for that was almost 5 months long, and I was assigned to the largest Reserve Helicopter Unit which was the 219th Transportation Battalion at Scott Air Force base. I had a 6 year commitment with the Army Reserve, however, I it was a little to relaxed for me, so I talked with my Commander and he allowed me to switch over to Active Duty which I did in early 1979. When I changed to Active duty there was no need for my Military Skill set, so I had to be retrained in another MOS. So I decided to take EOD as a skill Identifier, I could have taken anything at the time because my GT Score was 132, but I have always been a bit of a adrenaline junky and EOD seemed like the right choice at the time. I stayed in that MOS until 1982 when I was coming up for reinvestment. When reviewing my options I found an MOS in the US Army Chemical Corp's  that was offering a $35,000 dollar enlistment bonus and was also a BNOC R-course so after initial training I would also be awarded BNOC which was a plus and was all due to my GT Score.   

So when I complete my training I was given the MOS 54B, and then I went back to school to get the additional skill identifier of L3 for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Technical Escort, I later also went for retraining to receive a L5 skill identifier which was for the FOX Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle.Tec Escort is a special position in the Army Chemical Corp's, where you actually work in the in positions where these agents are being demilitarize or when they are transported in the continental United States. When Nuclear weapons are transported in the states, they are transported on highways in unmarked vehicles so no attention is drawn to them. Personnel with my skill set would be in separate vehicles as apart of the security during transport operations, we were there in case of an intrusion or an accident during transport. My position required me to protect the load at all costs, and in the case of an accident to evaluated the condition of the weapon, and if necessary contain any contamination that may have occurred, along with starting the Evacuation of the Civilian Population in the surrounding area. I also spent time on many Government and Military bases during my career, like you have.

During deployments to Africa and the Middle east my job was a little different than during State side duty. During deployment for Desert Storm I was very very busy, the US had captured Hugh ammunition dumps in the desert. There were munitions everywhere, and the biggest threat once these munitions were under US Military control was stopping foolish decisions by Senior Commanders in their operational areas. General Schwarzkopf had given Brigade Commanders and above a briefing where he told them to not disturb or destroy any munitions until teams like mine had cleared those areas. However, some how the information wasn't properly disseminated and a element of the 82nd Airborne Division started demolitions on a large Ammo dump in their area which was located at Khamisiyah Iraq. In bunker 72 there was over 120, 120mm Rockets filled with Sarin a Non-persistent Nerve agent. Well to make a long story short, their Combat Engineers wired the bunker for demolition and blew it up, which created a vapor hazard that covered around 60km down wind from the blast site which possibly exposed thousands of US Soldiers to the vapor hazard.

Now the big problem with this was that it occurred after the Cease Fire, so units were no longer monitoring for a possible chemical agent exposure. Needless to say this went over like a fart in church and some Senior Commanders were relieved of duty, which I personally think was far to little considering what occurred. While there were no major  immediate reports of Nerve Agent effects, many of these Soldiers became sick later, which prompted a letter being sent from the Department of Defense to personnel who were assigned to units located near Khamisiyah at the time of the release. In my opinion this is the cause of what was being called Gulf War Syndrome in some cases, because the long term effects of nerve agent exposure are really unknown. In addition, in 1991 when this event occurred this situation was not highly publicized, only Unit Commanders and Medical personnel were put on alert to watch for symptoms in soldiers under their command. This entire situation wasn't  openly brought to the publics attention until almost 5 years after the event occurred, do to the cover up that happened when it occurred.

I don't really understand why they handled things like they did, me and my team were sent to that location to monitor the site around 6 hour's after the demolition occurred. We found that a nerve agent had been released, and we identified what kind of nerve agent it was. I immediately contacted my chain of command at Central Command Headquarters, where I was required to give a briefing on the situation later that day. So everything was reported, to the top of the food chain, so there was no excuse for not informing soldiers until such a late date, but there was little I could do about it, the situation was out of my wheel house. Our normal missions were much simpler, myself and my team would evaluate captured munitions, and locations that were thought to be possible Laboratory sites. If Chemical Munitions were found, I would make the determination how to deal with them, for Laboratory sites, I would also evaluate them and either clear them as safe or mark them as a hazard. If they were Hazardous I would determine what we needed to do to neutralize the threat, and in some cases it could be done on site, in others the contents would have to be packaged and remove for disposal.

This kept me and my teams very busy in Iraq. However, when I was deployed to Somalia from June of 1993 as part of the UN Peace Keeping Force everything went south when the conflict erupted. That kinda stopped me and my soldiers from getting much done, but it was certainly a interesting tour of duty, and It certainly gave me a chance to brush up on skills with a Barrett 50 cal, so it wasn't a complete waste of time at all. I was there for a little over 7 1/2 months. After Somalia I did two more tours of duty in Korea, and then I retired I retired from Active Duty in 2003. After my retirement I was offered a job as a Government Contractor, doing the same job I did on Active duty, except the pay was fantastic, I continued to work as a contractor for a little more than 10 years on and off, and finally retired from that in 2019. So I understand where you are coming from, and I appreciate the sacrifices you have made for our country, people who have not served can not understand the satisfaction we get from supporting the country we love.

Peace

[+Desertrat56]

@Taun  Were you ever at Ft. Gordon or Coleman barracks?  I was in the signal corps from 1975 through 1978.  Only served in two units.

[Taun]

13 hours ago, Leon G said:

So lets say after 9/11 US reacted quickly on sending troops (aditional troops) most of them probably already with more than 1 year under the belt?

Asking this because 9/11 and the bombing on the Zaventem airport in Belgium in march 2016 are both parts that are important in the development of the main character. it is basicly essential in the plot.  

 

Thank you very much for all the info I got so far.

Also found some work on youtube that actualy shows a lot of bootcamp for the Marine Corps, that also helps a bit.

 

When 9-11 happened I watched as a lot of young men and women volunteered for military service - which personally I find very commendable, but something to keep in mind for your story. By the time these young new soldiers were trained up enough to be deployed, the main set-piece battles were mostly already over. They would be deployed in follow-on roles to replace the troops in the initial assaults. That is why Construction Engineers and other "support" types were needed AFTER the first wave - to repair infrastructure and help the civilian populace recover. Any combat your characters are likely to find themselves in would be small unit types of combat - ambushes, random rocket attacks, a few enemy troops (in civilian clothing) engaging in a drive by attack, etc. While there were a few larger set piece type battles in Iraq after the initial stages (most notably the Battles of Fallujah, and Sadr City) until ISIS made its major push in the mid 2010's almost all actions were "small" (keeping in mind that when it's YOU in a "small action" there is no such thing as a "Small Action!".)

If you want your characters to be in the initial ground push into the region - they should (realistically) have already been in the service for at least a year, 8 or 9 months as a bare minimum. If they are an NCO (Sergeant) 4 to 5 years minimum to be believable.If your character is an Officer - roughly the same as an NCO - although a 2nd Lt (or your national equivalent) could have been in for as little as 5 or 6 months.

In the US we have several universities and other types of schools that have what we call ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) these are college students who take military courses (and some training) and when graduated serve as Officers. Many of these in their final 2 years of college serve with Reserve (and possibly Active) units as Cadets (granted the same courtesy as a 2nd Lt usually)... If your Nation has this system it might be interesting - story wise - to have your "Officer" character be a  Cadet.

If you are set on having an extremely new and barely trained character you might consider having them be an embedded correspondent on their first ever assignment.

Good luck on your story and I would be interested in reading it (English translation please!) when completed.

[Taun]

29 minutes ago, Desertrat56 said:

@Taun  Were you ever at Ft. Gordon or Coleman barracks?  I was in the signal corps from 1975 through 1978.  Only served in two units.

My initial Signal training was at Ft Ord, California (Before it closed obviously), but I was at Fort Gordon in 1973 attending 72E training (Telecommunications Center Specialist). I was never at Coleman Barracks, although I was stationed near Stuttgart at Schwabisch Gmund (Pershing). I was also (briefly) at Ft Huachuca Arizona for some Crypto training (short school only 4 weeks at that time) Sort of cross training from the old ASA (Army Security Agency) to Signal Corps - as ASA was being phased out and absorbed by MI...

[+Desertrat56]

2 minutes ago, Taun said:

My initial Signal training was at Ft Ord, California (Before it closed obviously), but I was at Fort Gordon in 1973 attending 72E training (Telecommunications Center Specialist). I was never at Coleman Barracks, although I was stationed near Stuttgart at Schwabisch Gmund (Pershing). I was also (briefly) at Ft Huachuca Arizona for some Crypto training (short school only 4 weeks at that time) Sort of cross training from the old ASA (Army Security Agency) to Signal Corps - as ASA was being phased out and absorbed by MI...

I got to Ft. Gordon in 1975.  My brother-in-law was a crypto guy in our unit, and I think he trained at Ft. Huachuca.  He had his training before I got to Ft. Gordon.   My friend who was a switchboard operator (forgot what MOS that is) was at Schwabisch Gmund in 1977. 

[Taun]

1 hour ago, Desertrat56 said:

I got to Ft. Gordon in 1975.  My brother-in-law was a crypto guy in our unit, and I think he trained at Ft. Huachuca.  He had his training before I got to Ft. Gordon.   My friend who was a switchboard operator (forgot what MOS that is) was at Schwabisch Gmund in 1977. 

Switchboard Operator was (If I recall correctly) 72C. And I was also at Schwabisch Gmund in 1977. Though I didn't know that many comms guys at that time (I was Electronic Maint on the Guidance Section of the missile). Small world isn't it!

Edited June 26, 2020 by Taun

[+Desertrat56]

1 minute ago, Taun said:

Switchboard Operator was (If I recall correctly) 72C. And I was also at Schwabisch Gmund in 1977. Though I didn't know that many comms guys at that time (I was Electronic Maint on the Guidance Section of the missile). Small world isn't it!

Yes, my friend didn't stay long.  She was having marital problems and found a way to get out early. 

[Leon G]

2 hours ago, Taun said:

When 9-11 happened I watched as a lot of young men and women volunteered for military service - which personally I find very commendable, but something to keep in mind for your story. By the time these young new soldiers were trained up enough to be deployed, the main set-piece battles were mostly already over. They would be deployed in follow-on roles to replace the troops in the initial assaults. That is why Construction Engineers and other "support" types were needed AFTER the first wave - to repair infrastructure and help the civilian populace recover. Any combat your characters are likely to find themselves in would be small unit types of combat - ambushes, random rocket attacks, a few enemy troops (in civilian clothing) engaging in a drive by attack, etc. While there were a few larger set piece type battles in Iraq after the initial stages (most notably the Battles of Fallujah, and Sadr City) until ISIS made its major push in the mid 2010's almost all actions were "small" (keeping in mind that when it's YOU in a "small action" there is no such thing as a "Small Action!".)

If you want your characters to be in the initial ground push into the region - they should (realistically) have already been in the service for at least a year, 8 or 9 months as a bare minimum. If they are an NCO (Sergeant) 4 to 5 years minimum to be believable.If your character is an Officer - roughly the same as an NCO - although a 2nd Lt (or your national equivalent) could have been in for as little as 5 or 6 months.

In the US we have several universities and other types of schools that have what we call ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) these are college students who take military courses (and some training) and when graduated serve as Officers. Many of these in their final 2 years of college serve with Reserve (and possibly Active) units as Cadets (granted the same courtesy as a 2nd Lt usually)... If your Nation has this system it might be interesting - story wise - to have your "Officer" character be a  Cadet.

If you are set on having an extremely new and barely trained character you might consider having them be an embedded correspondent on their first ever assignment.

Good luck on your story and I would be interested in reading it (English translation please!) when completed.

My character is in the US Marine Corps. He just grew up the first 12 years abroad. in the home nation of his mother. 9/11 is actualy what sets him off to join the military. In the March 2016 bomming in Zaventem he loses his parents. So after 9/11 joining the military has some tours but by the time the 2016 bomming takes place he is not in service anymore. losing his parents there and another part of the plot actualy is what makes him go off. Still searching how just to fill it in. The dissapointment the grief of loosing his uncle in 9/11 and losing his parents in 2016 both by terror attacks + some other stuff that is going on in his life at that time. It all bottles up and explodes basiscly. 

IMO its enough to drive someone mad.

[+and-then]

On 6/25/2020 at 12:24 PM, Leon G said:

Thx for the info

Now I'm wondering what if you do not have a religion? 

Mine read "NO REL PREF"  "No religious preference"

[+and-then]

On 6/25/2020 at 3:02 PM, Leon G said:

You hear from marines. I did 3 tours etc.

What duration has 1 tour. And how many time is there between ending 1 tour and beginning another tour?

I think a "tour" can be defined as the term of enlistment and that can be 2, 4 or 6 years depending on how good the recruiter is at shoveling the stuff    In Vietnam, though, it meant 13 months.  Army soldiers had to be in country for 12.

[Leon G]

2 hours ago, and then said:

Mine read "NO REL PREF"  "No religious preference"

 

2 hours ago, and then said:

I think a "tour" can be defined as the term of enlistment and that can be 2, 4 or 6 years depending on how good the recruiter is at shoveling the stuff    In Vietnam, though, it meant 13 months.  Army soldiers had to be in country for 12.

Thank you for the info.

[Leon G]

Okay, I'm still in the character building proces of my MC (main character) his civilian life I got covered and tested and it holds sence. I tested it and it passed as completley possible. Now I'm working on his military background. Which is harder to do actualy than the civilian part. I am seriously doubting on the fact if I gonna make him USMC or US Army special forces. 

So question is. If you enlist how they determine where you gonna do your basic training. My MC has an adress and city he lives in, in the states. But I watched this YT channel about a guy who did BT and afterwards his brother and a friend of his family they both are living in the same region. And both of them get in to a different Fort. One did his BT in Fort Jackson the other in Fort Benning. 

And where would he get sent for BT if he lives in Yonkers NY?

[rashore]

 

1 hour ago, Leon G said:

Okay, I'm still in the character building proces of my MC (main character) his civilian life I got covered and tested and it holds sence. I tested it and it passed as completley possible. Now I'm working on his military background. Which is harder to do actualy than the civilian part. I am seriously doubting on the fact if I gonna make him USMC or US Army special forces. 

So question is. If you enlist how they determine where you gonna do your basic training. My MC has an adress and city he lives in, in the states. But I watched this YT channel about a guy who did BT and afterwards his brother and a friend of his family they both are living in the same region. And both of them get in to a different Fort. One did his BT in Fort Jackson the other in Fort Benning. 

And where would he get sent for BT if he lives in Yonkers NY?

So you have decided to drop the Marines and go with straight up Army for your MC then? Just want to make sure I'm keeping up with your MC development. 

[Leon G]

Just now, rashore said:

 

So you have decided to drop the Marines and go with straight up Army for your MC then? Just want to make sure I'm keeping up with your MC development. 

Yeah it seems that way. I did his civilian back ground. Has actualy a place where he lives in the states and where he lived in Belgium, where he went to school in both countries and did other stuff like sports etc. Tested that part already with reality and surprisingly I had to change nothing and it is pretty detailed. 

The change from Marines to army came because I found much more detailed stuff on the army in comparisson with the Marines. (Basic Training, preparation etc) And it does not change anything in the rough drawed plot line I got at the moment, it even gave a new twist in it which perfectly fits in it. The marine part is not lost since one off the other characters in the story is still a marine. 

[Leon G]

Found the missing link in the military background.  

So I can fullfill the build of my MC and start working on the beginning of the story line