marine officer question

[devildog215]

I am in my senior year of college currently and I've made the decision to go to OCS after graduation. I want to serve my country and I want to do it as a marine. It is in no way a financial decision as many people around me believe it is. That being said if I'm going to put my life on the line and serve my country I might as well get the benefits that come with it. My recruiter is extremely vague with the answers he gives to all my questions and seems to be unsure about some things I ask. So here are the questions I'd like some more straight forward answers to...

1. Are there signing bonuses? My recruiter told me no but I've talked to officers in other branches and they talk about huge signing bonuses and I find it hard to believe the marines wouldn't be doing any.

2.Is there a student loan repayment program? I paid my way through 4 years of college so I have a hefty amount of student loans that would be nice to get some help with. Again my recruiter wasn't sure and other branch officers said they were getting help.

3.What other kinds of benefits are there for marine officers? I've done my research and plan on using tuition assistance to further my education someday and I know the obvious health care benefits but was just wondering what other types of things are there that most people might not know going in to it.


Please be honest and only give information you know to the best of your knowledge to be true. Any advice on good places to find information would help too. Regardless of the answers to these questions I still want to be a marine and look forward to serving my country.

[KrashKatz]

The Marine Corps does give bonuses, however they are rarely utilized. The Marine Corps would rather you be here because you want to be here, not because you were bribed.

Are you speaking to an Officer Selection Officer or an Enlisted Recruiter?

[devildog215]

The Marine Corps does give bonuses, however they are rarely utilized. The Marine Corps would rather you be here because you want to be here, not because you were bribed.

Are you speaking to an Officer Selection Officer or an Enlisted Recruiter?



Thank you so much for your answer. Like I said before I want to be a marine regardless of pay. However I will be graduating with a large amount of student loans and if I could pay off some of them right away instead of making payments for the rest of my life that would be awesome.

Do you know if they do any sort of student loan repayment like that other branches? My goal here is not to get rich but to just stay out of the poor house if at all possible.

I am speaking with an enlisted recruiter. I don't know why they connected me with him when I specifically wanted information on the officer candidate school. At that recruiter location however there is a OCO and an OSA. I don't want to be rude and down play the help the recruiter has given me so far but how do you suggest I go about speaking with the OCO? Do I ask my current recruiter to switch me to him or should I just contact the OCO directly?

Thanks again for some answers. I can't wait to serve my country!

[KrashKatz]

Go to www.marineofficer.com and fill out the request more info section. You will be contacted by the Officer Selection Officer in your area, who will know the specifics on the programs your looking for, or ask the Enlisted Recruiter for the number to the OSO in your area.