What Is Active Duty?

The couple of months prior to leaving for boot camp, I was really motivated like most people. My brother had given me a lot of guidance on what boot camp was going to be like. Honestly when I got there, I wasn’t scared. I knew exactly what to do. Two days later I was sent to the hospital because my appendix was about to rupture and had to go into surgery immediately. I was at Paris Island an extra month. When I graduated, I loved being a Marine. Because I felt like I had already made a difference already. MCT, was similar, but I slowly started losing motivation. I was a dumb ass and wore my contacts and 3 days before I graduated I got dropped for pink eye in both eyes. Yes it was my fault and I sucked it up, but another month on Camp Geiger didn’t help. But still I was proud of being a Marine. MOS school went well. I was finally happy to be doing my job and being trained in my MOS. When I found out I was going to Cherry Point, I was furious. It kind of killed everything I had worked for, knowing I was going to the biggest POG base in the Marine Corps. After making fun of me for a while, my brother helped me out and got me back on

No matter if you stay in for one enlistment or two, the depth of the Marine Corps is unknown so knowledge will continuously flow and it is endless. All Marines get taught the basics of being a leader in entry level training, but only a few can react to help form their trait into an elite skill only for them. In order to become the elite you have to build a "Foundation of Values" (pg.31) so that respect in all aspects will become evident between the followers and their leader(s). While setting the example it does not matter what rank you are, you still show that the standards that you hold will reflect on who you are as a person and a Marine. Each Marine chooses how their standards and ways will become beneficial not only to the Marine Corps, but to themselves also. Why do ethics make conducting a moment of decision making so hard? At some point and time every Marine will come to a point in their career or life where the grey area will be the path they choose, but will not think that it is the right way. Moral and ethic dilemmas are common more and more each day. Every Marine is taught to be the toughest both physically, and mentally.

I try my best to be honest and keep my integrity no matter the consequence because as we know bad news does not age well with time, it gets worse. Enthusiasm is a great thing as well, no matter how hard things get if you have enthusiasm and a positive attitude you can pretty much over come anything that is thrown at you, and it’s also contagious even if you have to fake it, it will bring up the moral of your marines and they will in turn motivate you so it no longer is a fake motivation it’s a reality. Baring is important in ways. I don’t really have much to say on it because there isn’t much to it and I personally think it’s not something that is dire to have 100% down pat I guess. I mean yes it’s good to be able to have when the time comes but I guess I don’t find it that important. Next would be unselfishness. It’s a great this when you have junior marines, it shows them that you care about them and that you are willing to bend over backwards for them in they are in need. It makes it easy on the junior marines to approach their leader when they should. Courage is a also a great thing to have its like I said in enthusiasm if you show courage to stand up for what is right and what should be done other will follow and you will make a good name for yourself rather than your name be dragged through the dirt for the not so courageous actions. Knowledge is always a good thing to have for any marine not just

I was once the big fish in a small pond, but now I find myself as a worm on a hook in an ocean of big fish. Starting this journey, I can say that I was overcome with all types of emotions all at once: anxiety, fear, excitement, inadequateness, and at the end of it all I was finally calm. Knowing that I had just accomplished something that not even six months ago wasn’t even in my life plans. As a platoon, we performed feats that as individuals or a group you would never attempt let alone think about have accomplished. The slogans during that time of my career were “be all you can be in the Army” or “we do more before 9 am than most people do all day.” Within my first four years I got to travel the world and see places that most people would only dream about from Antarctica to Panama, and even to the pyramids in Egypt, I got to see it all. The military had such a powerful and profound hold on me I couldn’t think of anywhere else I would rather be. I was once told by my 1SG after a very long and trying day he said “Private Williams, where else can grown men and women have this much fun and still get paid. “I thought and pondered on what he had said, and even today 26 years later I still ask myself the same question, and it always goes back to the same answer, wearing the uniform serving my country side by side with my brothers and sisters in

The Marine Corps. Demand alertness at all times. Building the Marine’s confidence and teaching them the attitudes of group loyalty and

In September, I had the opportunity to visit the Naval Academy for a “Candidate Visit Weekend.” During my two-night visit, I was paired with a current midshipman, whom I accompanied to classes, meals, and a sports practice. Personally experiencing daily life at the Academy and meeting current midshipmen has reinforced my desire to join their ranks. The most inspiring thing about the midshipmen I met was the effort that they put into succeeding. Being a part of this culture, even for two days, has shown me that I can work just a little harder, and that I can push myself just a little further. Since returning home, I have done just that in numerous ways.

Go back in time, prior to hitting those yellow footprints, whether it be in San Diego or Perris Island. You are sitting on your couch and the United States Marine Corps TV commercial, America`s Few comes on. In this commercial, as Marines run towards ‘the calling’ you hear in the background rifle cracking as the silent drill team handles rifles with bayonets with extreme precision. The cracking rifle sound serves as a “call,” ‘spiritually speaking. We might think of it, and the honorable President Obama has made this very timely, as the “call to service” or the “call less heeded” instead of “the road less traveled’. ‘You can’t just answer the call, you must also prove worthy of the title before you take your place in the line of America’s Marines–the purpose for which our protagonists began the journey and, importantly, issue the call to others down the generations.’’ Throughout a Marines career, drill and ceremonies are a constant because ‘‘the object of close order drill is to teach Marines by exercise to obey orders and to do so immediately in the correct way. Close order drill is one foundation of discipline and esprit de

I would like to share with you some of my experiences. I joined the military in 1996, after high school and I went directly to Marine boot camp. There I learned some of my most important personal values such as pride, perseverance, team work, and attention to detail. Marine Corps boot camp is an experience like no other I have had in the world and one I am immensely proud to have. I rose in the ranks quickly, I started as

The Marine Corps has been protecting America’s freedom and acting as a symbol of strength since 1775. The United States Marine Corps is a force for greatness, bound to the words liberty and justice, sworn to protect every American soul. Marines have battled on land, in air, and at sea for their country and many brave men and women have lost their lives in the line of fire. These brave soldiers are lead by intelligent officers who are strong leaders, quick decision makers, and possess great mental toughness. The young men and women blessed with the privilege of being officers in the Marine Corps face many hardships on their journey to greatness, yet many travel down this road and benefit from the experience greatly.

The moment I strolled into the Marine Corps recruiting office was the first time I experienced conformity without any reluctance. Which turned out to be absolutely shocking since I spent my teen years doing the opposite of what was expected from me. I understood by joining the military, I would need to conform my expectations and beliefs in order to successfully enter and exit the Corps.

On September 11, 2001 I was on active duty deployed to Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands constructing a new office and laboratory building. I certainly put my engineer skills to work that year. The nation changed a lot that year, and will never be the same again. However, there was something positive that came out of 9/11. Because of the terrorist attacks a new education program was erected. In 2008, the Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, was signed into law. The new Post 9/11 GI Bill, provides education benefits for service members who have served on active duty for 90 or more days since Sept. 10, 2001. My active duty time before 9/11 does not count towards this education benefit; however, now I will be able to attend college

I spent hours looking at all of the service academies, researching and discovering what a life after the service academy would be like. I looked at what being an officer meant, the responsibilities that i would have, the men that i would lead, and the men that i would follow. I read about career oppurtunities and the strengths of the academic programs that would me to be successful both during and after a military career. I discovered that my high aspirations for being an officer in the miitary were more reachable than i thought, but it would take a lt of hard work. I presented the school to my parents, neither of them military, but both having fathers in the military, and they were instantly very supportive of me. The summer following my sophomore year my family and i took a trip up to Annapolis to take a tour of the campus to see if it is where i actually wanted to go. While touring i felt like it was were i belonged and I almost refused to leave, but i knew that i had to go home and do my best in everything i did. While on the campus for a week long Navy track and field camp, i noticed that there was a sense of a bond very similar to that of a

Throughout my life, I have positioned myself to succeed regardless of the opposition. That has been the story since day one: my father being in and out of prison, moving from state to state, and never settling in one spot for too long. I joined the United States Marine Corps as soon as it was legal, in order to position myself in the direction of success. I have done well; I have gotten myself out of Baltimore City, I have started a wonderful family, and I no longer have the opposition that once surrounded me. However, the will and determination that fueled me is evermore present. My internal mission made a shift, from surviving storms to thriving times.

I joined the Marine Corps looking for a challenge. I wanted to open doors for a new career and longed to have a positive impact on the world around me. Looking back five years later, I realize I found all that I originally sought, but I’ve also found something profoundly satisfying and meaningful that I never knew I was missing.

Throughout this time, I noticed that our subordinates seemed to be the only ones working on getting everything done. This was a time where everyone needed to be working to complete our deadlines. One of my peers yelled at the Marines to hurry up and finish but had not did a single task all day. Many of my peers were sitting around and not doing much to help get the tasks we needed done. Instead of confronting them in front of our junior Marine I waited