# Recon vs. Marsoc



## ATG (Mar 14, 2014)

I'm a college student wanting to be a recon officer in the marine corps and I was wondering is recon a stepping stone to marsoc? should I go for infantry or ground intelligence in order to get to marsoc?


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## Polar Bear (Mar 14, 2014)

I would say go enlisted if you want to avoid the political BS. 6 months from graduation revisit this question otherwise keep chasing girls and drinking.


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## x SF med (Mar 14, 2014)

Take a few English classes and learn to write your native language properly; grammar, spelling, punctuation and capitalization are important in written communication if you want to look professional.

It's MARSOC  and it's Marine Corps and it's Recon, Infantry and Ground Intelligence.

There are no excuses about typing on a phone, attention to detail and situational awareness should always be turned to high in the fields you are professing to attempt.

No apologies if your feelings got hurt, these are key lessons you will have to grasp for the military or business.


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## ritterk (Mar 14, 2014)

Going through BRC would help with getting ready for selection, but it's not necessary. The plank owners at MARSOC are all former Recon guys, that should be helpful enough. You can do any mos to get to MARSOC; they will teach you everything you need to know to be basically qualified at ITC. Becoming an O in Recon is not easy. There's a long line ahead of you, it's easier as an E since you can contract for Recon. If you were to make it, which you may not, then you could possibly do a commissioning program and come back to the community. However, you're so far away from any of that I'd follow Pro Patria's advice.


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## ATG (Mar 16, 2014)

So all of you are saying I should go for another officer route?


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## AWP (Mar 16, 2014)

ATG said:


> So all of you are saying I should go for another officer route?


 
Unless your profile is off or I'm missing something, I don't think you even know how the commissioning and branch selection processes work. You have 3-4 years of school left, plus OCS, and you're thinking about Recon vs. MARSOC? Infantry isn't a given, particularly with the drawdowns, and you're already thinking past that in your first year of college?


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## ritterk (Mar 16, 2014)

As a college student, you have around 7/8 years before Recon or MARSOC should even be a thought. This is the equivalent  of me asking how to be an astronaut when I haven't commissioned or became a pilot. You should be thinking graduate college, commission, do a few years as a Lt, get leadership and operational experience, then request to go to either Recon or Marsoc.


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## Teufel (Mar 17, 2014)

ATG said:


> I'm a college student wanting to be a recon officer in the Marine corps and I was wondering is recon a stepping stone to marsoc? should I go for infantry or ground intelligence in order to get to marsoc?



Recon is not a stepping stone for MARSOC.  Oftentimes it can prevent you from going MARSOC because of timing.  As an officer it will almost certainly preclude you from going MARSOC.  Ground intel officers can be pulled to be MSOB company intel officers instead of team leaders.  It happens pretty frequently.


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## ATG (Mar 23, 2014)

Since I'm the topic of becoming an officer (not talking about recon or marsoc) I want to make my GPA competitive (3.80+) by the time I apply, but I'm wondering will the oso look at individual grades even though I might have a competitive GPA by that time? Should I get a master's first before I join?


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## Teufel (Mar 24, 2014)

I had a 2.6 GPA at college.  I am not sure but I feel like I aced combat.  So just do the best you can at school.  Period.  Don't worry about your masters unless you really want to get it for some reason.  The OSO won't care.  Recon could care less.  Read my sled driver post wherever it is.


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