Long Version:
When I was 18 I became randomly inspired to go and join a service. I was disillusioned about college life and wanted to "shape up"--become more responsible and basically transform into my dad, who had served 8 in the Army as a Tanker. I believe when I walked into the Army recruiter right away I said "I wanna be infantry".
I ended up telling my dad shortly after. He and my mother had their reservations for obvious reasons--I was immature along with my dad not agreeing with the Army being "right for me". My dad spent a lot of energy talking me out of joining the Army in particular, and instead had me check out the Air Force. His idea was for me to get out after having served honorably with a job skill that I could apply in the civilian world. Alright, so I went along with that and decided that a mechanical job in the AF was a good deal and signed up.
I went to boot camp and obviously had behavioral issues. My TIs put a lot of effort into me and I ended up somehow not being recycled despite our flight having a high turnover rate. I got to the tech school shortly thereafter and began my training. Now at tech school naturally you have a lot more freedom than boot camp, so your true colors show. I ended up getting in trouble a decent amount for being a non-punctual Airman and overall being mediocre. I did not do well during tests and ended up failing a couple early on.
After each time I failed (two sections,) I was counseled and told "Hey you need to do this now instead of this. Ask for help if you need it. Etc etc." I ended up bettering myself a bit and stuck it out until about the last section (I can't remember specifically which section, it has been 5 years now.) Somewhere in the middle of my time there I ended up getting a Letter of Reprimand for not doing/completing homework once--I can't remember if it was the whole class that also received an LOR, but I believe it was a good chunk of us. I'm not sure why we all collectively decided to not complete our homework. For whatever reason I decided to fail that one and ended up going to up to the LT to talk about that. I was disenrolled from the tech school and left in limbo for a while.
Sometime later, maybe a month or so, I was brought in to speak to the First Sergeant. I believe he started the conversation with, "You know you're being separated, right?" My response, "Uuh... no First Sergeant." I was under the impression, like some other Airmen who failed out of school--that I'd simply be getting another opportunity in another job school. Such was not the case with me.
So: I had on my record 2-3 LOC (letters of counseling) and 1 LOR (letter of reprimand.) I had kind of an obnoxious personality with authority but was never written up on account of simply that--obviously it led to my separation, though. My LOCs and LOR reflected my poor commitment and lack of maturity. I was told by the First Sergeant that I was being separated with "Entry Level Separation*" (yes, this exists.) This would supposedly turn into a General Under Honorable Conditions after so much time. My Reenlistment Eligibility or Reenlistment Code was 2CC.
wikipedia said:
*Entry level separations, or uncharacterized discharge, are given to individuals who separate prior to completing 180 days of military service, or when discharge action was initiated prior to 180 days of service. This type of discharge does not attempt to characterize service as good or bad.
I definitely made mistakes and had some character flaws that I needed to work on. The NCO that I dealt with outside of the schoolhouse primarily put a lot of effort into shaping me up and I felt ashamed particularly in regards to him. More or less, though--I wasn't ready for service even though I thought I was. It's a good thing the AF separated me because I probably would not have been a good Airman.
I ended up getting out and felt like crap for a while. I moved in with the in-laws and moped around in a depressed state for a good 5-6 months. I pretty much spent every night staring at the ceiling feeling like a failure.
At some point I started talking to the recruiters again and was putting feelers out to see what it would take to rejoin the USAF. I was told time and again that the USAF wasn't really needing bodies all that bad, (which was true,) because of the cut downs on personnel they were engaged in. (Any USAF here might remember that--I was sepped in early '07 and tried my options rejoining late '07.) Anyway, they weren't really interested in taking a "special case" rejoin on account of them meeting their quotas pretty easily.
I went into the Marine recruiter and brought in all my paperwork. The first thing I said to SSgt Spencer was "Before we start talking, I'd like to find out if I am eligible to join." So SSgt and me sat down with my paperwork and looked up my Reentry Code--no one else in the office had ever dealt with it before, either. He figured out that I'd require an interview with an officer and a signature from the 1 Star that handled recruiting in my section. I had to make official statements regarding my "resolve to succeed" and my commitment because of my history.
I was told that I would likely need to join Open Contract because if I wanted to serve so badly I would take any job available. I'm not sure who began that train of thought or whatever, but it seemed more than fair at the time. Becoming a Marine, no matter the MOS, appeared to me as exactly what I needed. I sought to mold myself into a good man firstly, and I believed striving to be a good Marine would take me along that route.
So I went to boot camp and got motivated. I didn't secure a leadership position because I knew I was not ready for that. I moved onto MCT after finding out my MOS would be Ordnance. I went through MCT kind of bummed that I wouldn't be assigned to a grunt unit. Again, I probably wasn't ready for that at the time.
So after I went through my MOS schools with no issues other than a minor physical injury I hit the Fleet Marine Force. I was mentored and throughout my time in the Marine Corps have attempted to mold myself into the model Marine.
That is not to say I didn't have issues as a Lance, though. I definitely had a problem with what I perceived to be bad leadership and I revealed my attitude to certain individuals. Luckily though, I was never slammed with paperwork and grew from the experience. Being mature about perceived poor leadership is one of the foremost things I like to address with my junior Marines. Most of the time you just have to suck it up because that's the way things are--keeping in mind your lawful and unlawful orders, etc.
I ended up picking up--and whether or not I deserved to or not is beyond me, but a certain Sergeant had a talk with me about it. He told me, as do our promotion warrants, "Whether or not you are a bad Lance Corporal has nothing to do with whether or not you are a good Corporal." I definitely didn't see myself as a bad Lance and neither did several others whom I considered level-headed individuals at the NCO/SNCO level--but there were some that did.
Anyway, I've tried to develop myself as much as possible since picking up. I've tried to integrate my poor experiences with the good and shape up the kind of leadership I think not only molds good Marines under my charge but also inspires my peers/superiors.
I went to A&S back in January/February. I made it all the way through but was a "non-select". I am going back and want to seek to fill in the holes of my "game" in the meantime through some mentorship/advice.
Perceived Holes In My All-Marine Concept:
1.) I don't have outstanding attention to detail. This is one of the things covered in my counseling at the end of A&S. I would like to improve this with any tips. Obviously I know that I just have to nut up and grind when I set to it.
2.) I would like to introduce more "selling" to my leadership style. I was told to check out some "salesman approach" books. Anyone have any good examples of this that I can set to studying?
3.) Physically, I'd like to explore some good routines for improving my swim time. I understand the run/swim/run idea, but I'm not sure how to step up my swim game other than following the prep guide.
Goals Involved with Special Operations:
1.) Much like my pursuit of martial arts, I think of myself as a mold of clay that I constantly wish to improve. I think an environment with other like-minded individuals that always wish to strive to that next level is where I want to be.
2.) I am interested in a specifically combat-oriented MOS. I was strongly considering Recon or something like Forward Observer (they are quite different I know,) but at the same time I wanted to go a step above. The worst that can happen is non-selection!
3.) If I'm going to make a career out of this Marine thing, I can think of no better place to be for the long haul. The "big boy attitude" is very appealing. Obviously, that means I'd have to crack down and accept the responsibility that comes with the "hands off" approach.
