MARSOC Mentor?

[Nbrac27]

Hey Guys,

I'm looking to see if there is anyone in / has been in MARSOC to perhaps be sort of a mentor for me? Not looking for my hand to be held, babied, ect. I'm currently stuck at an I&I duty I received orders to go to where I am the only Marine in my 'Company' (Five Sailors), and other then one of them theyre all incredibly demotivated. I'm a very motivated person but it's hard not to just come into the work and want to lose my shit every day working with these people.

Obviously being that, I can't really look up to any of them or look to them for guidance on preparation for A&S and hopefully ITC (My 'Chief' doesn't even PT and is the living embodiement of fat nasty).

Anyone willing to help out, give me some guidance and pointers on some good stuff to get ready would be a huge help. Now that I'm settled into my new unit I'm starting back up again on the training regiment from the MARSOC website, but info coming directly from someone who has done it or is doing it is always more valuable and helpful then a generic routine.

Thanks every one,

-Nick

 

[SkrewzLoose]

A few good ones and a few bad ones... Funny thing is, they were all found on this site. I hope this helps

http://www.shadowspear.com/vb/threads/radio-recon-and-brc-prep.21442/
http://www.shadowspear.com/vb/threads/recon-faq.5269/
http://www.shadowspear.com/vb/threads/1-15-a-s.21223/
http://www.shadowspear.com/vb/threads/preperation-for-marine-corps-recon.21986/
http://www.shadowspear.com/vb/threads/itc-prep-advice.21365/
http://www.shadowspear.com/vb/threads/3-14-august-a-s.20789/
http://www.shadowspear.com/vb/threads/face-to-face-marsoc-mentor.21341/

 

[Nbrac27]

Thank you for all of those, going to be reading through them today and taking all the good info I can out of them.

 

[Stanimal]

@Nbrac27 : No one is going to come out and volunteer to be your mentor. There are plenty of folks on this site who could, and would be more than willing to assist you, but you don't just ask for a mentor. You read, and read, and then read some more. You research as much as you can on your own. Then, when you've exhausted all resources, you pose intelligent, well-written questions to qualified individuals. You begin a dialogue with those individuals who seem to be well-versed in the subject matter, and who appear interested and willing to help you. Before you know it, they are assisting and guiding you in many ways. Boom, you've got a mentor. That, is how it works. Good luck!

 

[8654Maine]

Stan, where was the 'net when we started?

I actually, sometimes, liked not knowing what was expected and just giving them 100% of my fricking awesomeness, no matter the consequences.

 

[Stanimal]

I hear you, brother. Knowledge is power, I guess. Can you imagine what we could have been capable of with unlimited information available at our fingertips? Hell, I could've been the POTUS! Lol!

 

[arch_angel]

Nbrac,

I too am on I&I duty, and trust me I can relate to how demotivating it can be. Whatever you do, don't let anyone else's negative attitude rub off on you or discourage you from training or preparing for any aspect of MARSOC. When I was preparing for A&S in 2013 (didn't end up attending because my wife got pregnant again), there was only one SNCO in my unit (out of about 15) that actually supported me, trained with me, and helped push me. A majority of the other Marines we worked with were talking shit because some "POG-ass Electrician" was trying to do something aside from work on generators.

If you'd like to message me I can give you some advice as to how I successfully completed my first tour with I&I and how I'm currently dealing with my second tour of I&I (obviously my monitor has his own agenda for what he wants me doing with my career, even though I've submitted for a lat-move to Recon twice now).

 

[Nbrac27]

@arch_angel Well its nice to see someone understands where I am coming from and why I was asking the way I did, thank you for the offer, I will definitely take you up on it. This duty really is a whole different beast then what I was expecting with how demotivating/demotivated everyone is here. A lot of the SNCO's who had done one before from my previous unit told me it would be like this, but I could never have imagined this bad. As I stated the Sailors I work with aren't the greatest, but even the Marine company of MPs that is stationed here too are so fat and out of shape its unbelievable, demotivated, farthest thing from Marines that they could ever be, and try as hard as they can to bring anyone who is motivated down to their level. Its ridiculous.

But I'll shoot you a message now, thanks again!

 

[Derdang]

I'm willing to help out with some initial mentoring if you want to go the MARSOC route. Biggest problem is when you help people out but then they change their mind about going, which results in wasting my time. If your in the Marine Corps MARSOC is a great route to go.

 

[x SF med]

@arch_angel and @Nbrac27 .... Did you even read what @Stanimal posted, or look at his profile? You do realize you may have pissed off a person who could be your greatest ally, or your worst nightmare, when it comes to getting into MARSOC.

You two have 'poor me' complexes, and a sense of being entitled to extra help because you are on I&I. Badmouthing SNCOs and leadership because they won't give you extra time to prep for A&S is bullshit, petty and not showing the 'adapt and overcome' attitude needed to succeed in any SOF billet.

@Derdang ... it's your choice to offer help to these guys, but I believe the attitude problems they exhibit in this threadwill be insurmountable and you will be wasting your time.

 

[Derdang]

Your probably right. I just really like mentoring young Marines. If I could help some with having a better mindset or a better fitness standard, maybe that will help out the community for the better. But a lot of times you end up wasting your time in the long run. Some people have crap leadership, and just have the wrong mindset. They just need little direction help maybe. MARSOC is in need of good Marines. If you want to go MARSOC, it's perfect time to go, just don't be the guy that says I could of gone MARSOC or miss your chance of ever trying out.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Did you even read what @Stanimal posted, or look at his profile? You do realize you may have pissed off a person who could be your greatest ally, or your worst nightmare, when it comes to getting into MARSOC.

@x SF med 's post reminds me of one of my favorite intro posts; just because of the natural way it flowed - that of @Stanimal 's. Quick paraphrased summary of that post:

Stanamal: Hi, glad to be here, hope I can help folks learn something.

SF Med: Oh? Can you enlighten us on how you might help us learn something?

Stanamal: Well...been there done that.

SF Med: Nice! Carry on!

Something about that exchange makes me smile every time I read it.

 

[arch_angel]

@arch_angel and @Nbrac27 .... Did you even read what @Stanimal posted, or look at his profile? You do realize you may have pissed off a person who could be your greatest ally, or your worst nightmare, when it comes to getting into MARSOC.

You two have 'poor me' complexes, and a sense of being entitled to extra help because you are on I&I. Badmouthing SNCOs and leadership because they won't give you extra time to prep for A&S is bullshit, petty and not showing the 'adapt and overcome' attitude needed to succeed in any SOF billet.

@Derdang ... it's your choice to offer help to these guys, but I believe the attitude problems they exhibit in this threadwill be insurmountable and you will be wasting your time.

@x SF med I'm not sure where you got a 'poor me' complex out of anything that I posted. I was simply relating to a fellow Marine in dealing with what can be described as a unique situation, especially considering that there are a large percentage of Marines who come I&I (which would be the equivalent of AGR in the Army) that don't aspire to do anything outside of their comfort zone.

I never said anything that may even be misinterpreted as 'negative' towards my previous SNCO's (I've been away from that unit for about a year now). I have done an abundance of reading on the subject matter, and by no means am I claiming to be an expert in the Special Operations community. I have, however, been on Inspector/Instructor duty for about 5 years now and speaking from experience I can relate to how demoralizing it can be trying to prepare or do something like that with so much push-back. After a couple of messages between Nbrac and myself I let him know that it gets better and that my current command supports my decision 100%.

I am not trying to be disrespectful by any means, but at no point have I ever even hinted at any 'sense of being entitled to extra help'. I made it a point to inform Nbrac that every bit of training and preparation that I have done for A&S, MCWSS, etc. has been for the most part completely on my own (again this was via PM instead of posting up on the forums).

@Derdang if you are still willing to assist, I am more than willing to listen to any advice you may have regarding the subject. I'm currently finishing up my Bachelor's this winter and will be hopefully attending OCS next summer if I get selected by the board in April of 2016. That's the only way I can attend A&S due to me being in the binding contract that I'm in on the Active Reserve program (permanent I&I). If you don't mind I can PM you some more details so that you have a better understanding of my current situation.

J

 

[x SF med]

@x SF med I'm not sure where you got a 'poor me' complex out of anything that I posted. ...
@Derdang if you are still willing to assist, I am more than willing to listen to any advice you may have regarding the subject. I'm currently finishing up my Bachelor's this winter and will be hopefully attending OCS next summer if I get selected by the board in April of 2016. That's the only way I can attend A&S due to me being in the binding contract that I'm in on the Active Reserve program (permanent I&I). If you don't mind I can PM you some more details so that you have a better understanding of my current situation.

J

The search function here would have given you multiple starting places for self initiated training to prep for MARSOC. Joining the MARSOC mentorship area here would have been a great start, had you gone through the due diligence to read and research prior to saying you got no support and needed a personal mentor.

I cannot tell you the number of AGR guys I know who have singlehandedly prepped for and overcome unit retaliation to attend SFAS, with a fair number of them succeeding in getting selected.

SO, yes there was the coloring of your post with a poor me attitude, bitterness, and the argumentative tone of the post I'm responding to here does not change that coloration.

Suck it up, do what you need to do to get ready and damn the torpedoes, take fire, excel and move the hell out to the objective.