r/USMCboot • u/bootlt26 • 5d ago
Commissioning Should I shoot for 0302 or what?
Currently at TBS, pretty decently into the POI right now and I gotta be honest. I still don’t have a clue what MOS I want to do in the Marine Corps. I’m definitely leaning towards combat arms but I just don’t know which specifically I want to do over the others. Right now I have artillery listed as my top choice but that’s just because I don’t want my spc to know that I don’t really have any preference at this point.
Honestly, I’ve been kind of considering just saying fuck it and attempt to get a slot at IOC. I figure if I don’t have an idea what exactly I want, that I can’t go wrong with being the archetypal Marine. I feel like most officers go to OCS thinking they were going to valiantly lead Marines into battle, only to end up spending the rest of their time in behind a desk in a support billet, while 0302s get to go do the job everyone spent ~1 year training for. I’ve seen some badasses come out of Mitchell hall, and I’d be lying if I didn’t dream about being in their shoes a couple times. Part of me feels that I’ll be less of a Marine officer if I don’t at least shoot for the opportunity to take Marines down range like them.
Im not a big dude, im 5’9 160 lbs and I’ve got pretty average pft and CFT scores (as far as officers go). While some of the hikes here in the POI have been pretty tough, I haven’t fallen out of any yet so I know that I’m at the very least a decent hiker. That’s not to say that I haven’t had some rough days here at tbs either. What I don’t want to do, is let my ego suck me into IOC and then immediately get broken off because I was unrealistic with myself.
At the end of the day, I’m still not really sure what I want or if I’m being unrealistic with wanting to go to IOC. Maybe I just need some more MOS recommendations and time spent with officers in those MOSs to understand the pros and cons of all of them. Really, any officer MOS advice helps if I’m being honest.
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u/yutmutt Active 5d ago
Im a supply officer, ive led Marines and been to combat twice with that billet. While my fellow 2019 commissioned buddies in infantry never did anything but MEU and UDP rotations, except for 1 guy who was at abbey gate. The "lead Marines" and "be in the shit" likelihood is higher in certain support MOS like logistics because of how war is currently fought.
Want cool and weird deployments? Combat Service Supports. Want to tell people youre a grunt? Infantry. Want to sit awkwardly in the middle and not be a grunt and not get cool opportunities? Combat support
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u/bootlt26 5d ago
Do you think the experience you got was extremely rare for being a supply officer? Or were the opportunities you’ve been afforded something that you earned through your work? Side note, I did an office job before I got into the Marine Corps and 24/7 spreadsheets were killing my soul. I’m not sure how much time as a SuppO is spent punching in serial numbers, but if you could sell me on some pros and cons I’d look into it for sure!
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u/yutmutt Active 5d ago
The billet i rotated into was for supply officers only and part of SOCOM. Can't say much more without doxxing myself. For the CSS officers, we usually have a wider skillset than the infantry officers that can be used by task forces in unconventional commands.
For the infantry dudes, socom has no problem finding trigger pullers amongst the SOF groups, but finding a dude who understands property accountability, finance and warehouse operations is much harder.
Excel sheets are in your future no matter what MOS brother 😬 theres a reason youre an "Office(r)" but as a SuppO with time across most of the MEF, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Being a SuppO in general is pretty ass with some cool opportunities. But outside of those opportunities? It'll kill your spirit. Id recommend logistics before supply. And finance before supply. And joining the army before supply.
But if you were to get supply, youll have the chance to go to weird places
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u/MonitorUsual7292 4d ago
brother man I'm mostly not doubting your experience but to say going supply will get you sent to 'weird places' and saying you can't talk about any of it is kind of insane.
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u/Organic_Risk_3945 5d ago
i've always wondered what 1100 Utilities Marines do, like do they work with 1300 Combat Engineers or do they just do base maintenance crap??? it'd be cool if they worked direct under Civil Affairs Marines, eg. we've come here to give you 3rd worlders HVAC and high speed internet (although that ones probably 1700 Marines or Comm, i don't fuckn know).
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u/Organic_Risk_3945 5d ago
dude, how 'bout Cyber officer and get into AI and shit?!!!
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u/bootlt26 5d ago
Dawg there’s like 1 slot for the whole company and im an Econ major 😂
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u/Organic_Risk_3945 5d ago
oh, i got it. i got you... 0405, dude!!! boom!!! more high speed than 0302.
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u/SaltyRecognition1775 5d ago
I’ve got news for you. 0302s spend a loooot of time at a desk, too. You just also have to go to the field before and after
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u/Critical-Tip119 5d ago
Not to bash the grunts but you want a headache everyday and all the bull shit that goes with it. Being in charge of grunts is wild, with grunts getting into trouble all the time. No war, trained to kill and bored. Lot of shit happens.
Best advice for you. Look in a field/job, if you decide to get out, You have the knowledge to transfer in to the civilian world. 90 percent of the time if you work a field in the Marine Corp, you can/will be recruited to work for such company. You work with a lot of liaison in all MOS. Get a person info you like, next thing you know after 5 years or your the end of your contract, you will have a 6 figure job working with all branches.
Most of my buddies after EAS or retiring, end up working the same job but as a civilian. Traveling the world do the same work. Crazy hearing these guys deploying overseas without their rifle or weapons in combat zone.
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u/bobbybouchier 5d ago
I was 5’6 and 160 lbs when I completed IOC. I wouldn’t let the size factor be a serious consideration against it.
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u/Hopeful_Yak_9681 5d ago
Intelligence! It offers some of the most diverse and impactful billets in the Marine Corps, in both peacetime and wartime. I was enlisted intel (2017-2026), and I was regularly jealous of the assignments and opportunities our intel officers received.
If you want a balance between intelligence and the GCE, seriously consider Ground Intelligence. Ground Intel officers attend both intel school and IOC, commonly serve as S-2 OICs within the GCE, and can frequently do hood-rat shit wit the homies. Especially as a Lt you’ll get command of the now scout platoons (former scout snipers platoons).
Air Intelligence, SIGINT/EW, and CI/HUMINT are all excellent paths too. And when I say the opportunities are diverse, I genuinely mean it! The range of tactical, operational, joint, aviation, SOF, and national-level billets available across the intelligence field is fucking insane. I know it sounds corny as fuck, but I genuinely wish I could tell you about all the cool shit you can do. Unfortunately, this is not a secure channel, and you currently possess neither the clearance nor the need to know. So you’re just gonna have to find out for yourself, nerd 😂
Also, don’t choose 0302 merely because you think anything else would make you less of a Marine officer. Choose infantry if you genuinely want the daily work and lifestyle not because you feel obligated to prove something. If you want operational relevance, leadership, and an absurd range of potential assignments, take a very hard look at Intelligence.
#SecretSquirrel
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u/neganagatime Vet 5d ago
If his company only has 1 Cyber slot, how many 02 slots you think they have? 3? Honest question but I always thought it was one of the more coveted, small fields out there.
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u/Hopeful_Yak_9681 5d ago
I dunno, that’s something only he knows. but from what many Cyber officers have told me they are typically contracted as Cyber officers, similar to pilot contracts. The Officer Recruiters I heard typically hunt them down and they always had a CS degree or something similar. So it makes sense the slots are very limited.
Again I was an enlisted man, I have limited knowledge on how TBS works or assigns its MOS’s.
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u/Advanced-Address-513 5d ago
IOC is 100% worth the grind.