New Officers and the USAA Career Starter Loan
The USAA Career Starter Loan offers newly commissioned officers an opportunity to borrow up to $25,000 to start their career.
PFT, CFT, BCP Changes Challenge Marines To Be Even Fitter
The Marine Corps will be drastically changing it’s scoring for the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) and Combat Fitness Test. Changes to the Body Composition Program (BCP) will also give fitter Marines a chance to bulk up without worrying about making height/weight or taping out. As you will see, these changes as a whole will challenge Marines to meet higher standards in order to receive higher scores on the PFT and CFT. As MARADMIN 022/16 states these changes will “allow for [...]
Should You Bring Your Spouse to The Basic School
Deciding whether to bring a spouse to Quantico, VA, while attending The Basic School (TBS) can be a sensitive and challenging topic. I got married about 6 months prior to TBS with the intent of dragging my wife across the country to Virginia. However, we eventually decided that it would be best if I left alone. At the time, it didn’t seem right for me to make my wife quit her job and leave her family for the short 6 [...]
Hitting The Fleet As A Junior Officer
The transition you will make from your MOS school to the fleet as a junior officer is both exhilarating and nerve wrecking. Those first few months will be the busiest of your life. Here are some takeaways. What you know, what you don't know, and what you don't know that you don't know TBS made me overqualified in many areas. I learned more than I will probably ever need to know about leadership, MAGTFs, infantry tactics, field skills, communications, PT, [...]
Trusting Your Marines And NCOs
Throughout NROTC, Officer Candidates School, and The Basic School, the enlisted Marine, and especially the non-commissioned officer (NCO), is put on a sacred holy pedestal. Marine Officers are taught to worship them, trust them, listen to every damn thing that comes out of their mouths and trust it implicitly. In truth, if you come to the fleet with that attitude it will last you maybe two days before your CO comes down on you hard because you trusted something your [...]