drill sgt advice

[rancher1913]

my nephew has been a crew chief on the ospreys pretty much from the time he got out of boot camp, reuped so he could keep flying and he loves the aviation end of it and hoped to be a full fledged pilot, he has logged lots of hours at the controls and was as happy as anyone could expect a marine to be.

now all of a sudden his commander/ptb's are telling him he is going to san diago and will be a drill instructor and he hates the idea. we have tried telling him its an honor and the not being deployed for 3/4 of the year will make his new wife a lot happier.

anybody have an insite as to why the marines would change a career path so abruptly or any thing to tell him to make this bitter pill something he can take.

[jmort]

Send Love Life a PM
I expect he can provide some perspective.

[corbinace]

For the good of the Corps. No other reason needed.
He will likely end up enjoying his tour, and get promoted to boot.

[jsizemore]

You are billeted at the governments discretion.

[Winger Ed.]

They're not changing his career path.
Its just a duty assignment for a job that has to be done.
Upon completing it, he'll probably return to the Fleet and be back on Ospreys.


If you stay in the Corps very long, you'll most likely do a tour on the drill field, Embassy Duty, or Recruiting duty.


And,, a good tour on them looks great when your record book is on the table in front of a promotion board at HQMC.

I did 7 1/2 years, got out wearing SSGT chevrons, and if I'd stayed in,
there was about a 99% chance my next duty assignment was going to be the Drill Field on Parris Island.
Do that for a couple years, then go back to turning wrenches on helicopters in the Fleet.
At that point in history........It was just my turn so to speak.

[JBinMN]

US Marines can be either "directed" to go to DI school & DI duty, or they can "request" to go in front of a "board" to be reviewed for being "selected" for such duty.
When I went to DI school it was on "directed" orders. Meaning that I was "directed" to go ( like said, "to fill a billet", at "the discretion of the Corps"), rather than going to the selection "board" for those who "requested" to go to the school.
On occasion, someone in the chain of command, usually an officer, will suggest a potential "candidate" for DI school & that suggestion is sent to USMC Manpower Management at HQMC in Virginia. Once the suggestion has been made, there the particular Marines records are reviewed for "time in service", past duty stations or FMF tours, schools attended like NCO Leadership School, etc. & his standing in the school classes, "Fitness Report" scores that are how NCOs are "scored" on their being a Marine & job performance, and other such things. Basically the Marine & past record, etc., is "reviewed" by a "board" where the Marine is not present, instead of the board where the Marine who "requested the duty" is present.

Either way, when a Marine is selected, they are usually a "squared away" Marine who is doing outstanding in their MOS( MOS is the acronym for Mil. Occupation Specialty. It means the "job", or "billet he/she is trained to perform.), and it will not be a burden to the unit to which the Marine is currently attached if that Marine was "transferred" elsewhere, like to DI school & duty or some TAD(Temp. Attached Duty) type duty elsewhere. Different being that "TAD" means the Marine is going to return to his unit when the duty is over, while being "transferred" means the Marine may, or may not return to that same unit or duty station.

Like it or not though, your Marine nephew was probably "referred", like I was. ( I was in the same situation with being a crewchief & mechanic on CH-46 helicopters when I got my orders & I loved my job & it ticked me off that the Corps was gonna send me away from that duty to do something I had not planned to do until later in my career. There is a "story" involved in that, but the crux of it was, I "followed orders", went to Parris Island DI School class of 03/84, graduated & went to duty with 3RTBN, I.Co. for my duty as a D.I.)

So, I did what I was ordered to do by some Maj. General at HQMC, and as ordered went to the school & did my tour of duty, which is just what every Marine should do, including your Marine nephew. Once his tour of duty is done, and if his reenlistment is up, he can decide to "ship over" & re enlist for his crew chief/mech. duty, or he can leave the Corps & go on to his goal of being a pilot, or whatever "suits his fancy".

Like it or not again, it is really not his choice right now, & that means, " Tough **** Marine! Do as you were ordered!".

He will do well I would reckon, as your "average joe" Marine does not usually pass the muster at either of the selection board processes. There is a "high bar" to cross over, to get orders to DI school & DI duty. Or, at least there was, back when I was in. Not just anyone got those orders.

Tell him he needs to, "Do or die, suck it up, & take the hill!" just like any Marine would do. With that coming from another Marine from an earlier time, who "did his DI duty as ordered, and was not happy about it at the time.", and did it to the best of his ability, for "the good of the Corps."..
;)

I wish both of ya, G'Luck!.
:)

[metricmonkeywrench]

^^^^^What he said^^^^

Due to family reasons I was unable to got to either DI or Recruiter or a "B" billet, it was not detrimental to my career and I was able to retire at 20. However that was many years ago. I am still associated with the Marine Corps and in todays environment a check in the box for a successful "B" billet is almost necessary for retention and promotions.

For some it is a definite benefit and they come out better on the other end for having performed a duty outside of just the part they like.. the downside that both DI and Recruiting duties are demanding on time and the family during that tour.

[trapper9260]

You are billeted at the governments discretion.

That is what happened when you raise your hand and sign the paper. it was done to me in the navy .Go to school for one thing and when out in the fleet do something else where you are needed the most.

[RED BEAR]

I can't say as i never served but i will say god bless him for his service and best wishes on his career.

[sparky45]

Great story JBinMN, and thank you for your service. I served in the Navy 1965~~1969 and took advantage of (2) schools then completed my "tour" on Guam as an E-5. While there I became friends with a Marine that way shot up during his second "tour" in Vietnam. He recovered nicely and was sent to PI to be a DI. I imagine the recruits he managed did really well, he was a tough as nails 4 - 0 squared away Marine.

[AZ Pete]

your nephew needs to embrace his new assignment. It will be demanding, and provide him with new opportunities. He may not recognize them now, but it will. The bottom line is that he is going to do it, and the assignment will be more rewarding if he just puts his mind in the right prospective.


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[Love Life]

I’m currently a Chief Drill Drill Instructor (used be known as Series GySgt).

As a new DI, don’t expect to have him home much. The training day is from 0400-2000. Long hours, physically demanding, and mentally demanding. I’ll be honestly, it’s a miserable duty, and if he already hates the idea of it then he’ll hate the duty.

He’s got 2 choices. Execute the duty or take a RE-3O and get out.

The Marine Corps assigns Marines to special duties a couple times a year to fill the billets. He will retain his MOS, but will be doing a 0911 job for 3 year.

When he hits DI school, and if he passes, tell him to be humble and learn all he can. It’s a rewarding duty but very demanding in the Marine and hard on the family.

[Maine1]

The DI is the backbone of the Corps.

If we have *** bags of **** DI's, we get *** Marines. My DI's were hard as F...and I loved them for it, its what I WANTED and expected when I signed up.

Your son sounds like he is a kick-*** Marine. If it was me, I'd pine for PI duty if there was a choice between that and CA.

The Drill field is best for the SINGLE Marine i'd wager.

[Winger Ed.]

. ( I was in the same situation with being a crewchief & mechanic on CH-46 helicopters


You were a Phrog Pfixer?

I spent '76 & into '77 as NCOIC of the Flt. Equip. Shop for HMM-164 at MCAS Futema before going on to
'ply my trade for HMX-1 at Quantico till Dec '80.

We probably know a handful of the same guys.

[Hickory]

The Marine Corps wouldn't want him to be drill sergeant if he was not the best for the job.
A great honor to make Marines, than just be one!

[rancher1913]

thanks for the replies, will pass on the advice to him. he will do fine as a DI and breezed thru basic, its just that he really loves the aviation aspect and did not see this comming. my sister says he takes the job of keeping his guys safe to the extreme and it does wear him down.

[jsizemore]

He has expressed the desire to be a pilot. Do you think the powers that be are going to make somebody a warrant officer (I assume this is the promotion that comes with being a pilot) if he balks at the responsibility of turning recruits into Marines let alone flying one of their multi-million dollar aircraft? I'm sure they have plenty of folks that would jump at the chance.

[jsizemore]

thanks for the replies, will pass on the advice to him. he will do fine as a DI and breezed thru basic, its just that he really loves the aviation aspect and did not see this comming. my sister says he takes the job of keeping his guys safe to the extreme and it does wear him down.

That's the job no matter the branch. Some can handle it and some ......

[avogunner]

Others have said it but to add my .02. While not absolutely necessary, a successful tour in a ‘B’ billet will benefit his career. Being a “hat” was the highlight of mine but like LoveLife said, it was incredibly hard duty...long hours and more time away from my family than being deployed. It WILL make him a better Marine SNCO and, a successful tour, will give him a leg up on further promotion, whether it be in the enlisted ranks or applying for one of the officer programs. Advise him to suck it up, embrace it, and give it his all!
Semper Fi!


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[rancher1913]

he is not balking at anything, he will do as instructed, his gripping is only to his mother and mostly its that he was as far as I can tell, blind sided with this. guess the being home with his new wife is out the window from what you former DI's say.

if anybody is interested, his osprey group is assigned to support air force one when ever its over seas, we never know where he is, only where he was.

[Love Life]

Marines are voluntold for DI duty based off of meeting the minimum requirement for the duty. Volunteers are normally the top 10% of the Marine Corps.

I’ve been a DI since 2017 and have held all the jobs/billets in it except for Drill Master. If you have any questions, please ask. I’ll answer them frankly.

[d4xycrq]

"Bloom where you are planted".... Didn't a famous Devil Dog say that? Meanwhile, lots of E-6 (PO1) USN types head to Recruit Training Command to distinguish themselves for being selected for Chief. It's a big deal.

Lots of good advice in this thread...the only other thing I could add would be the nephew Marine using the opportunity to cherry pick super squared away recruits for the Osprey maint community. Who knows, one of his recruits could be the Crew Chief for the nephew's aircraft that he pilots - as a Captain. Semper Fi!

Ray
ex-Boomer Puke.

[rancher1913]

thanks lovelife I passed that up the chain of command to him.

[mikwat]

If he wants to be a pilot, he needs a commission. He should look at the MECEP program, and will have to do so before he's too old. 27 I believe, waiverable up 31 if I recall.

[JBinMN]

You were a Phrog Pfixer?

I spent '76 & into '77 as NCOIC of the Flt. Equip. Shop for HMM-164 at MCAS Futema before going on to
'ply my trade for HMX-1 at Quantico till Dec '80.

We probably know a handful of the same guys.

Very likely. The Corps is a "small world".
;)
:drinks:

Semper Fi!
:)

------------

Marines are voluntold for DI duty based off of meeting the minimum requirement for the duty. Volunteers are normally the top 10% of the Marine Corps.

I’ve been a DI since 2017 and have held all the jobs/billets in it except for Drill Master. If you have any questions, please ask. I’ll answer them frankly.

Funny!
:D
I like how ya did that... and... Yuk yuk.
;)

BTW...All the "volunteers", tell themselves that stuff. Makes them feel better for being a "volunteer" in the Corps.
;)
Don't know about the Corps in the last 30+ years after I left, but back then, no one really wanted to "volunteer" for anything, since "it all paid the same".
;)

LOL
:drinks:

& Semper Fi!, as well!

[corbinace]

Don't know about the Corps in the last 30+ years after I left, but back then, no one really wanted to "volunteer" for anything, since "it all paid the same".

Not really sure about that. I volunteered for any duty or extra job that came along and was a pretty gung-ho squared away Marine. As a result, I was promoted to E-5 after just 2yr, 5mos and 19 days. That made the last 2.5 years of my five year hitch pay more than my contemporaries who barely made E-4 before they got out. On top of that, the increased rank allowed me to learn to be a better leader. That training has kept me in a leadership role my whole working career.

So, volunteering was the key to any minimal success I have enjoyed in life. It has paid me pretty handsomely I feel, if not monetarily, at least in self esteem.

Please do not take my comments as an attack on you personally JB. It is more of a general railing against those who give less than their very best and miss out on the rewards of a hard job done well.

As an addendum to your discussion of knowing the same people and it being a small Corps, have you seen this site? It is dedicated to keeping Marines in touch or finding each other. As well as telling some interesting stories about our brothers in arms from both current and past.

https://marines.togetherweserved.com/usmc/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=Landing

Carry on Marines.

[Love Life]

There I was at 0345, walking decks and listening to firewatch reports, lol.

Bleed blue!

[JBinMN]

Not really sure about that. I volunteered for any duty or extra job that came along and was a pretty gung-ho squared away Marine. As a result, I was promoted to E-5 after just 2yr, 5mos and 19 days. That made the last 2.5 years of my five year hitch pay more than my contemporaries who barely made E-4 before they got out. On top of that, the increased rank allowed me to learn to be a better leader. That training has kept me in a leadership role my whole working career.

So, volunteering was the key to any minimal success I have enjoyed in life. It has paid me pretty handsomely I feel, if not monetarily, at least in self esteem.

Please do not take my comments as an attack on you personally JB. It is more of a general railing against those who give less than their very best and miss out on the rewards of a hard job done well.

As an addendum to your discussion of knowing the same people and it being a small Corps, have you seen this site? It is dedicated to keeping Marines in touch or finding each other. As well as telling some interesting stories about our brothers in arms from both current and past.

https://marines.togetherweserved.com/usmc/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=Landing

Carry on Marines.

I don't take it personally, no worries there.
;)

Keep in mind I was doing a little "pulling on the chain" with Lovelife, so my comments were in fun & not completely serious, but with the part you address in your post, I will mention that, it was like I said in the units I was in over the 6 years I was in & most of the time, it was just like Lovelife said, many times Marines were "voluntold" as in volun-TOLD to do something, since no one seemed to want to volunteer for a lot of duties & in particular, duties that were not looked upon as a "fun" thing to do. I.E.- Barracks Duty NCO, or some extra "field day" duty cleaning some part of the unit area that needed" sprucing up" because of some "dog & pony show"(parade) was in the works or some visiting dignitary, or I.G. was going to be around, and other "chores"(duties) like that.

Now, when it came to volunteering for duties that might be a bit of fun while at work, hell I was not the only one to be stepping up for some of that. I had some great times "reluctantly";) volunteering for such difficult missions as flying to air shows in some other state, having the extremely difficult ;) time of explaining how the AC worked to some pretty young ladies, as well as the rest of the folks who were there... with those "grueling" ;) times on liberty after the show times ended & we had to find something to do until the next day of the airshow, and that sort of extra duty... Yeah, there was competition of fellers wanting to be the first one to "reluctantly" volunteer for that sort of thing.
{ BTW, IIRC, there was always a little "TAD pay" involved, and that did not hurt one bit, IMO. So it "did" pay more & it wasn't "it all paid the same". ;) }

Not so sure about whether or not volunteering or being "voluntold" was a thing put into ones record, since I do not recall ever seeing it in any place like a fitness report or the like, but there certainly was a record for how well one did in any schools they attended & that would certainly demonstrate some motivation to be considered for promotions & such.

Anyway, I was a "hard charger" as well, & moved along up to SGT & was up for SSGT in the "eligibility zone" when I got to DI duty at PI, but due to my missus illness after the loss of our middle child, just before my being given orders to DI duty, at the end of my DI tour, we decided that it was time for me to leave the Corps & go back to being a civvie to help reduce some of the stress for her with the demands the Corps puts on us all in order to serve & do our duties, with deployments & such. I do miss the Corp though & would have stayed 30+ years if I could have, without the possibility of issue for her.
{ Yeah, I know the Corps doesn't issue spouses, but **** happens. ;)}

Anyway, like I said , "No worries"!
;)

Semper Fi!
:)

P.S. - I will go check out that link. Thanks!
:)

[JBinMN]

there i was at 0345, walking decks and listening to firewatch reports, lol.

Bleed blue!

lol ;)

[JBinMN]

Lovelife,

I was just thinking about your "Bleed Blue!" & it reminded me that I think I still have one of the blue 3RTBN PT blouses and a pair of red shorts that we used to wear back then when I was there. It was a kind of "mesh type" fabric, IIRC.

Also makes me wonder if the "Scarlet & Gold" of 1st & 2nd RTBN were still used now.
Even when I was in 3RTBN "Mike" Co, as a boot at Dago, those 3 colors were used to distinguish between the BNs.
I reckon that tradition still stands. Or, at least I hope it does. I know they have changed some things over the years. ( I would also like to know/see if the S.O.P. or the Drill Manual has been changed at all in that time, just out of curiosity anyway...)

One more BTW... although most of the other folks won't care, but maybe you "might" be interested to know, that the recent past & now retired Sgt. Major Battaglia, who was the USMC Sgt Major who served as Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 30 September 2011, until December 11, 2015. , attended the same DI class(03/84) as I did, and we were both at 3RTBN together at the same time.
From a Wikipedia page:

Completing various deployments, in February 1984, he was transferred to Parris Island, South Carolina, for duty as a Drill Instructor assigned to Company I, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion and the Field Training Unit.
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_B._Battaglia

He was a pretty squared away Marine when I knew him & a pretty good guy as well, I seem to remember.

Anyway... Just a bit of 3RTBN, & "DI alumi" history.... I thought it was a bit cool to know, anyway.
;)

Well, thinking about this old stuff got me to just reminiscing a bit about old times this morning... Oh well. Those days are gone, I do miss the Corps sometimes though.
;)


Semper Fi!
:)

P.S. - Back when I was there, WMs wore a regular WM "Barracks"cover for WM DIs,(<IIRC that is the type of cover they wore.) while only the men wore the campaign covers. I understand that has changed. IMO, they should have left it the way it was, but times change things, and sometimes we don't get a voice in the matters. Still think they just don't look right, with campaign covers though...
;)

[shdwlkr]

I was army and they put me where they wanted sometimes not where I would have chosen, left after 7 years as I had enough of the "games" the army liked to pull on you. Left as a SFC so I was a real screw up, but I never questioned where I was put, more wondered how long before the next change.
The military today has to have individuals that can do many things as they have no idea where the next hot spot, shortage of individuals is going to happen. I wish him the best and looking back wished I had sucked it up and stayed.

[MrHarmless]

Do you think the powers that be are going to make somebody a warrant officer (I assume this is the promotion that comes with being a pilot) if he balks at the responsibility of turning recruits into Marines let alone flying one of their multi-million dollar aircraft?

To heck with that logic fella. Those two things are completely incongruous. Assignments are basically at the needs of the branch. Leadership can fight for you, but there's only so much they can do in most cases. There's almost never any "Quid Pro Quo". His desire of any particular assignment has no bearing on what leadership thinks he deserves. Nobody's gonna say, "You don't wanna be a DI? No heli-plane-o-copter for you!". Such an aggressively ignorant line of thought.

Anyone who loves their job would be miffed, and rightly so, if they had it taken away from them for several years to do something unrelated.

You think if I get sent to a staff job in DC in a few years I'm gonna do a backflip for joy? Heck no. I'm gonna be miserable and try and make the best of a garbage deal, networking be darned.

Edit: That being said, training newbs is unbelievably rewarding. It'll be slow at first, drag a little, and then just start flying by.

[Love Life]

1st bn wears red, 2d BN wears yellow, 3rd BN wears blue, and 4th BN wears maroon. Females do wear the campaign cover.

[Tackleberry41]

Marine DI school might as well just be called brainwashing, screws up everybody who does it. I always had the poor luck of having a former DI as platoon sergeant. There is a fine line between hard core and hard stupid, they live on the other side of the line. Turn them into robots spewing nonsense 24hrs a day. Friday everybody else is off on liberty, we were playing games. Went to the desert, we were the only platoon carrying full ammo in the rear. During desert storm, they had the battle of Kafgi, however its spelled. It was 150 mi away thru the desert, everyone else in the battalion sleeping. We were in fox holes waiting for the attack. Yea cause we would have zero notice tanks going 25mph were on the way, and would not pick them off with aircraft. Yet that same former DI when the bullets started flying, no where to be found, hiding in the amtrak. Only showed when it was time hand out kudos. Marines changed uniform regs, get those name tapes army used. Was not required for another 2 yrs, after I EAS, no we had to be the only people on base with them. Finally they transferred the idiot.

[Love Life]

240209

[popper]

Not Marine but Navy DI was a great guy, turned a bunch of ragged school kids into men. A little 'old school' mentoring with long hours may seem drudgery but the guys who benefit are very appreciative. Thanks for his service.

[JBinMN]

1st bn wears red, 2d BN wears yellow, 3rd BN wears blue, and 4th BN wears maroon. Females do wear the campaign cover.

Thanks. Well, other than the campaign cover deal, at least some things have not changed...

[shdwlkr]

I have a grandson that just went from reserves to active Army, is he in for a change, but his head is in the right place. Granddaughter in the coast guard trying to get into helo maintenance only thing stopping her even get on the selection list is missing important dates, she has been told to pay attention to the calendar and yes they would like to see her get into the program just not willing to hold her hand. The military is funny like that, it is one place you do as you are told and do what needs done and they put it in your record. In my case I had officer's that just like to see how I would react to different things and for the most part I did what was asked, yes sometimes it was not the best but in the end it worked and I could have got up the enlisted ladder as far as I wanted, was offered E8 if I would have stayed, but as said early I was done with the military after 7 years and a few medical issues. Wished I had stayed now but that was not in the books so to speak. The army has kept track of me since I left on a regular basis so I guess I screwed up to well as how many can say 50 years after enlisting the military still knows your name and where you are? Hoping to go visit my old fort this summer Lord willing, strange how you can miss a place that gave you so many challenges. I will say this never felt so good about myself or what I was doing as I did in the Army.

[Winger Ed.]

[QUOTE=shdwlkr;4630285] strange how you can miss a place that gave you so many challenges. /QUOTE]


The challenges are what makes 'em so memorable.

[Parson]

;)
Don't know about the Corps in the last 30+ years after I left, but back then, no one really wanted to "volunteer" for anything, since "it all paid the same".
;)

LOL
:drinks:

& Semper Fi!, as well![/QUOTE]


I volunteered for almost everything, paid off big time, made rank faster than anyone I knew but that was over 50 years ago

[avogunner]

Marine DI school might as well just be called brainwashing, screws up everybody who does it.....

“Everybody”? Some of the finest jarheads I served with were fellow DI’s. I doubt you are vocal in that assessment in the company of former “Hats” but be that as it may, and in the sanctity of internet anonymity, you are entitled to an opinion (no matter how ignorant). Thank you for your service though.

IRT battalion colors, during my time 89-02), 1stBn wore Red, 2nd dark Green, 3rd herd Blue, and 4th wore a feminine light blue (plus the WM DI’s didn’t wear the campaign covers).
Semper Fi.


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[lightman]

I have never served but I have the upmost respect for you guys that have. I wish your Son the best. Thanks Guys!

[Winger Ed.]

Some of the finest jarheads I served with were fellow DI’s.

And,,,,,, they have some of the funniest Sea stories in the Corps.

[shdwlkr]

Winger Ed
It was like being in a very large family and for the most part you looked out for each other. I was also given the chance to meet some very interesting people and customs. If I had not got hurt and just discouraged by it all and the way things changed I think I would have stayed.

[JSnover]

If he got a job he loved right out of the box, he should count his blessings. Over the course of my career I lost count of how many guys whined, "My recruiter lied to me." Mine was 'inaccurate' when he told me what my job would be but in a roundabout way I ended up in the field that suited me best and has paid off extremely well since retirement. My second career would not have been possible if I'd walked away from the first one over something like that.
Tell him to stay tough and stay in the game, it's worth it.