Service selection question

RedNose

5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2013
Messages
21
Hello all.

Hypothetically speaking, could one put down preferences as:
1. Marine Air
2. Navy Air
3. Marine Ground
(And so on; I understand SWO has to be in there somewhere)

I had heard that if you put one Marine "community" first you have to put the other second. Is that true, either de jure or de facto?
 
Hello all.

Hypothetically speaking, could one put down preferences as:
1. Marine Air
2. Navy Air
3. Marine Ground
(And so on; I understand SWO has to be in there somewhere)

I had heard that if you put one Marine "community" first you have to put the other second. Is that true, either de jure or de facto?

Sort of, not really. As of a couple years ago, mids were only allowed to put down one Marine Corps choice. This was because mids are chosen to go Marine Corps first, and then it's decided whether they should go air/ground. However, at least for the past couple years, once a mid was "in" with Marine Corps, it was almost a guarantee to get an air spot as long as one had a passing ASTB/flight physical. (Note: my year they didn't even fill Marine pilot spots, which was atypical.)
When I was a firstie, it was possible to sort of imply to your Marine mentor that if you weren't likely to get a (USMC) air slot that you'd prefer Navy air to Marine ground. Depending on the Marine mentor, this could be the kiss of death to your Marine Corps aspirations.

So for the shorter answer to your question, a more accurate listing would be:

1: Marine Pilot
2: Navy Pilot
3: Navy NFO (or whatever)
4, 5, etc.

There are all sorts of weird rules about listing certain small communities like Med Corps, SEALs, EOD, etc. as well.
 
Things must have changed...my DD entered and got Marine Pilot as her first choice. Then Navy Pilot, NFO, ...I forget the rest...don't recall if Marine Ground was even on the list.
 
That's interesting, thanks. I've heard the Marines are slowly getting rid of their NFOs; any truth to that?
 
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