I was looking and it looks like the army has a ranger contract. all you have to do is be tough enough. but the federal government just announced that the army and marines will be letting go over a 100,000 people. I imagine that it would hard to get where you want with all the changes in these branches.
The Army and the Marines are shrinking. I know last year we recruited 40,000+ young men and women in to the Marines. That has been the standard for the last decade. This year the goal for the Marine Corps is 22,000. That is a nearly 50 percent cut. They are making it harder to stay in as well. If you do not reach staff sergeant in rank (E-6) by your 10 year mark, you can not re-enlist. This is a big reason I requested to come to this training. I need to stay competitive. If not, the Army will take me and let me keep my rank <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
They also implemented a new retirement plan to shrink the numbers. You can now retire at 15 years instead of 20. You would receive 35 percent of your pay for the rest of your life if you elect early retirement at 15 years. They add a few percentage points for every year after that until you reach 20 years and get the full retirement at 50 percent.
That said, we still need to keep the junior ranks fresh. As people inevitably get promoted past pvt., pfc and lance corporal we have to replenish the stock of worker bees. It is the same in the Army.
So, you can join the Marines if you don't have any serious criminal records and a high school diploma or just a GED for the Army. You will likely be put on the Delayed Entry Program until there is a spot for you in boot camp. This is a good thing as the recruiters hold weekly functions to prepare you for basic training. They do physical training and general military knowledge classes. At least that is how the Marine recruiters do it. I am not sure about the other services.
