Why Marines Are Getting Out - Hint: Same Sh*t for Decades (Interviews) 

LATEST - "Stop Calling The Army Woke, I Don’t Get It" (Sec of the Army) - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5uxDdPbOAjo.html. Is this perserving the Marine Corps Brand? USMC Social Experiment:Gender Integrated Combat Training - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--dF36TRGXcM.html. And these type of recruits WONT Help Retention - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fbWu-sX39aU.html.

The whole “being treated like a child” and “asking another grown man if I can go home see my family” is so accurate

Joining the military was one of the best decisions I ever made, so was getting out.

This Sergeant Major is the definition of a human power point.

The two happiest days of a marine's life: The day he gets in and the day he gets out...

Being told to apply for food Stamps, after waiting for base housing, then seeing toxic leaders being promoted over war hardened veterans or standing through a extremist training. I don’t regret enlistment being deployed, but I’m not exactly sad to be medically retired.

I did one enlistment from 2017-2021. There were a lot of reasons to get out, but the one that stuck with me the most was our leadership. In my experience, it became very apparent that if Daddy Sgt Major didn't like you, then he was going to do everything in his power to ruin your career. I was stationed with a small and unusual unit, so interactions with high level enlisted were unavoidable. Now that I think about it, it is unbelievably fucked how our "leadership" tried to ruin us. It was literally a bunch of 35-40 year olds just walking over 18-24 year olds because they could.

My last 2 years in the Marines: Requested to go to MCMAP Instructor Trainer course: No Requested a lat move to aircrew (already winged A/O): No Requested a B billet (any of them): Nope Requested an IA billet to deploy: Not gonna happen Requested my next duty station be west coast since my ex got orders to Hawaii: Sorry about your luck, not gonna happen 7 years active duty, meritorious Cpl and Sgt, PME complete (distance and resident), NCOIC of two shops and qualified A/O, 1st class CFT/PFT, expert rifle/pistol, etc... Meanwhile, Sgt's that look like a beach ball wearing childrens uniforms get promoted. They don't want good Marines. They want to only hear yes and the sound of slurping...

USMC thinks higher PT scores makes a man worthy of leadership. It's the character not the piece of paper they have.

I'll never forget when my 1st Sgt. got mad at me because I wanted to get out because of all the BS. Around a week later he told me that the only reason he re enlisted was because he purchased a bunch of things he couldn't pay for if he got out.

The waste of time is what got me... I was in the Navy for 4 years and got out in 2019. When I first got to my ship I really liked it, I really felt like a sailor pulling the lines, dropping the anchor, doing well deck ops with the Marines and their amphibious vehicles. The Captain of our ship would constantly walk the ship during working hours to every department, ask how we all are doing, and move about his day. Your job is finished and there's nothing left to do? enjoy your time off with your family because we are going underway for a month next Friday which is preparing us to be on DEPLOYMENT for 8 months. This man retired as an 06, and the moment he left it continuously got worse. Sweeping compartments that weren't dirty for HOURS, rules that didn't make sense and weren't necessary purely in the name of "because I said so". Toxic leadership ruined the military for me, and it was always due to a leader who were busy chasing a star or an anchor to add to their rank rather than being there FOR and WITH the junior sailors who made this warship set sail. I'll never forget the time I was on duty (6 sections.) on Christmas eve, sweeping the pier in the rain.....

My SSgt would tell me that we were all going to stay late because he had nothing to do at home. No exaggeration. No one can challenge people in charge making these decisions without ruining your career. They don't treat you like a team member until punishment becomes a thing.

Its a leadership problem and its not just in the military. It's everywhere.

I served between 2017 to 2022 and I wanted to do 20-30 years. Meritoriously promoted twice, received Marine Of The Year 2019, career average Pros and Cons of 4.6/4.6. I got out Honorably as a Sergeant. I got tired of being mistreated, misused, and tired of being treated like a child despite my accomplishments because other Marines couldn't conduct themselves as such. I always wanted to be the poster Marine, what other Marines wanted to emulate. After encountering absolutely terrible leadership 95% of the time and toxic leadership that would punish improvement, I cut my ties. Everything I learned about the Marine Corps was a lie. All of it degraded into nothing because of old Marines ruining it for all the new Marines. I did everything I could for my Marines before getting the hell out of there.

When I worked for the VA i heard that story a lot...a lot of these young guys felt like they where used and abused then discarded like they were nothing.

I joined single, then got married and had 1 kid and another on the way. Wife put her personal goals on hold while I was in. It’s difficult being e1-e-4 and being married with kids. Not impossible just more difficult. I could see the toll it was taking. I was more focused on my job than my family because you don’t have a choice. You don’t get to decide when you go into work, what time you leave, all the time you are away from them. My breaking point was getting home from a long day, wife goes out to the gym and I’m giving my 1 year old a night bath, get recalled to the barracks for a all hands issue that had nothing to with me. Knew it wasn’t worth staying in if it would hurt my relationship with my wife and kids

The Marine Corps gifted me with a relentless mindset, great lifelong friends and the opportunity to visit places I would’ve never gone to and title I proudly claim. I gave them my time and effort, I may have only did 4 years but I can live with that. Bad leadership was in fact a large contributing factor to me saying goodbye to active duty.

Mass punishment led me to start committing the "crimes" because I was going to get punished for it anyways. Being treated like a child left led me to become numb to people's rank. Asking for authority to wipe my ass led me to audibly laugh at peoples talking points. The low pay and slow promotion led me to earn 6x the pay of what the O-6 leading the unit earned that year was paid due to teaching myself how to invest. Watching a staff NCO not receive punishment for a DUI and a lower enlisted get knocked down for the same offence taught me a lot about the real world at age 20. Listening to wookies get plowed by senior NCOs and get promoted faster than someone with near perfect promotion criteria led me to distrust female coworkers competence. Listening to my leadership say "we're family" or "we're brothers" while I witnessed a "brother" blow the back out of another "brothers" wife led me to believe that we are, in fact, not family.

I got out the marine corps after 5 yrs. Meritoriously promoted twice, became a black belt MCIPAC instructor, range coach, and crossed trained into another mos. I remember just not being appreciated and constantly s**t on. Even with my overseas experience I still got treated poorly. I know marines rip on each other but it comes from a good place, what my leadership was doing was not from a good place. I don’t know if it was because I made them look bad or what? But, when my intelligence was questioned because I was open to the idea of college I decided it was enough. Sad it ended that way but I loved being a sergeant and training guiding my marines. Many still talk to me.

I recently got out of the navy, and it was honestly just the poor leadership. I agree with the marine who got out; just wanting to be a normal person and not have to answer to another adult who treats others like children.

My oldest son just retired with 20 years.He is a physical wreck, my baby son was not allowed to reenlist at 11 years after he extended for extra time in Afghanistan, and my baby boys wife was med released after 4 years. Still proud of them.

Man, you're spot on. I'm an active duty Army Warrant Officer. I thought that if I stayed in this sh*t game long enough, I'd be living the good life in the military. Not true, at all. I'm close to retirement, but if I could change it all, I wouldn't have stayed this route. You want to know how to recruit and retain military personnel? You provide them with the job skills that they initially signed up for, you keep them in that job unless they want to go into a broadening assignment. You provide adequate pay to that job skill that is equal, near or little below equivalent to the civilian sector. Medical physicians, and others alike, receive payment compensation. Why not do the same with other high skilled jobs like cyber, MI, engineer, etc.? The housing piece these Marines mentioned is key. Fix the environment of the barracks and dinning facilities to a point where single service members want to feel like they are being taken care of by their organization. If you look up RU-vid videos of the living conditions of civilian installations on Antarctica, you'll see why civilians that worked on Antarctica want to return to that harsh environment. Good living quarter, food, and quality of life. Lastly, for me, I think localized stabilization could be a driving force to raise military recruiting. By this I am mean, people in these times don't want to be relocated. That's the negative of military service for majority of these intellectual kids when they also apply with the civilian industry. Give them the option to pick their duty locations. If they want to be stationed at the nearest specific service component base closet to their hometown, let them. And after their initial enlistment, if they want to remain close to their hometown, allow them to. Give leniency to the MTOE system. It's a broken system anyways. Army Human Resource Command is a broken system, and I'm willing to bet that other service component HRs are also in the same hole of donkey sh*t. Kids these days, their culture is about the family unit. We've had two decades of war, with war veterans not sugar coating their experiences over seas. We are now a culture where we don't want to be separated from our families. And us war veterans are doing that ourselves. I've been to Afghanistan and Iraq a total of six times, with a couple of recent European rotations. I would never tell my children to join the military due to the likelihood that they could be separated from me, and my internal family, for an extended period of time. Allowing these new recruits an option to stay local, or at least closer to their hometowns, could mitigate that gut wrenching feeling of being away from family.

I tried joining the Marine Corps 3 times but was denied because I had “too much” tattoos. I joined the Army instead, became an Infantryman and now an Apache Pilot.

Honestly Devil, I am a former US Army SSG and the problems are quite numerous and similar across all branches. I think this would be a great opportunity for you to do a long form live stream and allow folks to call in so we, as brothers and sisters, can have these conversations to air out what is and has been going on. Our military is in a really bad way right now and it's not the right time to be like that. I sincerely hope we get a new president next election that recognizes this and fires every CoS and starts putting in place people who care not just about retention but budget and training. We need our warrior force back.

6 years for me, lost motivation at around year 4 mark. It's the treated like a child and doing stuff the dumbest way possible for me. And toxic leadership.

I was in the Airborne Infantry for six years. Got out as a sergeant. I became so disillusioned at every thing about the Army that I had to take the opportunity to get out when I could. I loved the deployments, I loved the training, I loved the jumps. Hated the semantics, the horrible leaders, the castration of the combat arms, and etc. The list of reasons to stay in continues to shrink and the reasons to get out continues to grow.

Left the Marines in 2017, was my dream to be a Marine since 6th grade. Pushed myself 110% everyday. Black Belt MAI, MCIWS, RSO, and color guard. No matter how hard I tried though the command never changed. I was thrown under the bus by every level of my command. My gunny, my MSG, my Capt, and the SgtMaj. The mentality of Marine command has always been turn and burn. Who cares what the NCOs or lower enlisted want. There gonna be gone in a few years anyways (actual words I heard from a officer). It’s just now that they can’t recruit like they use to that they actually give a damn about retention. Notice how they will always blame everything but leadership. “Ohhh it’s cause they want more freedom, Ohh it’s cause of the living conditions or the food or the not being able to see their family” they always blame everything EXCEPT the toxic leadership. That is why nothing has changed in the last 30 years. Also the word is out and it’s well known that USMC recruiters are straight lying to kids. I’d say about 70% of Marines I met in the Corps were doing a MOS they didn’t pick. Finding out that your recruiter (the first Marine most people meet) was a liar. Starts you off on the wrong foot with the corps.

I was in the Marines from 1974 to 1978. When I got within two months of either reenlisting or discharging the Marine Corp decided to remove several MOSs from receiving reenlistment bonus of $10000. I was a 2531 Radio Communication Operator. Then when I was sent from Marine Barracks Adak Alaska to 29 Palms with thirty days left, I went to a career counselor who was reading a magazine with his shoes propped on his desk and he frankly could of cared less whether I reenlisted or not. I was only 21 years old and really was wanting to stay in but the Marine Corps was in a force reduction and not wanting to retain veteran Marines since you were going to be paid more and recruits at the time were being paid $700 a month as opposed to an E-4 making $1200 a month. I enjoyed my time in the Marines but I decided to use my GI Bill educational benefits and go to school. I earned a degree in electronic engineering technology and made a nice living. I am now 65 and retired.

That Sergeant Major sure loves to hear the sound of his own voice. Bless his sweet heart 😚

I just recently got out of the Corps and the issues that made me leave were how political everything became, how the leadership was toxic and that they never held their peers accountable but would burn any Marine to the max for the smallest infraction, and the biggest one for me is that I felt lied too. I was recruited believing we were one big marpat family and what I witnessed was devil dog eat devil dog. Not friendly competition but sabotage and separation. Letting a fellow marine fall flat on their face so you can step over them to gain the CO's favor. Don't get me wrong, I love and miss being in the gun club but I kept giving it a chance at several different duty stations and they all disappointed me.

I got out in 2019, I love the Marine Corps due to its history of doing the impossible, and true definition of brotherhood. However, my squadron killed my dream of staying in due to its hypocrisy, favoritism, lack of basic common sense, double standards, and now how we need to change to “be approved” by the world. The Marine Corps doesn’t need to change its military mindset to “be approved” by soft people. It needs to change military mindset on “if the enemy is adapting, we need adapt even fast, get stronger, and what to expect if Plan A, B and C doesn’t work”

- Mass punishment - Unequal standards for fitness tests - Being told we staying late due to xyz - Recruting/ Drill instructors having no lives (could be improved) - Unstable hours (deployments are exceptions) - Toxic leadership - Being treated like a child

My sons grew up as Army brats. They were very gungho to try the Marines. And they thrived the first few years. But they got tired of NCOs who did not care to let them achieve their professional and educational goals, even when they did not conflict with unit missions and needs in any way. They were both very proud to have served in the Corps, and very happy to have gotten out. With a little better cooperation and encouragement, they could have made a career in the Corps.

Im currently serving in the Army Guard, I've met a lot of Marines who go out of the corps and joined the Guard. The most common reasons I hear for leaving the corps are toxic leadership, bad quality of life, want to spend more time with family, and/ or bad funding.

My first duty station we had a new first sergeant. He wanted 100% accountability for Pt formation. We had 2 F ups how never showed up and were getting an Article 15. 1SG keep making the company come in earlier and earlier. We would be out in the snow 2 hours before morning accountability standing at parade rest, and this went on for over a month. 3/4 of the company could tell you how many days, minutes, and seconds they had left before their ETS.

We had to go out and do PT in the mud because someone got a dwi, our First Sergeant was furious when he came and saw us actually having fun with it

I had my twin sister die in car accident. My 1SG acted like I was lying, told me that I had X days, if I was a minute late he would charge me. I never had any issues in the Marines. I earned E5 in 4 years. Anyway, when I got back from burying my twin, he asks me "how was your vacation?". That was when I decided to leave. I was on the fence but saw I was just a number.

I chose to punch out and retire at 20 years of service (Camp Pendleton) because I saw the direction the Corps was going and the politics of it all. The wokeness of the military and poor leadership only interested in statistics instead of the individual Marine. The Marine Corps failed to evolve. They don't give young Marines second chances anymore. They love to ruin young Marine's careers only after one offense. Young kids make mistakes. The barracks is worse than a college dorm. Give young Marines a choice. Treat single marine's like adults.

Was able to speak to SgtMaj Black a few months ago and asked him why we can’t get Marines out of the barracks at earlier ranks like the other services do. Came down to “funding” and the excuse that the unit cohesion goes away when you don’t “know” the people you work with. The AF will literally push E-4’s out of the dorms to open space up for the junior airmen, even in other countries. While Marines in Japan have to request permission as an E-6 to live off base, just to be put on a first-come, first-serve list.

The thing that pissed me off the most was wanting to take time off but never being allowed to and all we were doing was sitting around doing nothing and playing videogames.

I EASd after my 4-year enlistment in the Infantry after I was denied a lateral move into another MOS. My career planner was just lazy and said my only option was to reenlist on station in same MOS. I used my GI Bill to get an Engineering Degree, I get paid more money for doing less work and I don't get treated like a child.

Currently been in the Marines for about 5 yrs and get out in 3 weeks. My experience has been awful not only with leadership but peers as well. I joined for career guidance and this so called brotherhood but every chance my peers would get to have an appointment, say their kid is sick, they think they have covid or make some dumb excuse during a crappy detachment or inspection (I'm airwing) and leave me the only person to do everything they would. My leadership once accepted a tattoo appointment my peer had as a good excuse to not go on an important recovery and sent me for quite literally my 11th det at the time. My counterparts have been on maybe 3 total 4 at the most and some have been on 0. They get all this extra time off and money cause they married someone they met months ago and have a whole house valued at 600k to sell when they get out meanwhile im struggling in the barracks with all these rules set in place so I can't have a decent living. I see shitty marines get promoted over me for the sole fact that they did cpls course even though they underperformed me in every way. Military PME is near useless for college so why bother? I'm treated like a child at 24 yrs old and over the years it really did start messing with my head. I'm stationed in California and there is such a negativity surrounding marines so it's made relationships hard to hang on to a few times. They took away the bonus for my current MOS for the Osprey and then ask me why I don't want to reenlist when right next door is a job that pays $43 an hour with benefits and none of the other BS and I also have a GI Bill. Why would I want to be broke, overworked, depressed, single, and live in the barracks for another potential 3-6 yrs until I hit staff with no bonus? At the end of the day though I met a handful of a few lifelong friends and did in fact get a little bit of guidance so I got what I wanted after 5 yrs but things could've been wayyyy better if the workload and stress was evenly split and we worked as a team instead of as individuals. Also the new generation underneath me simply doesn't care to take responsibility anymore. They see people like me stressing and instead of thinking I wanna help him not be stressed by getting qualifications the mentality is well there's this shitbag that knows nothing and does nothing so I wanna be him cause he gets paid the same anyways. All I have to say to those types of Marines is I hope you're not around when an actual war begins. Hope your experience in the Marines was or is better. I don't mean to sound like a negative nancy throughout this paragraph but I'm hoping there's other Marines that will read this and know they're not the only ones that went through something maybe similar.

“Tired of getting treated like a child”. Hit the nail on the head.

My son got tired of dealing with a bunch of depressed teenagers with drinking issues and dumb asses that were right only because they had weight on their collars.

I was a lifer for about a year. I came to realize I had absolutely zero power over myself and I was stuck in a contract. Doesn't matter the terrible leadership, the hypocrisy, the favoritism, you're now stuck. If you complain too loud one person can make your life hell. You're completely at the mercy of other people and you can only hope their character is decent. I've heard the "you're going to have to put up with stupidity in the real world too" argument. Yeah but I still disagree. I've been out for 18 years and haven't once regretted it. The difference is, in the civilian world I can tell my boss he's an idiot and quit. I'm not legally required to put up with favoritism, hypocrisy, incompetence, "punishment", and so on.

When I first joined the Marines in the year 2000, it was quite clear from the beginning we did not have very much funding. It was no secret, and even my drill instructors would tell us that historically speaking Marines had a reputation of getting the toughest jobs done with the least amount of gear. My M.O.P suit had at least a dozen patches from previous users, and look to be at least a decade old or more. Even the rain poncho I was issued was more patches than Pancho. The first M16 I was issued in the fleet was so covered in rust I spent about 5 hours busting it off. This used to be somewhat of a point of pride for us, knowing we were still the most badass Force in the world, while using the most crap!

I got out of the Marine Corps in 1994 after my enlistment was up. I can say I had enough of being owned and micromanaged for 4 years. It was actually I guess what it feels like to get out of prison. It took me over a year to adjust to civilian life. I was not used to making my own decisions and being in control of my own life. I'm very proud to be a Marine and would never take it back. It did teach me discipline and accountability. I also loved the comradery, but the Marine Corps is certainly not for everyone.

As a former Marine, the worst and saddest part of the Corps is that if 1 staff NCO doesn't care or like a certain Marine, especially 1st contract ones. Then all the staff will do what they can to shitbird that Marine and destroy any chance of them wanting to make a career. Getting out hopefully with at least a general discharge is all they can hope for. Very very sad.

Getting treated like a child even as a squad leader, constantly getting lied to, undercooked chowhall food are things that come to mind within 3 seconds

It is a tale as old as time. When SGM was young he would rage against the machine and knew how he was going to change things. Now he simply rages for the machine because he knows that it is self serving to do so.

I will say, as a Retired Marine, is leadership makes a whole world of difference. After working under some bad models, I vowed that if I make it to that point that things were going to change. I retired as a CWO-5, and will tell you that almost every Marine that worked for me re-enlisted. Unfortunately we promote those that should not make it up the food chain. Hold those accountable, through counselling, that are borderline and make them better. Its hard to do that because you want to be liked. Most cant control the Professional and Personal relationships.

Circa early 2000’s AF. Mass punishment was definitely a thing. Lost weekends for say less than intelligent people, PT, cleaning and briefings. The hurry up and wait, civilian outlook in a military town, daft leadership and asbestos ridden buildings are not unique to the USMC.

Former Navy here. I always noticed the difference between how sailors and marines are treated as low ranking/young adults. The Navy was big boy rules where as long as you did your job and stayed in regs, you got plenty of time off and treated pretty well. I left the Navy due to medical and became a police officer. Cops have to follow similar rules and regs as military folk, but it’s similar to the Navy where it’s big boy rules (at least at my agency). I don’t think any grown man wants to play the f*** f*** games past 22-23 years old and most marines I came across were getting treated like idiot children. We didn’t have anything to do one particular day in Italy. Navy side got cut loose after a field day and pt at around 1000. Marines got told to carry their gear from one end of the base to the other. And then got told to do it again. They weren’t even allowed off the base.

Exact same problem in the Royal Marines Commandos. Exact thing! Retention is absolutely horrendous. Trained to death then no one cares when you are in. Lads trained to an excellent standard then left to mince around camp picking up litter. 2022 it’s not cutting the mustard

That's one thing I never understood You are the tip of the spear, first in, and yet no one in leadership understands that takes a larger cut of funding. It's very aggravating. Thanks, Jameson.

My dad was a tunnel rat in Korea. The army later denied benefits for years . He would have done anything he could to keep me from service. 880bil $ a year . & We have private citizen orgz.taking care of the vets who need a leg. Applaudable & yet heartbreaking at the same time.

I reason I left the corps was because I was tired of being treated like a child being checked on every hour. My senior leaders also took half of my CIF gear and I was blamed for not having it and when I said something they denied it

The US military needs to stop trying to be 'up to date' with whatever else is going on in the world.

I got out to be a father and husband. Best decision I ever made. My kids are 20, 17, and 14. I have the best relationship with all of them. I couldn’t imagine not being there through the most important years growing up in a confusing world without their father.

Treat your employees like they are valuable because they are. It’s that simple.

I joined the Corps in 1985, by 1989 I was ready to be done and didn't re-enlist. I was tired of the BS, the mindgames, the immaturity of the higher ranking Marines, the very poor decision making, and the overall lack of care provided to Marines. I was stationed at Camp Lejeune and were were still living in 1940's squadbays, drinking and bathing in contaminated water. Don't get me wrong, I love the Corps and it made me a much better man, but I didn't like the way we were treated. Like the old joke, what is the difference between the Marines and the Boy Scouts? The Boy Scouts have adult leadership.

I really enjoyed my time in the Marine Corps 2007-2012. If I could do it all over again I would have joined any other branch after realizing that people were getting 100k signing bonuses for doing the same job as I was doing. Not only making less money, every other branch had better gear, better food, better living accommodations, and way less supervision and f#@*$& f#$*& games. I had buddies in different branches at different bases in Japan. I remember my Air Force buddy had his own room as an E-1 while I had 2 roommates as a E-4 Corporal. When I first arrived in Japan, it was just the end of a huge lock down for the punishment of a SSgt who had r@p3d a local. The entire Corps suffered because of one persons actions. Screw that. Earning the title Marine is great, but clout doesnt pay the bills.

I was going to be a lifer but my command actively was forcing people out of the corps as our contracts ended. I got lied to about being ineligible for reenlistment and only found out I was eligible on my last handful of days processing my exit. One of my friends was a motivated hard charger who lived for the corps and pushed hard to try out for MARSOC, but as his contract was ending and he was looking to reenlist he was told they wouldn't give him the opportunity and we're looking to not have him reenlist, he ended up taking his own life not long after. But they still wonder what is keeping people away when many of us are willing to give up all comforts to just be in the corps and are told we aren't wanted. Ive found my own path and I'm glad I've gotten out of that mess, but if I was given an offer to go back in I'm pretty sure I would still take it even up to this day. I love the corps and they are my brothers, but God damn there's some deep issues they refuse to address and will keep eating away at it.

Slow promotions, but you get all-you-can-eat crayons!

One of the biggest reasons I didn’t re-up was that my brain wasn’t valued. There was no incentive to use my mind. Physically & on the rifle range I was a mediocre Marine. My commands always relied heavily on me because I was responsible & level headed, but that doesn’t get you promoted. It just gets you more responsibility than the knuckleheads. There were several opportunities for promotion boards but I was too proud & too (internally) rebellious to play to that song & dance. I’ll always be super glad that I enlisted. For the most part I had a great time. I’d like all of my kids to serve one term, I just don’t see any long term benefit from being a lifer. Yes, I’d be retired by now if I’d stayed in, but I’d still have to work to supplement my income. If you can think halfway decent for yourself, do your four years and get out.

The reasons retention is bad is because of leadership from the very top, all the way down to base/post/camp commander level. It's a loss of confidence due to the lack of ability of leadership to push back on what every other military member can see as BS. When everyone at the top is just "following and pushing BS orders", everyone else loses the thing inside them that caused the desire to join in the first place.

The marine corps is probably the worst service branch out all of them.

I relate so much to the Lance who got out. I myself am a Lance, and I relate so much to being treated like a child. I’ve had my leaders to tell me to stop acting like a Lance Corporal, but the second I show some sort of initiative? I’m immediately beaten down to “You’re just a Lance”.

Requiring college for officers is an old holdover that can probably be done away with. Back in WWII when about 7% of the population was going to college it may have meant a little something, but not that much. Now with over 30% going it doesn't mean as much. If you do a little research, there are studies showing that as the quality of college admissions has gone done, the quality of officers has also gone down.

My time in the Marines is something I’m barely proud of. I’m proud that I did it, but I was treated like garbage at every moment and every rank. by the time I left I was filled with so much hatred for the leaders who abused us and neglected us. People got hurt and were treated worse than when they were well. The minor and worthless things that we got screwed over for made the experience worthless and damaged the character of everyone I worked with. Most got out jaded and filled with regret. For the record, I was a god damn good Marine. Outstanding pros and cons, great rifle qual, great swim qual, great PFT, and what I was actual taught my knowledge was acceptable.

The SgtMajor did not want to say what was really on his mind pertaining to the commandant.

I had to deal with a terrible Sgt for two years. I was fortunate to be able to go home on the weekends because home was nearby for me. venting to my family about her was a relief to avoid losing it. The last seven months sealed the deal about putting the life behind me. E-4's and below, we had to march back and forth from the barracks to work. It was humiliating because the LT putting us through that was the same age as me at the time. There were a lot more reasons for leaving.

I was a teenager working for the AF as a grass cutter around our airfield at Aviano Italy in 1974. We had a break room where we had a sandwich vending machine with a microwave. Some Army guys were amazed at this small, well kept break room that served tasty sandwiches. I never forgot that difference between how AF took care of their airmen vs other services after 26 years as an aviator. I got a chance to work with great Marines during a joint exercise and they were awesome. There was always the underlying discussion that they weren’t being taken care of. It’s all known issue, but never been fixed; hence, recruitment issue and re-enlistment shortages. Culture makes a difference along with leadership follow through.

Navy here, I went in ready and willing to make it a career and do my 20+. I wanted to be a Sailor. But once in...i seen how no one in my chain of command really seemed interested in shaping me or helping me to grow, so I too learned pretty early on I would be getting out. The Navy was not investing in me (sending me to schools, advanced training, etc). Now the guys that found someone to mentor them ended up having great careers...couple guys made E-9 and a couple went warrant or O.

When our son was at Pendleton (2017), he carried a 120 lb pack. As a radioman he had a 10 lb radio plus 2 each 4 lb batteries (from the 90s). Each guy in his squad also had to carry 2 batteries became the radio was so old and heavy. In. SOI, they were only served spaghetti, hamburgers and hot dogs for 13 weeks. He was spending his pay at the food trucks because the chow was so awful.

I was going to re-enlist, my proficiency and conduct marks were high enough to warrant the base commander to talk me into re-enlisting. I told him I wanted to transfer out of the grunts and learn a skill and then he told me that a Marine wasn't a Marine unless he was in the 03 field. The career planner (jammer) said the 03 field was locked and nobody could make a Lateral transfer to another MOS. That was the straw and I got out. I really liked being there but I couldn't deal the stupid games. No, games ARE NOT TRAINING. Instead of treating the men like professional soldiers we were treated like a class of people just a little better than slaves. My squad leader was denied promotion because he refused to iron his field cammies because that destroyed the infrared protection. So a lot of very illogical and childish leadership. So it wasn't the Marines I had an issue with, it was the leadership. Fast forward and my son joined the Marines. I promised to get my revenge by hooking him up with a great admin job that had extremely low cutting score. I got meritorious Lance and was a Corporal in 4 years. He got Corporal with no meritorious board in 2 years. So funny that when I joined people singed up for 6 years guaranteed Corporal. I also as a civilian able to keep him on my insurance until 26. I am just waiting to service relate an injury because they really have no power to stop him from going to a civilian doctor if he gets hurt. You shouldn't have pissed me off Marines, we are going to drain you as much as possible. Payback is a biotch.. Hoo fkn Rahh. Now anyone that doesn't think we cannot fight a war with just technology is a fool we don't really need foot soldiers and door to door anymore. Sadly Marines are cheaper than tech. If you want to retain the larger portion of nonspecial forces, then you treat all Marines like your do Force Recon or Raiders and maybe they will stay in. Currently my son with only 2 years experience is the go to in his unit for info because the turn over is so high. There is no expertise because Marines either get out, or they have some stupid rule that they have to go to another MOS or duty like the drill field or recruiting to get promoted to staff NCO, which drains the organization of knowledge and experts. I was amazed there are no references or documented procedures for what my son does. There is training but it goes very fast but there are no references but his notes. If my company caught me running my area this way I would be fired. Someone has turned the Marines into a bunch of people just doing stuff extremely inefficiently. Lastly this crap about going back to island hopping is a joke. With today's technology trying to do island hopping against China is suicide. I was amazed when I saw footage of Marines in Afghanistan fighting with full damn packs on their backs.. slow moving targets...whatever happened to leaving your pack at a staging area and going fast and light with ammo? WTF??? That is why they are leaving the Marines.

I got out because of the promotion system at the time I was in. My MOS had no promotions yet the same people I went to school with, worked right next to doing really the same exact job, were getting promoted years before my MOS, and I had no control over it. Didn't matter what my evals, scores, etc were.

I think the biggest reason first term enlisted get out is the senior staff nco’s that have no humane attitude toward junior Marines. 12-15-65 I reported into NAS MEMPHIS to MARTD, as a LCpl with a 6 month pregnant wife. After checking in and getting assigned to the Flight Line crew I requested 2 hrs off to take my wife to the base hospital for a check up. I went through the chain of command receiving permission all the way up to the SgtMaj who stated “if the Marine Corps wanted you to have a wife we would’ve issued one to you at group supply” and declined my request. I immediately requested mast to the CO, who happened to walk into the office as i made the request. After explaining I was granted the requested. I then had hell to pay for the next 11 months. Crap like that is what will sour a young Marine.

The military has taken on a corporation approach, and that model doesn't present pride in retention. When you people feel replaceable by those higher-ups, it shows in retention.

SO many good points raised here. It's hard to pick a single one that stand above the rest. Quality of life. Mass punishments. How we are treated like children. Having to ask permission to go home as an adult man. At a normal job, you clock out when your shift ends and that's that. Now, we have even more issues. People with objections to certain shots being forced out. People who have absolutely no interest in serving the America we have become under this administration. It's a myriad of problems.

The best decision EVER!! Still love the Corps. The Corps set me up to be the best me💯

Just got out a month ago. I loved being a Marine and I had an absolute blast with my last unit. Unfortunately my first unit was awful to me. I was treated horribly and felt isolated, and it didn't help that I was marked as useless after my first month when I got a blood clot in my lung that took me out for almost 9 months. That first deployment was miserable. I wanted to stay in for a while when I first joined, but after my Cpls and Sgts treated me like I was worthless and tanked my pros and cons I couldn't stay in after that. If I had been with my last unit the whole time, I probably would have stayed in. They treated me with respect and realized my potential and utilized my abilities to the fullest and they did their damndest to get me promoted. It never worked out because my pros and cons had been tanked at my first unit. I love my boys and I'll miss them, but I'm finally able to spread my wings and I'm happy that I got out, but I'd do it all again for my boys at my last unit.

I was in from 88-92 so maybe things have changed: 1. Living conditions sucked. Our barracks in Okinawa didn't even have a/c. The line just to use a pay phone could be as long as 2 hours. 2. Food sucked 3. Poor leadership. i.e. people who are way dumber than me telling me what to do. Being told to take initiative and when I did, I got told to just do what I'm told. 4. Coming back from deployment and finding everybody that stayed behind getting promoted because there was no one else to stand boards. 5. Low pay. 6. I have a lot more but I'll leave it there.

I was in the Marine Corps 1990-2001. After boot camp, MCT, and SOI I went to Saudi Arabia. Then went to Okinawa 91/92. Then to Somalia 92/93, then back to Okinawa 93/94. In between those deployments we did a JTF in New Mexico and many other field ops. I loved the first 4 years in the Marine Corps. I re-enlisted and PCS to Quantico to train officers at TBS. I re-enlisted for FAST Co and did a little over a year at FAST then was transferred to MCSF Training Company. I received orders to 29 palms back to an infantry unit, that’s when I denied orders and that’s when I knew I was going to get out. It was my decision, I had good leaders and bad leaders. It was a tough but easy decision, I saw my life going in another direction and I wanted to get into law enforcement. I’ve been in law enforcement now 22 years. I tell people all the time, I grew up in the military, but I matured as a police officer. Marines want to be treated like men, not like children. Hold the standards for all, you don’t need a grown man yelling and belittling a subordinate just because that person has rank. Marines want leadership and guidance. Yes, there is a time to get in that ass, but you can be professional about it. The games and mass punishment doesn’t go well with Marines. Punish those that are deserving of the punishment. Just because you have stripes or wear a star on your collar doesn’t make you a leader. Leadership is a continuous education. We need to teach Marines that when they make mistakes, they will be held accountable, but I have seen where Marines are NJP’d for minor infractions that may cost them a reenlistment. I’ve also seen shitbird Marines skate by and not held accountable. When that happens, it’s noticeable. Not Marine Corps related, but when I was coming back from Iraq in 08, I was with the ARNG. We landed in Germany and many of us wanted to get a beer, well we had this SgtMaj on the plane that was dead set against it and referenced General Order number 1 about alcohol in theatre. Grown men, just served a year in a war zone and could not even get a beer. Again, another issue, and I know happens in the Marine Corps as well. I’ve been out for 22 years now, there is no way I have to yell to get my point across. I don’t have to play games to get things done. Boot Camp and when rounds are coming down range is when you need to yell. I can write forever, but it comes down to treat men like men, stop the BS games.

I was never in the military, I wasn't cut out for it. It takes a special kind of person to be in the military. I have friends who are marines, they are a cut above the rest. The woke thing is bringing down the military, that's what I am observing....

I got out in '93 after 8.5 years. As much as I loved the comradery and would have liked to have made a career of it, I just got tired of the toxic leadership, lack of promotions, really low pay (I was a Sgt). At some point, I needed to think about my family's future.

Every day in the Marine Corps was just an exercise to try not to get into trouble.

I was in the Corps for 8 yrs then the Corps decided to send me back to Oki. My previous duty station was Oki then i was sent to PI at weapons bn. They were going to send me back to Oki. I said i would go if i could go accompied. Nope! So when my time was up i got out. I went to join the Army and was told the MC had given me a RE30 re enlistment code. Meaning i refused a set of orders. Never did. After the Army did an investigation the RE30 code was dropped. I stayed in Army Artillary until i retired. 77-98. Marines that get dcrewed get out! I had every intention on staying Marine. Their loss!

great video jamesons always pushing out great content

Marine DIs actually teach the young first term Marine on how to deal with toxic leadership. Say only Yes Sir, No Sir and Aye-aye Sir.

Still serving as we speak. Camp Pendleton. Just got back from Australia on a 6 month deployment. Loved it. Loved the opportunity. I have 1 year and some change left and I am getting out. Im getting out because im just growing out from being a Marine and back to the civilian life. The Marine Corps taught me a lot. Ill always be grateful and most definitely Ill miss the clowns but not the circus. Rah

My situation with the Army was pretty similar. I loved my job, I was proud of it. I was deployed immediately after basic and I had a clear vision of how I wanted my career to play out going into the last year of my contract. But when push came to shove, the Army didn't have my back. I was mocked and belittled by my chain of command for wanting to go on emergency leave when my hometown was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. So I transferred services over to the USAF and spent the rest of my career there. Immense culture shock. I had to completely relearn every bit of "leadership" I'd been taught by the Army. You looked to NCOs because of the competence and integrity they displayed, not because they barked when you took personal initiative. Junior enlisted were taught to lean on their NCOs for guidance, not cower in fear of judgement. If you made a mistake, the focus was on teaching you what the mistake was and why it was wrong, the focus was not inflicting the maximum amount of suffering on you. Leaders lead from the front, working right beside you showing you exactly how they do it and expected equal effort. As an NCO, we were held to account for planning, performing, documenting, and reviewing training for all of our subordinates. Senior leadership checked constantly to ensure we were hitting our marks and we were expected to produce competent, motivated, and loyal airmen that could and would leave the Air Force stronger than they found it. I could go on, but I'll save it for the novel I'm never going to write. But I'll leave with this. The branches each have their specific strengths and weaknesses. There are things the Army did well that the USAF did terribly. Top leadership should probably take some comprehensive notes on why service members leave and compare their deficiencies with their sister services. Lean on each other to figure out how to implement changes to processes and procedures that will make them all stronger. /rant

"Know when to push hard and when to pull back" I loved that quote from you old man. As young man who grew up in a tough household and a tough neighborhood I can safely say I've achieved some sort of enlightenment, in terms of reading people. I was 17 going into the Army National Guard and the only thing on my mind was, "How can I lead these men and women?" because I've always had that sense in me. The sense of appeasing those around me in order to boost morale because judgement is flawed and clouded when under extreme stress 24/7, speaking from experience. Sometimes the battles you fight are not overseas, but at home and I understand that. That's why I love hearing and listening from older generations like yourself because it solidifies my values and reinforces my beliefs. Not all men are created equal, but hell I'll make sure we all come out alive, together.

They keep Marines pissed off. It's what makes us so good at combat

I was in the Corps from '81 to '91, 10 years and some change. Watching a lot of these videos today tells me one thing, absolutely nothing has changed.

I feel these guys on a similar level. While being in I hit a very rough patch in my life where I nearly took my own life, was nearly hospitalized from it and after all that while I was going through it, it felt like nobody around me cared. Didn’t care to pick up the phone or even shoot a text to see how I was doing. One corporal in particular was always quick to be on my ass when I did wrong, but was never quick to check up on me after what I had gone through. Now of course I didn’t expect people to feel sorry for me, that’s not what I wanted at all. But when you go through basic and all they preach about is marines taking care of one another and you don’t see it once you’re out there it kills your motivation to want to be there or in the corps. Terrible leadership killed my impression of the Marines corps. Still love the Corps as a whole and wish my experience could’ve been different, but it genuinely makes me wish I never enlisted out of high school after all that. Felt like a waste of time and false promises.

I was in the Army in the 80's and I was always proud to put on my uniform. I wish that I had stayed in and retired, but I was young and dumb. I made a lot of mistakes and now I have a lot of regrets.

"You have to ask them, 'Do you want to be a Marine.'" The problem isn't whether they wanted to be a Marine. They did want that. The problem is that, four years later, they no longer want to be a Marine. Figure it out, Sgt. Major!

Prior AF recruiter the best thing I heard doing school list phone calls was from a Marine DEP recruit. He was of Asian descent he said, " I joined the Marines cause America gave me and my family so much that I wanted to do my part and give back." Thanks for the upload

I served 1988-1996, Active/Reserve. I was demoted to LCpl just before I got out over something silly by Company XO. I didn't care because I knew I wasn't reenlisting. When I was checking out, Career Planner came to me saying that he could get me promoted back to Cpl if I reenlisted. I fell over laughing! Sorry but I wasn't going to reenlist to a Unit that told it's Marines "So sorry but we can't promote you to Cpl/Sgt/SSgt because we already have enough of those." I was in at same time as Jameson so I know what he's talking about. Sad nothing has changed in 30 plus years.