My first experience with the reserve side of the Marine Corps was not with actual reserve Marines but with the active-duty Inspector/Instructor (I&I) staff. Reserve Marines may show up for drill only two days a month, but the reserve units are open for business every day just like active-duty units; the ones who keep it up and running are regular active-duty Marines.
I needed to make up some drill time since I joined the unit late in the year, so I went up to the drill center and worked with them for four days. I was looking forward to seeing what it was like because I&I Marines may be active-duty but they possess a similar reputation to the "nasty reservists." Since they are isolated from the rest of the Marine Corps, other active duty Marines like to poke fun at them for becoming lazy or for having a comparatively easy, spoiled life.
The first thing I noticed was that compared to my three years on Marine Security Guard duty, life in the reserve world seemed almost painfully slow-paced. I was used to a single 30-minute break for food, struggling to get a full night's sleep and a never-ending pile of work. I'd completely forgotten that people in many regular units take an hour or two for lunch and then leave work at 1630!
Once my first official drill weekend rolled around, however, the pace picked up considerably. There is so much that needs to be done, and we usually have only two days to do it per month. Even on weekends when we don't have much training to do, there is still an endless stream of paperwork that needs to be completed. Once the weekend is over, everyone shifts to email and the task lists continue to grow.
The biggest difference I've noticed so far between the reserve and active-duty sides of the Marine Corps is that on the reserve side, it's up to the individual Marine to be a good Marine more so than on the active duty side. I saw more Physical and Combat Fitness Test failures on the reserve side than I ever did while on active duty, and I was surprised at first, thinking I was seeing first-hand evidence of the "nasty reservists." But then I realized that for every failure there were 20 or 30 Marines who did just fine. And they did just fine even though no one was forcing them to exercise three times a week and banging on their door if they did not show up for the morning run.
In the reserves, no one is keeping an eye on you every single day to make sure you show up to work, exercise regularly, or finish required correspondence courses you need to get promoted. Reserve Marines have no choice but to be self-motivated on a day-to-day basis, because there no squad leaders or a platoon sergeants checking up on them morning, noon, and night.
My reserve PFCs and Lance Cpls do what they need to do to be good Marines without me telling them to do it or being there to make sure they follow through. You could pick them up and plant them randomly in active-duty units and without knowing they were reservists, no one would be able to tell the difference.
]]>The transition from active-duty Marine to civilian student felt like the beginning of an indefinitely long vacation, and 11 months after my end of active service, it still feels like a vacation. College sometimes has its own unpleasantness but unlike the active-duty military, there are options and escapes, and a problem's end is always near.
When I finally decided to get out, I still wished I could stay in the Marine Corps, but I was too frustrated, too angry at the way things worked — or didn't — and tired of not having any control over the large and small details of my life. I got out not because life as a Marines was so horrendous but because I simply needed a break. I didn't like how easy it was to find myself trapped in a boring job with no possibility of change until the end of my scheduled tour.
I have read how some female veterans do not consider themselves veterans, but I have always thought of myself as one. Before my embassy work, I served in Iraq, though I did only one tour, rarely left the base, and I never got shot at or experienced an IED. During my last three years, I was a Marine Security Guard and while working at embassies and living overseas was fantastic, the Marine part of it was not. There were so many restrictions on my life — restrictions that no one else in the embassies had to put up with, including other enlisted members of the U.S. military. I grew tired of not being able to have visitors when I wanted, tired of my boss being able to drop by my home and disturb my off-hours whenever he pleased, tired of curfews, tired of being told what to eat and when to exercise and when to clean. The possibility of returning to a regular-duty station and being subjected to more of the same in the barracks was not an option anymore.
Despite the civilian-world horror stories that some Marines use to encourage us to re-enlist ("You'll never fit in at those liberal, anti-military colleges! Nobody will understand you! You'll never receive any of your VA benefits! You'll never find a job!") I have not had any major problems upon my return home. When I left the Marine Corps and rejoined the civilian world, there was no adjustment period, and I have never felt like an outsider. Returning to college was easy, and I did not have any problems getting G.I. Bill money. My school is located in one of the most liberal parts of the country, but it is full of veteran students and teachers; it has never been anything but welcoming. I have used the local VA hospital for care and did not have any issues there either.
While my story may lack the heroism or the tragedy that a part of many Marine tales, I tell it as a reminder that not all veterans return home damaged or have troubling rejoining the civilian world. It is important, of course, to focus on the problems service members and veterans face, but I think many people get a skewed version of what military life is like. It's disappointing when people assume that male Marines must have made my life miserable because I'm a female. Nearly every young woman who emails me about her desire to be a Marine wants to know if she'll get sexually harassed on a daily basis and what her chances are of being raped by other Marines. That's a sad and unfortunate picture of the Marine Corps, and it's not the Marine Corps I knew.
Despite my relatively uneventful career in the Marines and the frustration, boredom and anger that often came along with it, six months after I got out I decided that my break from the military had been long enough. I joined a local reserve unit and began attending the monthly drills in June. This allows me to continue being a part of the Marine Corps while also making it possible for me to live on my own, work another job and attend school. Serving as the unit's supply chief is completely different from my college major, Geographic Information Systems, but I've always enjoyed working in the military supply field and I would enjoy the chance to test out my supply skills in a combat zone again.
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