thinking about quiting company that sponsored school!

Apples and oranges, killer.

The contract with the US Govt and the Marine Corps is a lawful order. Once you take the oath on DEP, you can still get cold feet and not go (seen it more than once). Once you take the oath AGAIN on ship day, you are now property of the US Government.

Look, I'm not advocating just walking on a contract whenever you get the urge, I'm saying that if he needs to feed himself, he needs to find out what that company would want or how he could pay them back for schooling so he can go get employed. Asking someone to sit for five weeks (could be more, could be less) with no income UNDER CONTRACT waiting to earn money is ridiculous. Call them, ask them how much to pay off the schooling, then bolt..... just make sure you pay off the schooling.

 

Well, it does count for Time in Grade, Anniversary dates, and total service time (if you intend to retire). My original date was 3/8/1982. I didn't leave for Parris Island until 6/2/1982. All that time counted for me, but I could have just "no showed" at MEPPS on ship day (except the recruiter came and picked me up). Not sure if it's different these days, but I'm pretty sure that DEP time is non-obligated service, much like 2nd enlistments and after.




ETA: Ronin beat me to it with his explanation!!

 

What I meant by DEP is nothing is that on an application when it asks if I have served in the military, I check "no"...because I haven't served, and my short time in the DEP does not count as military service.

 

Right, makes sense. Understood. I wished, for a long time, that I'd known I could have backed out of DEP... 2 months prior to HS graduation, I got a music scholarship offer from Sam Houston State University.. but turned it down because I was on DEP, and was certain - my recruiter said so - that I was going into the USAF Band of The West. That didn't happen, he was blowing smoke... and per karma and what goes around, comes around... I was contacted by AFOSI 2 years later in Athens, Greece - they were investigating my recruiter for fraudulent recruiting practices for coercing people into lying about prior drug use..

I was granted immunity against prosecution in exchange for an honest interview about whether I'd smoked pot before going in. Evidently, a bunch of people that came in from the same area (the beach, in TX), smoked pot prior, and got busted within the first year of service... traced it all back to the recruiter and that one question.

He went to Leavenworth... so I outranked him immediately upon his conviction.

Sorry for the hijack, press on.

 

What?????????? A military recruiter LIED to you??? NO WAY!!!!!!

HAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Seriously, if his/her mouth is moving, a military recruiter is lying. Period. Glad he got his due though. I had no issues. I wanted infantry, I got infantry. I had to be the EASIEST recruit SSgt Mackey ever met. I called him..... no HARRASSED him to get me enlisted, then told him I wanted to be a grunt. Every now and again, fish DO jump into the boat I guess.

 

That's exactly what I was talking about. You can't sit and starve waiting for a slot to open up. Just be up front with the other company and let them know you intend on paying them back, get an itemized bill/invoice/something from them showing exactly what you owe and why, and set up some sort of payment plan.

You gotta eat and have a roof over you just like the folks who wrote that contract. Can't blame you for moving on.

 

Right on, good move, and good luck.

 

Certificate? Really?

I'm not sure what you even need one for.

Your CDL is the "magic bullet". I've had companies ask me where I went to school, but the time I have OTR was all they were really interested in.

Once you get your CDL, you're walking on sunshine. A certificate, unless I'm woefully uninformed, is just more trash in your truck.