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so my boyfriend of one year is going to join the marines. we want to get married when I turn 18. he's two years older than me, hes 17 and im 15. I really really love this kid and he really wants to go into the marines. what should I expect? how long of periods will he be gone for? how often will I get to see him? what will he be doing? where will he be going? will he get to call home? what about writing and receiving letters? and when we get married do I get to go with him?
My ex boyfriend went into the army so I have done a lot of this research. Its fairly similar throughout the branches from what I know.
He will have to do 9 weeks of basic training in which he can't have contact with people outside of the camp except letters from home.
They are not given much free time, so receiving letters back can be rare.
After that, he most likely will be sent to a base somewhere in the united states, usually its not near where the guy is from.
For example, my neighbor who is a marine was sent from his home in Maryland to California.
After that, he will have deployments that can last anywhere from a few months to a year and a half. Usually they are deployed for quite a while.
My ex boyfriend initially joined the navy for 5 years out of high school and he saw his family very rarely; however, I am not sure how much of that was just not wanting to visit his family or if he actually couldn't.
When he decided to go into the army, we broke up because of the long distance relationship it would put us in. We were only together for a few months though.
It's definitely a difficult process. The navy tends to have the shortest deployment time (about 3 to 6 months at a time).
If you have any other question, you can fun mail me.
Take it from a Marine, who has been there done that. I am asuming he is in basic right now. His training is going to be a gruling 12-13 weeks (3 months) long. Support him though boot camp, he is going to need your motivation to get though this tough time in his life. Send him letters, not everyday, but on a consistant basis. Please... please... do not send him a "Dear John Letter" (break up letter) while he is in bootcamp. Remember you have to keep him motivated and not demoralize him. Once he gets out of basic training he will have 10 days of "leave" (vacation time) and if he is lucky he can have additional time, but only if his recruiter asks for it. You will notice a great change in him. He will be firm and would want to take life by the horns at every step. Depending on what his job in the Marines is going to be he may either go to the School of Infantry or Marine Combat Training (all jobs that are non infantry related). To make a long story short he will be away for most of his time in the Marines. If your relationship with him is strong and your willing to give it your all you two will come out on top.
Support him but definitely be ready for the shock when you see him after bootcamp...he will be different not neccessarily in a bad way but he will be different. My best guy friend went to see his friend graduate from the air force bootcamp and he said he couldnt believe how drastically his personality differed. your a very young girl but honestly if you love him just hang in there and keep your head up and make sure you have close friends because your gonna need people to depend on during these hard times! trust me the guy that owns my heart leaves to bootcamp for the army the 25th of this month,,,its hard I think about it all day and night but if its hard for us imagine how it is for them!!! stay strong and the distance should show him how much you really mean to him.
