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Question
I've been enlisted in the u.s. marines for the past 7 months in the (D.E.P.) and i've always been torn between the army and marines, is it too late to switch branches before i ship out for basic?
Hi Vernon,
I'm afraid that one can't simply "switch branches." In order to join the Army, you would have to (1) Be discharged from the Marine Corps Delayed Enlistment Program, then (2) enlist all over again in the Army.
Now, anyone can request a discharge from the DEP (see my article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup/a/dep.htm).
But, recruiters (and recruiting commanders) don't like it when this happens (from their point of view, they've spent a lot of time, money, and effort processing you for enlistment), and will very often not work very hard or swiftly to make a DEP discharge happen.
The bad news is, that another recruiter cannot "actively recruit" you, until your previous service officially discharges you from the DEP, and provides you with proof of a DEP discharge (a letter). A pissed-off Marine Recruiter (or Marine Recruiting commander) can easily "slow leak" this process for a year, or more. I've seen it happen more than once.
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Answers by Expert:
Rod Powers
Expertise
Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.
Experience
Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.
Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).
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