Expert: Jason Grabill - 5/24/2007

Question
QUESTION: My fiance is about to finish bootcamp, is he allowed to get married before he goes to his mos school. He had mentioned that he was not able to before bootcamp because he had already signed a contract.

ANSWER: Angelica:

 Yes.  However, you will likely NOT be able to join him at MOS school, and will have to wait until he is assigned a permanant duty station before you can be together.

Jason

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QUESTION: Does the military provide grants, funds, or any kind of help for wives of military personell to attend college?
Also, does the military(in this case the Marines) help wives with job placement when relocating to a base?

ANSWER: Angelica:

 No.  The military does not provide, at this time, additional money for you to go to college.  

 Some bases do assist with job placement upon arrival at a new duty station, but it's not something that is done normally.  I'd suggest, as soon as you find out where he's going, to start scanning the local want ads (in the out in town newspapers, easy to find) and see what is available.  You WILL get a preference for any 'on base' type jobs, such as at the PX or Commissary, as well as the secretarial type jobs.  You can go to www.usajobs.com, use the drop down menu, and pick and choose the base from there.

Best of luck!
Jason

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QUESTION: Do the Marines encourage their recruits to marry? If so or if not Why?
ANSWER: Angelica:

  No, it's not something the Marine Corps encourages recruits to do.  It's usually suggested that new Marines wait until they reach their final duty station after school before they consider getting married.  The reason why is simple; there is no time, at all, that the recruit will be able to spend with the new wife and family, until they get to the new duty station.  And, even after arriving, as "the new guy", they will be first on tap for the next unit deployment.  Meaning they may not be at the new duty station very long before they are gone again.  The Marines are an 'expeditionary' unit, meaning they deploy....ALOT.  That's why it's not encouraged for young Marines to get married.

Jason

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QUESTION: Would you then recommend for myself to wait for him here (we are from El Paso)?
Are you married? How did your wife deal with you being deployed?
I am confused, I really want to support him but I want to be part of his life even though he will be away.

Answer
Angelica:

  I'd advise that you wait, at least until he checks into the unit and gets settled.  You don't want to try and move out there, then find out he's being deployed in a month or something, then have no support system (family, friends) and be stuck there.  

 I was single my first couple of tours, but married for one deployment.  She handled it pretty well, lonely, but dealt with it.  We also had kids to keep her busy, plus, she was a former Marine so she knew the score.  

 It's going to be difficult, most first time marriages don't last simply because the Marine is away all the time, and the wives get bored/lonely sitting at home with not alot to do on base.  I never encouraged my young Marines to get married on the first enlistment unless they had kids.   Very few of those marriages last.  Not pleasant to hear, but it's the truth.  As a young Marine, he'll have multiple things to do, and it's not a "9-5" job even when he's NOT deployed.  It's better, if possible, to wait until he's settled in, back from a deployment, and has some rank so he's able to get a tad bit more time off.  Then, it's really not bad.  My kids loved living on base, as did my wife, even though I was gone quite a bit.

Jason