Grrrrr... idiot Marines recruiter

[JDub02]

way over the line. i'd call the recruiting office and talk to the guy's CO. if it happens again, i'd go up the chain of command, if you can, and maybe talk to your Congressman.

while my experience is with the navy, i've had to deal with some Marines from time to time. most seem to realize that they are not the psychopathic killing machines that they think they are in boot camp and are pretty decent people. the few that hang onto that notion are the worst to deal with.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

tell the CO he made sexual advances towards the kid

 

[DeadByDawn]

Wow, if that we're my kid I'd flip the F out!

Make sure you get follow up that the guy got what is coming to him. Most likely they'll just try and blow you off. I'd contact my elected officials.

That jerk deserves a BCD (BigChickenDinner) if you ask me.

 

[Red Irish]

Lesson learned: there is no such thing as a friendly conversation with a military recruiter.

Hope you get things sorted out

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
As I matured however, I watched about 8 of my friends on their paths though the military. Most were grunts and they liked their experiences (except those who got sucked into iraq). Two of them washed out in the navy and airforce. But the ones who did go to college then join as officers have a very nice career. Sometimes I envy them.

Almost all of my good friends went into the Army or National Guard and each one got sent to Iraq. Each one also came back (thankfully), but they all tell me how their psyches are completely and totally fucked up now and that the government (not surprisingly) won't do shit about it.

Yeah, I'm glad I told that Army recruitment guy "no" quite a few times.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: Modelworks
I went through something similar in high school. I basically aced the ASVAB and so I had recruiters beating down my door.

My high school forced everybody to take the ASVAB and I aced it too. That was almost 4 years ago and I'm still getting contacted on a somewhat regular basis. Its picked up more that I'm getting close to my senior year of college. They've been trying to persuade me to not look for jobs my senior year of college and join the military instead.

Hmm, I guess I'm lucky I never took it. How can your school force you to take it? I remember in high school we had a bunch we could elect to take... ACT, SAT, pre-ACT, pre-SAT, and ASVAB were some of them. Not sure if there were any others.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: Paperdoc
You should also contact the local school board with your complaint to see whether they can stop allowing Marine recruiters into the school, on the basis that this guy abused his authority and jeopardized you son's future. It might wake up the local Marine office to be banned from high schools. I don't know your local laws, so I'm not sure why you say, "Schools have to allow recruiters to set up shop & distribute information to students."

Now see, that's overreacting with a strong anti-military bias. One person misused privileges and authority; one person should be punished. There's no reason to "wake up" anybody; there's nothing for anybody to be "woken up" from. A career in the military is a perfectly acceptable, respectable and viable path for students straight out of high school, and there's nothing wrong with them learning their options alongside civilian options. This situation was a travesty and the recruiter needs to be severely punished, but to use that as an excuse to try to kick all military recruiting out of the school... you're doing a disservice to the kids who want to pursue that path.

 

[Colt45]

He should have just said he's a quaker.

 

[nanette1985]

I suggest that you use this incident to educate all the students on how to talk to a recruiter. You can be sure that the recruiters are educated on how to talk to students.

And like everyone else, I'm stunned that one random call to the college got him cut out. Aggressive military recruiting is nothing new (press gangs anyone?) but I expected more from the college! THAT is shocking.

 

[SonnyDaze]

Originally posted by: Crono
Name: United States Government, Marine Recruiting Office
Street: 1 College Plaza
Oswego, ny 13126-
Phone: (315) 343-3811

Ask them who's in charge of their office or regionally, and complain up the ladder.
If that doesn't work, contacting local media and/or lawyer might be a (last) option.

OP, I'd use this info if it is the local Recruiting Sub-Station (RSS) and call and speak to the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC). The NCOIC will be this turd recruiters "supervisor" and you can explain to him/her what took place. I'm sure they will be concerned about their image at your son's HS so they should take action with this idiot.

Recruiters (all branches) are like sales people, they are out to make a quota and will sometimes do whatever it takes. However, this guy has over stepped his boundaries and violated some ethics (calling the school).

 

[ProfJohn]

Nothing excuses what this guy did, if the OPs story is correct and there isn't something else going on.

But I don't think a lot of you understand the insane amount of pressure placed on recruiters. Go read about the suicide rates among recruiters, for the army it is about three times higher than rest of the army.

And the idea of some 'incentive' to sign people up is a bunch of bull. The incentive is to keep your job and rank. And when you start talking about rank and promotion you are talking about a ton of money and their entire future.


As for dealing with this guy: I wouldn't call the local office because his boss will slap him on the wrist and then start making jokes about what happened with all the other recruiters.

I would find out who is in charge of this office and call that guy and talk to him on the phone personally. At that point you are dealing with an officer and can personalize the story. I would also drop letters to the Marine Commandant office and your local congressman. And make sure you tell the guy you get on the phone that you have already done so. Once this guy knows the shits going to hit the fan he will take action.

I would imply that you expect the recruiter to call YOU up personally and apologize or explain what happened if his story is different than what you have told us.

This guy may be an ass, but most Marines are very professional and treat honor and duty with a very high regard.

 

[halik]

Call his superiors ASAP, that is absolute horseshit.

I've met with marines and air force after/when I was graduating highschool (and accepted to Michigan). It was a very pleasant experience, but ultimately decided not to go that route - this is shortly after 9/11 and my parents got the wind of of Bush's intentions of invading a country in-no-way-related to that event.

 

[ProfJohn]

Originally posted by: Paperdoc
You should also contact the local school board with your complaint to see whether they can stop allowing Marine recruiters into the school, on the basis that this guy abused his authority and jeopardized you son's future. It might wake up the local Marine office to be banned from high schools. I don't know your local laws, so I'm not sure why you say, "Schools have to allow recruiters to set up shop & distribute information to students."

I am 99% sure that it is a federal law that requires the schools to allow access.

The school gets money from the feds so the feds set the rules.

Plus the military is not all bad. They a take a lot of high school fuck ups and turn them into outstanding young men and women. A lot of this countries finest men and women served in the military including almost all of our greatest Presidents.

 

[ProfJohn]

Oh... for the record my brother was a navy recruiter and was living with him at the time and saw what it is like first hand.

Calling this guys office and talking to his boss is a waste of time because you dealing with one of his peers. You have to go further up the chain of command in order to get results.

And make sure you write that letter and have it sound something like "I very troubled by an incident that occurred between recruiter XXX and my son XXX..." and just lay out the facts nicely and professionally. Much more likely to get results if you come across as a concerned parent than as a raving lunatic.

 

[darkxshade]

I think just for kicks... you should still go ahead and tell your Son that everything went south and you've signed the papers for his enlistment.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: princess ida
I suggest that you use this incident to educate all the students on how to talk to a recruiter. You can be sure that the recruiters are educated on how to talk to students.

And like everyone else, I'm stunned that one random call to the college got him cut out. Aggressive military recruiting is nothing new (press gangs anyone?) but I expected more from the college! THAT is shocking.

Ding ding ding.

I didn't have much trouble. Never took the asvab. I did register for the selective service though...I think I had to lol or else I wouldn't get loans for college.

Now, IIRC, they nearly got one of my friends to sign. I asked him what happened and how he got that far...and he said they just sat him down, beat him down by saying he scored 'low' on the asvab (lol I think he missed maybe 2 questions?) and hammer down his confidence. Once they got that part done, they began to build him back up, create a 'plan to help him out', told him what he will do, and literally had him there and said 'sign this paper to start a new life'. He was about to, but then logic entered his head and he insisted on calling his mother. I don't know how strongly they resisted his desire to call his parents, but they did eventually accede to his request. His mom ended going down to the recruiters office, and chewed out the recruiters for not even telling her or asking her to be there (He wasn't even 18 at the time), and left without having him sign anything.

They most DEFINITELY are taught to speak to kids. That is something I don't doubt at all

 

[yinan]

I have been out of the Marine Corps for 7 years now and I still get the recruitment postcards.... I don't even know how they got my current address.

The recruiter has to recruit 2 people a month but what he did is out of line. He may be worse than a used car salesman but he still has to abide by the law and the UCMJ.

 

[nublikescake]

You can thank GW for that.

 

[oiprocs]

I'd make this a media affair right away. Fox, ABC, etc would jump on a story like this in no time.

 

[glenn beck]

Originally posted by: nublikescake
You can thank GW for that.

I really don't think George Washington could have foreseen this happening

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: yinan
I have been out of the Marine Corps for 7 years now and I still get the recruitment postcards.... I don't even know how they got my current address.

The recruiter has to recruit 2 people a month but what he did is out of line. He may be worse than a used car salesman but he still has to abide by the law and the UCMJ.

They have your SS, search department of motor vehicles.

 

[nublikescake]

Originally posted by: glenn beck

Originally posted by: nublikescake
You can thank GW for that.

I really don't think George Washington could have foreseen this happening

Are you serious? If it wasn't for GW's illegal, misguided and ultimately fruitless wars...there wouldn't be such an aversion to join the U.S. military.

 

[mesthead21]

Originally posted by: nublikescake
You can thank GW for that.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: scorpious
I'd make this a media affair right away. Fox, ABC, etc would jump on a story like this in no time.

Well... i dunno about Fox... they'd probably be sympathetic to the recruiter.

 

[TallBill]

Yeah, time to find the station commander and complain. That's above and beyond what should be done.