Soldier in Iraq question - help!

A lot of this answer is going to depend on what skill set you expect your young marine to have.

Marine Boot Camp is 10 weeks long (IIRC).
Then there's the School of Infantry that all Marine boots attend.
Then there's their Military Occupation Specialty training which can last anywhere from 8-20 weeks long.
If your trainee is a linguist, then language school takes 20-63 weeks long depending on the language. If he's going to be an Arabic linguist, that's 47 weeks for Modern Standard Arabic and then another 16 weeks for Arabic-Iraqi (dialect class may have been shortened since I went through . . . you'd have to check the DLI web site).

So, your young Marine is going to be in training at least 6-8 months before being assigned to a permanent party unit and then it depends on which one he's assigned to. Marines tend to do six month rotations sea/land if they're in the Fleet Marine (assigned to a Marine Expeditionary Unit or a MEU) and main base out of Camp Lejunne (sp?), NC and Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii.

You may find some here on the board who're more current on Marine operations and training. I was Army, but worked closely with a Gunney for two years and was immersed in the Marine way of doing things. (Heck, I still called 4th floor, 4th deck for a while after I moved to a new assignment. )

Oh, and there's definitely opportunities for leave between School of Infantry and MOS school and then between school and permanent party and so on. All military members earn 2.5 days of leave a month, (30 a year/can carry 60 days over each fiscal year).

coryleslie said:

Richard, this information is amazing! Thanks for responding!

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You might get a better response if you posted this in the Research section under Discussions. I happened to find this by pure luck.

coryleslie said:

Hi, everyone:

I'm outlining a new book and I'm in research mode. I've ordered a few books, but while I'm waiting for them to arrive I hope the AWers can help me out… One of my characters is an 18-year old young man. He graduated from high school early at 17 and got his mother’s permission to enlist in the Marines. My question is this: If he graduates in June and enlists immediately, what would be the timeline for him getting to Iraq, including basic training? Also, would there be time for a visit home after basic training and before he is assigned overseas?
Thanks in advance for your help!

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If you're in the US, why not just call or visit your local recruiter and talk to them. They can probably become a great source for additional research, maybe even hook you up with interviews of the kids just back from boot camp and specialty training.

Hi Cory,

The info that Richard passed is spot on, based on what I've seen.

Depending on how true to life you want your story to be, it might also be helpful to know that in Iraq, the Marines are almost exclusively stationed in Anbar Province, which is in the western part of the country. So once you get your young devil dog out here, that's where he would likely end up--if he were with a real unit.

Incidentally, I'm currently stationed in Baghdad with the Navy (here for a couple more months) so if you have any "on the ground" questions, feel free to hit me up.

Hope this helps.