Any past Marines here do a tour???
Im heading over to my CS’s office to hopefully start some paperwork.
for those not familier,http://www.marines.mil/unit/mccdc/mcesg/Pages/default.aspx
My SSGT was an Embassy Guard, he said the school is one of the harder ones in the Marine Corps. They will give you a crap duty station after school for your first duty station then you’ll get stationed at a much nicer Embassy. I heard Rota Spain is nice 
Have fun filling out the Background check paperwork for your Top Secret Clearance.
One of my close friends did it for 6 years and loved it.
Hey! watch with the harsh words. It’s called a "hardship post"hahaha.
Ha 
I stand corrected. I just hope Jason Bourne doesn’t come to your embassy. Your not married are you?
No sir! I called my GF and told her MSG is back in the picture, and she’s got her toes crossed that I get orders.
The only thing I think could be a problem is I actually got a enlistment bonus. Never happens in the MC but it did for me. While doing some Marsoc things, I talked to a 0321 that told he would try out for marsoc but he got a bonus for Recon and they wouldnt release him from Recon unless he paid it back. Im hoping that dosent happen to me. Other then that, no financial troubles, no police record past speeding tickets and I never done a illegal drug in my life.
I’d much rather do MSG then go to ASS-stan. A chest of ribbons dosent get me anything past some free drinks at a VFW when Im EASed, but a TS clearance and State Dept. certs and contacts will.
It’s good that your not married, that’s a big no no for MSG. Bonuses aren’t that rare…depends on your MOS of course. I remember they were offering $60k bonuses to re-enlist and stay in the unit, $40k if you went somewhere else back in 2007-2008. Yeah keep your nose clean it helps later in life. I never understood the allure of getting ribbons and medals. All my junior guys were so pressed to get ribbons, especially a CAR. IMO ribbons don’t make the Marine.
Good luck. I work with some of those guys from time to time and it’s always fun to chew the fat with fellow Leathernecks. As far as “hard ship posts” I’ve run in to a couple whose “hard ship posts” were anything but. One Marine’s was Copenhagen and one had the unfortunate fate of working Japan then Australia. Life can be tough in the Corps.
Wall locker inspections can be a bitch at MSG school. If you haven’t yet I’d invest in some new skivvies, t-shirts, and whatever they issue to go under the cammies now. I still got my wall locker junk packed away some place from when I was in DC.
I knew at least a dozen Marines who served on Embassy Duty. It’s not all roses - it can be very boring, and the standards are very high, but they all had good things to say about it.
Good luck.
disregard…not the place for it
And, on the offhand chance that you decide to stick it out for 20+, you can do way worse in the way of a B billet. The horror stories I’ve heard from recruiters and SOI instructors make all the penne-ante inspection BS worthwhile, in the long run.
My plt sgt from a few years back did two tours, one as a watch stander and another as a det commander. He loved both of them. He’ll be the first to tell you that he enjoyed some of his hardship posts as much as the nicer countries. How many Marines can say they went whitewater rafting on the Nile?
BTW, PM me if you want his contact info, he’s on Camp Lejeune.
At the 11 year mark I was forced into a B billet. I reported to MSG School was voluntold to Prague as the A/, promoted time in grade/service 7 months later and went back to Quantico for school as a Detachment Commander. I was the Det Commander in Bangui, also voluntold.
The bonus isn’t a problem, you won’t lose it. The guys coming out of school usually get the hardship posts but not intentionally. Posts are rotated 5 times a year, the guys out on post get first pick. The school isn’t that hard but it is long hours in the classroom and depending on your student Det Commander, he or she could keep you long past when the school secures each day.
TSSCI will stay with you until you get off of the program, if you are walking into the first civ div and you coordinate this with your next employer…the employer can take steps to continue your clearance. Worse case scenario, having a TSSCI means that your background has already been checked so a new employer would just need to cover the time when the clearance ended.
My wife used to work as a FSN in Prague…we ended up getting married after I finished embassy duty and had a deployment under my belt with 2/1.
I can’t say that I was whitewater rafting down the Nile, but I did visit pygmie villages in the Congo numerous times:D
Rota is not MSG…we have 2 FAST Plts over there, the MSG bubbas are in Madrid. I can stop by the school and get SA for you if you want.
S/F
My question is: what’s the attraction to MSG? I’m hoping that you’re not thinking that you’re going to get some high-speed training out of it.
If given the choice between, say, recruiting and MSG, I’d definitely pick MSG, though.
I talked to the carreer planner today. Good stuff.
RWK, for my shop, MSG school is high speed.
To to something like fast rope, or even touch a pistol being a E5 and down, would take an act of god.
Fast Rope; you will not do in school or out on the program. You will get some basic firefighting which includes emergency escapes.
Pistol, rifle, shotgun you will do alot in school at the FBI Academy, on post there is a quarterly requirement to FAM fire. At the Academy you will also shoot Uzi, mini 14 and a few other weapons for fam fire only. Keep in mind, many of the detachments are 1/5…1 Det CMDR, 5 Watch Standers, Post 1 is manned 24/7. Those 5 watchstanders are the ones 24/7…day 1 you would have 08-16, day 2 would be 16-24, day 3 would be 24-08, day 4 would be off and then you pickup the schedule all over again.
Something to keep in mind, the MSG is not there to protect the US civilians or combat the hordes trying to take over the Embassy (That’s why we have the MEU). They are there to protect classified information, that is why they have a TSSCI. No high speed low drag ninja stuff. If the alphabet guys aren’t at the embassy, the embassy doesn’t have MSG. You will learn how to go through people’s stuff after hours without them knowing in order to find unsecured classified information. When you find it you secure it in the safe on post 1 and turn it over to the Security Officer the next day.
If you are looking to do high speed low drag ninja stuff, try Marine Security Force Battalion (MCSF Bn) and go to a FAST Platoon. For NCOs, this is a B Billet.
If you are going for the clearance…go to 8th & I and be part of the marchers…they get a Yankee White Clearance. If you don’t want to be marching in circles but want Yankee White; go to MCSF Bn School and request Marine Barracks Washington.
One of the guys I work with was one of these, 2nd FAST out of Yorktown. I generally like working with him and those of his ilk, and we’re pretty good friends, but they’re like pilots: you don’t need to ask them what they do, just give them 5 minutes and THEY will tell YOU.
50m and in, he can shoot like nothing I’ve ever seen before, but I thought he was going to have a heart attack when I asked him to shoot me a back-azimuth so I could confirm an SDZ. 
They definitely get some shit-hot schools.
Firewatch in dress blues…
B
Thank You for the insight.
I went to thier dot mil website, but it dosent look like MCSF has a recruiting command. How would I get orders to it?The FAST platoons sound awesome, but what about this work would prospective employers in law enforcement key in on.
I realize MSG might not be a superSOF ninjah shadow warrior gig, but I think it will benefit my future more then my current job of running gas chambers and surfing google.
Ouch! I was an MSG from 90 to 93. Class 4-90. Try your best in MSG school. It is or was very competitive. Our class started with about 130 and they only needed 80. It is glorified firewatch to some extent but at close of business you are running the show in the embassy. Lots of boring post standing but it has its bennys. At one time I had met and had dinner with every living President. I had a one on one 45 minute coversation with James Baker one night when he couldn’t sleep. Oh and they have 2 colleges full of women down town in Ottawa, Canada and they love Marines:D. Try your hardest to keep you nose clean in training. Swear off alcohol during training and study every minute you can. Class ranking is everything and they only need at most 3/4th of the class. Good luck, David