>if ur looking to join the marines at 18 or with parental permission 17 you don't know much. The 17 year-old recruitment was really successful for the Marines for the Desert Wars. They had a good TV presence, presented an amazing image to boys 10-16 years old, and had at least some presence in high schools. They used a "poolee" program for kids under 17 (and other people) where they'd essentially attend hour-long grooming sessions with the recruiters and some other young, recently graduated from boot guys. They made you PT as a team, and eventually you're indoctrinated- they appeal to people who are interested in fighting most of the time. You'd get promoted upon graduation if you attended this program, and I saw it turn some fatties into decent shaped kids, or take great athletes, ready to ship out, having studied and prepared for boot camp for months-years by this point. At this point, you're so focused on becoming a Marine and what that means as a career, that you aren't seeing the big picture that much. You don't really care who you're fighting or why, you just need to focus on survivng boot camp and push on. Nobody joins the USMC for the pay, it sucks compared to what Army/USAF/Navy was offering.