USMC 'bait and switch'

[LAK]

What is the name of your state? FL

Our son joined the Marine Reserves on the basis of what we were told was the 92K program for high school seniors. This program would allow him to attend college (with us paying) as soon as he finished boot camp. He would be starting college in late August. We were told that all of his Marine training would be during summer months and that as long as he remained in college and taking a full course load, that he could finish his education and resume a career in the Marines. His time at boot camp would also provide several credit hours to be applied to his degree.
Now there seems to be a problem with his paperwork at boot camp and he was told that he is a full reservist with no allowances for college.
We have contacted the recruiters who couldn't wait to get our son's signature on paper and they say they will TRY to straighten things out, but they seem to be dragging their feet and are slack in keeping their timelines for getting back to us. It has been weeks now with no resolution. What can be done to correct what we feel has been a 'Bait and Switch' tactic to recruit our son? He has always wanted to be in the military. We promote that. However, it is our goal that he finish college first and we made this completely undersood with the local recruiters. Please help?

[badapple40]

1. Has your son left for and/or completed basic training yet?

2. How old is he?

3. Did you sign any paperwork?

4. Does your son want out of this contract?

[fozzy2]

I'm not familiar with a program called "92k" and couldn't find anything about such a program. It might be recruiter lingo/shorthand for some program. Do you know of any other names for it? Judging from the post, it sounds like some type of SRIP - Selected Reserve Incentive Program. And what exactly do you mean by "full reservist"?

[LAK]

Our son is 18. We did not sign anything, nor were we present when he signed. He trusted them.
he has left for boot camp. This is when they told him that he was theirs until Feb. for training. He was expecting to be in college in late Aug.
No. He doesn't want out of his contract. He wants what he was told he was getting.
Reserve training in summer, reserve service once a month or more if he wanted it while in school and the opportunity for OCS.
He hopes to make the Marine Corps a career.
We just want the paper work to reflect what we were told in person and what he thought he was getting. He has been accepted to one of the most prestigious colleges in the South East.
He loves the idea of being a Marine. How do we push to get what he was promised?
We haven't gotten nasty about it yet, but the local recruiters seem to be dragging their feet with getting info back to us. We don't want to do anything that will make it harder for our son where he is.

[badapple40]

What does your son's enlistment contract say about it?

[LAK]

Basically the contract is very vague. It doesn't say anything about college or list this program. As far as I can see, the space where this information might have been typed in reflects the NONE. He was told he was signing a paper that reflected everything we had talked about. Now they (recruiters) are acting like they didn't know he was interested in that program.
The Sr. Recruiter says he has submitted the papers and has been promising more info for weeks now. By papers, we are not really sure what they say.
We have been very patient and calm so far. They act like they are correcting this, but we feel that they could be stalling us. We need to know where we can go from here if they refuse to let him go to college. Monies have been paid and contracts for school have been signed.
Another boy was promised the same thing at the same time and his family is trying to get his paperwork straight too. We alerted them to the possible mix up and they are up against the same thing.

[fozzy2]

There is a complication in the fact that he is 18. The recruiters may be limited in what they can tell you because of privacy act and related concerns. Secondly, there is really nothing *you* can do because you aren't a party to the contract. If he feels that he has been fraudulently enlisted then he needs to bring that up with the Marine Corps, or perhaps eventually in court. You , simply as parents, don't have any standing.

[ARMY-HELP]

I'm not sure,but I think in every Marine Corp contract they reserve the rite to switch Jobs as need'ed.

I will look into it though.

[marine]

the confusion resides in the fact this is not an enlistment, but a commisson path...or at least sounding like sold as...this is the PLC way to OCS.

[jmwsf]

Originally Posted by marine

the confusion resides in the fact this is not an enlistment, but a commisson path...or at least sounding like sold as...this is the PLC way to OCS.

Actually PLC is a completely different program, I am not sure what program they are talking about as I have little experience with the Enlisted -> Officer programs for the Marine Corps, but the PLC and OCC programs I know very well, that is not what he is talking about...

[keithl]

I have a 17yo godson who is preparing to attend college in the fall, preparing for a medical specialty. He is athletic, hispanic, and has a single mom with a low income, which makes him recruitment bait #1 at his affluent suburban high school. I am ashamed to say I have been out of touch for some months, and I just found out he is signing up very soon in the Marine Reserves under the "92K program". This website is the only mention of this Marine "college program" I could find on the web.

But I don't think it has anything to do with a college program; the "92K program" probably refers to the DOD goal of increasing the size of the "volunteer" forces by 92,000 over the next five years. This has been in the news, and you can find out more yourself by doing a google search on "92K program" and "Marine Corps".

I've learned a lot about my godson in the last couple of days. I suspect he will decide to stay on at the end of the summer rather than continue in school. If it is his decision rather than the Corps, I hope he tells us the truth about that.