WTF is going on? Why do the Marines keep calling me?

OK, let me start out by saying I am a college student, and for some reason these past couple of weeks, the Marines have been calling me like madmen.

I have already spoke to them like 2 times and told them I'm in college and not interested, but they still keep bugging me.

Lo and behold, today I found out from some friends that the Marines have been calling them too, bugging them just like me.

WTF is going on? they never used to bug like this before, especially when they know you're in college.

I think something strange is going on and the U.S. is trying to recruit as much soldiers as they can, maybe before a possible attack on Iran. What else could be the reason? This seems more likely after reading today's news. SOURCE

And now with the British pulling out of Iraq, the U.S. soldiers are gonna be hurting.

Could this be the reason why the Marines are bugging me and my friends?



[edit on 22-2-2007 by thehumbleone]

Originally posted by thehumbleone

Could this be the reason why the Marines are bugging me and my friends?

I suppose it could be, though I got calls from all the branches for quite awhile after I got out of high school, 17 years ago (wow I'm getting old).

You may have scored well on ASVAB testing or other tests they look at.
They might also be trolling college students looking for the ones who have realized college isn't what they want right now, or students that are having financial difficulties so they can offer up college funding in exchange for service.

They're always looking for a few more decent recruits, especially now.

I'm not telling you to go in, or to not go in... but disregarding the fact that THEY keep calling you for whatever reason, maybe there is a deeper reason and you could make a significant contribution... may sound weird, but yea good luck with whatever you do.

Thanks for the feedback guys, The reason I was curious is because they never used to bug me this much, not even when high school graduation was coming up.

If there was a time I could see them bugging, it would be towards the end of my senior year, not when I'm in college.:shk:

Recruiters do that, especially Army and Marine recruiters. Nothing weird, they're salesmen. Tell them not to call you anymore.

The American military machine needs fresh meat to feed the monster.

Just the fact that your a well educated healthy young citizen makes you a desirable target for recruitment.

yea,they tried to come to my house and # before, but this was back when I was about to graduate high school, haven't bothered me since.

ok , the marines have called you , so what ?

in the same period, how many double glazing , mobile phone , utility bill and other cold callers have you had to hang up on ?

it is cold calling . plain and simple

your name has some how got onto a list -there are procedures to have your name removed and a " do not call " tag put my your number

why is it suddenly suspicious / and or a conspiracy because it is the military practicing a pretyy common technique

HA! I guess you've never dealt with recruiters before. They do this to EVERYONE. Especially if you give them the tiniest bit of interest.

I had a marine recruiter come to me at my job and bug me constantly because I was interested in joining. I told him I had asthma and he looked quite disappointed. Then the conversation went like this:

"how bad is it"
"Well I only get it from heavy athletic activity, u know, running 10 miles, doing hundreds of push ups, obstacle courses, and stuff like that"

*long pause*

"well you dont have to have asthma"
"what do you mean"
"I mean you dont have asthma"
"but I do have asthma"
"no u dont" *wink wink*
"yes I do"
"no you dont" *wink wink wink*
"yes I do"
"no.......you dont" *wink wink wink wink*
"but I do...."

And thats cutting the conversation short But he left me alone after that. Im glad I never joined because a short time later we invaded Iraq and Id probably be dead right now.

Point of story, tell them you have asthma. They'll go away.

tell them you smoke weed. I remember a recruiter asking me if I have ever smoked marijuana and I said no but if I had said yes he probably would have just left me alone.

Could be that you have been tagged.

Military Enlists Marketer to Get Data on Students for Recruiters

WASHINGTON — With the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan making it increasingly hard for the U.S. military to fill its ranks with recruits, the Pentagon has hired an outside marketing firm to help compile an extensive database about teenagers and college students that the military services could use to target potential enlistees.

more here:

www.commondreams.org...

This used to be off limits to recruit college students but as you can see they are pulling all sorts of tactics these days to meet their quotas.

Originally posted by DDay
Could be that you have been tagged.

Military Enlists Marketer to Get Data on Students for Recruiters

WASHINGTON — With the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan making it increasingly hard for the U.S. military to fill its ranks with recruits, the Pentagon has hired an outside marketing firm to help compile an extensive database about teenagers and college students that the military services could use to target potential enlistees.

more here:

www.commondreams.org...

This used to be off limits to recruit college students but as you can see they are pulling all sorts of tactics these days to meet their quotas.

Thanks for the info DDay, this seems like it could be one reason.

The thing that has really been bugging me is the fact that Britain is going to pull out of Iraq, and now they're saying they fear a possible U.S. attack on Iran.

Couple that with the fact that they keep calling me.:shk:

From what I have been hearing from co-workers/friends/family - they are seeing an increase in military recruiting calls as well - but the consensus among them is that they are not going to join because it would be almost like signing a death wish. I think if the government’s current philosophy continues, we will all be dealing with increased recruiting calls that may even begin to border on harassment (or in fact become harassment).

Even now, if you join for a certain amount of time, there is no guarantee that you will be able to get out after your tour ends - if the government needs you longer, they make it impossible to get out.

Sad times, indeed...

You want them to stop calling...tell them you're gay. That will end it. My husband is a Marine, even the smoking weed thing isn't going to stop them because then can "waiver" you. If you tell them you are gay that will immediately stop them because they can't "knowingly" allow someone who is gay to join.

Originally posted by DCFusion
From what I have been hearing from co-workers/friends/family - they are seeing an increase in military recruiting calls as well - but the consensus among them is that they are not going to join because it would be almost like signing a death wish. I think if the government’s current philosophy continues, we will all be dealing with increased recruiting calls that may even begin to border on harassment (or in fact become harassment).

Even now, if you join for a certain amount of time, there is no guarantee that you will be able to get out after your tour ends - if the government needs you longer, they make it impossible to get out.

Sad times, indeed...

Thanks for responding DCFusion. Seems like I'm not the only one they're bugging eh?

With the way they are bugging me, I would almost consider it borderline harassment.

They're really starting to tick me off.

[edit on 23-2-2007 by thehumbleone]

Recruiters get a list of all of the students from local high schools, this I know. They could have possibly just gotten a list from your college and are just going down the line and calling people. This is one of the tactics that US military recruiters use. They do a lot of cold calls and sometimes there are 3 to 4 different lists circulating in a recruiting office at a time for a single highschool, so if you told them that you were not interested and they marked your name off on that list, it may not be marked off on another list.

Originally posted by cw034
You want them to stop calling...tell them you're gay. That will end it. My husband is a Marine, even the smoking weed thing isn't going to stop them because then can "waiver" you. If you tell them you are gay that will immediately stop them because they can't "knowingly" allow someone who is gay to join.

Do you really think I could tell them that cw034.

How would I go about doing it?

He calls and says " hey son, would you like to join the Marines?"

I say, " I'm sorry sir, I'm gay." WTF?

I wouldn't tell them that you are gay, tell them that you have asthma or diabetes. Medical conditions are a quick out of the military.

The answer is not to be rude but to ask to be put on the do not call list.

I had a marine recruiter calling my daughter while she was still in high school. The last time that he called, I took the phone. I informed him that my daughter was underage and that he no longer had permission to call her.

I informed him that if he called my minor child again that I would contact the local law inforcement authorities and have them look at his activities.

He didn't call back.

Originally posted by JackCash
I wouldn't tell them that you are gay, tell them that you have asthma or diabetes. Medical conditions are a quick out of the military.

But couldn't they just check your medical record, or am I mistaken?