MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON -- Well I am finally settled into the land where gas is $1.18, strangers wave, and all roads are composed of only two lanes. Let me begin by first saying it's not all that its cracked up to be. I wish I could tell that to everyone that I have ever heard talk bad about the Marine Corps.
I arrived back in Ohio in late December anxious to start what I thought would be an awesome job. A long -time family friend had offered this job, which equated to a better "financial job" than the Corps. You can imagine my surprise when I found out that he didn't hold the position for me. No big deal, I can get unemployment, right? I figured that would be easy cash. Wrong again. Three months later, I still have not received a dime of money from unemployment.
Around the middle of January I set out to acquire a full-time job, probably secretarial, but not necessarily. After I took some job skills tests, I learned that I had became proficient with the office job skills that I had acquired in the Corps. I soon learned that the job market out here, in the real world, is quite harsh. After several disappointments at the lack of jobs available, I settled for Sprint, the largest telecommunications company in the nation. Here, I work 40 hours a week, am considered part-time, and get paid a whole $9 an hour. Not too bad, right? I don't receive any medical, dental, or life insurance. No days off, no paid vacation plan and a paycheck that translates into roughly $1,200 a month. And the worst thing about this job is that it lacks everything the Corps holds in abundance; sense of belonging (the big one), camaraderie, trust, reliability, fairness, pride, and organization (another big one). I have realized that leaving the Marine Corps is not the smartest decision I have ever made, but by far, the biggest mistake I have ever made. Live and learn? Maybe, but a hard lesson.
So this is my plea. I wish I could be there to talk to all of my old friends. Everyone that always talked about, "I can't wait to get out of this hell hole," I would plea to them that really it's not even a percentage as bad as you think. Of course, everything we talked bad about as young Marines exists out here. Only out here it's harder to build friendships that leave you with an array of people to talk to. As a civilian, I have problems in the workplace. But what I don't have is someone that I clearly know who I can talk to about it. I don't even know who I report to. Something a Marine would obviously never say. And forget about getting anything done as a team. What a cluster! Organization is a word that most of these people lost the spelling bee on. One of the biggest differences of this job environment and the Marine Corps is the lack of higher ups to care about us lowly pigeons. I have seen in the Corps alone, Marines pulling together to help one single Marine out. That is just awesome. You won't be able to find too many places out here that would help anyone like that.
To close, I really don't know what to say. Marines never listen to someone that has been there, when it comes to the end of their active service. I'll be the first to admit, I didn't either. I thought it would be a cake walk. And I can think of so many Marines that are claiming to be in the same boat as me. I have a friend that I am going to work for making all this money when I get out. It just doesn't work out. To beat the money and benefits, and pride of being a Marine is what I think is an impossible task. As soon as I get my life on the straight and narrow, you can bet I will be fighting to get back in the Corps. It's an awesome organization, that I am proud to have been a part of, and I will never be happy until I can get myself back there. I want to thank everyone at the Provost Marhsal's Office, including yourself, that made my past three years nothing short of the greatest experience of my life. Take care.
This is a letter from former LCpl. Crystal Stallard to her former Staff Noncommissioned Officer at the Camp Pendleton Provost Marshal's Office.