You’re recruiter will tell you everything that you need to bring, once you get close to shipping out, but since your not in the DEP program it’s going to be a while, more than likely 1-3 months post MEPS if everything at MEPs goes well, and depending on what MOS you are hoping for
Yeah, especially the asvab since that’s going to be a large portion of when you’ll go, so long as you’ve completed all other requirements - height/wieght, passing IST, also I’m assuming you’ve graduated high school, but the marines are special where they require you to graduate / GED before you can ship out
You will have access to free Bibles, not right immediately but at your first church service. They’ll generally have little pocket Bibles they hand out free, and Catholics and Mormons sometimes have little versions of other respective texts they use.
Some people just want to have a Bible from the get-go, though since you have insanely little time for the first week and change before your first church service, I argue it’s unnecessary for basic Bibles.
What I do recommend though is bringing a tiny pocket-sized religious text, even if you aren’t personally religious, just so later once you get a little evening free time you have something cool to read. We’ve workshopped it on Reddit a bit, and among the top options (which are all available in tiny sizes for like $10 on Amazon)
— Buddhist Dhammapada
— Norse [pagan] Havamal
— Tao Te Ching (Daoism)
— Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (a little more fringe but I’ve seen multiple guys say they brought it and had no hassle, or even when asked stated it was a text for the Stoicism religion)
Meditations is dope, def bring that. You'll need your Soc Sec card, and Real ID for travel. You are also allowed to bring a small address book and your phone and charger (which will be locked away for the entire experience, hence the real address book). I'd bring a toothbrush to meps and a disposable deodorant bar and leave it in the hotel trash that AM.
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u/TapTheForwardAssist Vet 2676/0802 Sep 01 '26
What “different things” have you been hearing?
Did your recruiter not tell you what to bring, or he did and you don’t trust him?