As the end of the school year approaches, Venice High seniors now have a grasp of what their future will look like. For many, this will include college. For others, the next step is the military.
Senior Vincent Gorgita plans to join the Marines after graduation.
“It’s a brotherhood,” he said. “I want to be part of something.”
According to Gorgita, the length and difficulty of training in the Marines was a significant draw.
“It’s 13 weeks. Every other branch is seven to 10 weeks,” he said. “And it’s really the best place to become the best version of yourself. It’s challenging. It’s not meant to be easy.”
Students wanting to enlist can apply to five branches of the U.S. military: the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Space Force, and Marines. According to Staff Sergeant Christian Jordan at the Army recruiting center in Culver City, beyond the length of training, each branch of the military has different things to offer.
“Every branch has its own vibe, its own kind of people,” he said. “It helps to go in and talk to people.”
Gorgita said that the marines will help him accomplish his goal of self improvement, as well as seeing the world.
“I hope to achieve discipline, a lot of that,” he said. “And I want to travel. I’ve always wanted to travel, and with the Marines, I get to go to a lot of places.”
Jordan found the most common motivation for joining the military to be getting away from home.
“Getting away from home, doing something different, and just seeking that freedom, you know?” he said. “Finding themselves and spending their money on what they want to spend it on.”
To join any branch of the military, students have to go through a lengthy process.
“It’s been about a year,” Gorgita said. “You have to get quite a bit of paperwork. And then, lots of studying for the ASVAB. Depending on what you take, and how high you score, that’s how you get your jobs.”
The ASVAB, or the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, is a “multiple-aptitude battery that measures developed abilities and helps predict future academic and occupational success in the military,” according to the ASVAB’s official site.
Those who sign up for the military are committing to a minimum of three years of service and a maximum of six years, depending on their contract, according to Jordan. After those years are over, they have the option to renew their contract, he said.
After completing military service, people are able to use the GI Bill to return to school.
The GI Bill, which was passed in 1944, “has helped qualifying Veterans and their family members get money to cover all or some of the costs for school or training,” according to the Veterans Affair website.
“You can go to college and the government is willing to pay you to be a full-time student, so they’ll pay for your rent, your food, and all your utility,” Jordan said.
Gorgita said he intends to go back to school using the GI Bill.
“I plan on using the GI Bill to do electrical engineering,” he said. “I want to study for that and eventually have my own business.”
Gorgita has been in the autoshop class at Venice for four years, and could potentially use his mechanics experience in the Marines, even before returning to school.
“When I took the ASVAB, one of my general technical scores was really high in mechanics,” he said. “So there’s a chance that I’m going to get a mechanical engineering job, or I’m going to the infantry route, it’s one or the other.”
Since the war in Iran started on February 28, resulting in the death of 13 U.S. service members as of June, according to CNN, Jordan has noted a slight change in the number of students enlisting.
“They might have slowed down a little bit, but there are students that still come through,” he said. “A lot of people that have come in…they’ve accepted what they’ve signed up to be a part of.”
Gorgita has concerns about the current tension with Iran.
“I don’t really want to die,” he said. “But at the same time, I don’t really think we’re gonna get deployed over there. I think I understand what I’m gonna have signed up for.”
