I almost stayed in the "service" ship over to the Navy. Not a seagoing bellhop a highly trained electronic tech for which there was a great shortage in the Navy/Marines. I went to school with and libertied with sailors. They got promoted and I got told there were too many sergeants in the infantry.
We went to the Philippines, trouble in SE Asia to a Naval Air Station and shared a shop with ET sailors. I was a trained RO but was too valuable to fly full time only fill in. My Navy buddies were all E-5 and I was E-3. They flew on patrol planes and I was stuck in the shop fixing RADARs.
My times in Olongapo were intensely stupid but fun. A buddy and I took a bus to Manila. In many ways it was a strange culture to us. Bloots comes to mind. And Hell No!
I and my buddy left the base once while in the Philippines, in uniform require. I've never been more shocked. We were treated like royalty. They were still recovering from the occupation. We got finger V signs, free rides, drinks (soda pop) and food. The Army liberated them. No look gift horse...
Same. My trip to the US military cemetery on Luzon is still a treasured memory.
Airdale 2nd Class. CVAN65. Gulf of Tonkin. We went through the Straits of Malacca to the Indian Ocean as India-Pakistan did their usual crap. The sea snakes I saw off the stern are reputed to be the most poisonous critters on earth. “Join the Navy, See the world!” Hydraulics specialist.
I had gone through Air Force boot camp in the Air National Guard.1500 miles away from my unit I went to the AF recruiter to sign over full time. He said go back to your unit. I turned and there stood the Marine recruiter, "Why boy we have an air force too" said he and gullible me. I can't regret it.
I took the same test you did and really didn't have a choice. It was ET and no options. I found out after boot camp. I had a rifle except in schools. They passed out amo and told us there was a threat of Russian paratroops. We were happy for our training we hated at the time we got it.
Life is a one-shot deal. There are a lot of forks in the trail. You can only take one. How I ended up in the Marines was a fork I could never have imagined. I'm the only person who ever joined the Marines when there was a shooting war on to avoid combat. My DI fixed that, FMF Fighting Mother F- Sir.