I have not yet joined the Corps, but I am about to finish High School and I am trying to make the desicion between going Officer or Enlisted in the Marine Corps. Either way I go, I wish to earn the Enlisted Mindset, as from what I hear it is completely different from the Officers. I was thinking that maybe the best way to earn the respect of those under my command if I go the Officer pipeline is to be an outstanding follower as well. I was wondering, if I went Officer, is there any way that I would be able to earn the Enlisted Mindset?

IMO. Unless an Officer is a former Enlisted Marine, the way an Enlisted Marine thinks can never be fully explained or understood. Different levels of the same team with different views.

The question is not whether you understand a mindset. The question is how good a leader can I be.

The mindsets are far from "Completely different" too. Each has similar goals and similar beliefs. They do differ of course, but not anywhere near "completely". I can't put it in a nutshell any better than 03USMC. You'll just have to find out. It's as difficult to quantify as trying to explain military service to a civilian. I could go on and on about duties and responsibilities but that doesn't accurately portray officer or enlisted "mindsets". FWIW, I think that contemplating "mindsets" is going to take you nowhere. Their are of course different "mindsets" for each individual. For example, every sergeant sees how to be a sergeant from _their_ perspective. There will be common ideals but how they approach them will be as different as each individual.

As 03USMC said, it's what kind of leader you are that counts - officer _or_ enlisted. Accomplish the mission, take care of troops - do those well and you can't go wrong.

That absolutely makes sense. I guess I should seriously double check the things my Recruiters are telling me. Thank you very much for clearing that up, the information you both gave me was awesome. Thats all I needed to know!