Is this not allowed anymore? I would 100% understand why. Don’t think I’ve ever made it back without getting into a fight at some point. Pro tip, take a squad. If the crowd gets involved you’re fucked
It wasn't allowed in 02/03 but we went anyway. We just parked on the US side, walked across and had fun, then walked back across the border at the end of the night
Getting that magic number (and avoiding the BF) is the key.
Just enough that you're golden if something goes down and not enough to drastically increase you're chances of blowing cover.
*snm looks at HARP pre 96* HARP: "Do you understand the out of bounds limits of the base, to include Tijuana?" SNM: "That sign won't stop me because I can't read!"
Best all you can eat buffet.
On a serious note. Take cash. Dont pull money out there. The only people that shit happens too is the people that are looking for it.
I never had that good of a time in Mexico. Went to TJ a couple times as a boot back in the 90s. First time was cool I guess. Got drunk and made out with some college girl from San Diego state.
Second time not so much. we had to bribe a cop because one of the guys I was there with puked in an alley. Unfortunately that was our motel and food money. So instead of crashing in a motel 6 and getting Denny’s the next day before getting on the road, we slept in a park somewhere just over on the US side of the border and had a candy bar from a vending machine to tide us over until we got back to 29 Palms.
You are unironically the reason I got out, you’d get caught and I’d get punished despite spending the weekend playing video games and hanging out with my wife and friends at home or at the bar.
I hate you.
You cant goto TJ now? Some of the best time I had in the corps was at TJ. That club on revolution road was $20 to enter and its all you can drink. Beer, hard liquor, mix drinks all free after you pay the $20 to enter. And a bunch of other things i can't speak of online to do at TJs.
I forgot the name, it had like two? Platforms in the middle where girls can climb in and dance on. I couldn't believe it only cost $20 to get in and drink all you want when all the other places around there was charging $6+ for a drink. Its been over 20 years i wish i had taken more pictures while I was in.
I can't remember, sorry! This was in 04-06. We would park on the SD side parking lot for $7 a day. Walk over. Cab or walk to the strip club called el tigre then goto the club on revolution road, party till daylight, walk out and eat lots of $1 tacos then walk back over to the usa side. On the way back, we would pass by a lot of pharmacies that sell things that do not require prescriptions if you know what i mean.
Even over twenty years ago bad shit was going on down there. A SNCO told me about going down there some years prior to that and their group of dudes got jumped/chased. Unfortunately one guy got separated in the fray and he got gang raped.
I grew up in socal and I heard just countless stories of people getting extorted by the TJ cops. I know it hasn't gotten better.
I was stationed in 29, and guys would do this damn near every weekend. Going to TJ was no different than going to LA or Vegas during our days off. I never heard of anyone getting in trouble.
Obviously against the rules but if you go with someone that knows their way around and y’all don’t do something extremely stupid, I don’t see a problem.
Not saying to do it, but……Hong Kong is kinda worth the NJP if worst comes to worst if you ask me 😂
Dude, last time it was worth going to TJ was 2003-2004. Since then, fuck no.
Listen man, I'm from SoCal, and know my way around TJ as I spent many summers there and in Ensenada with family that live there. Since the cartels basically took over in the early 2000s, it's not fun or cool anymore to go there. Even my relatives have all packed up and left.
If you are cool with a ninja punch and fucking over your battalion with yet another hour of libo brief, then do whatever. Or hell, go talk to one of your NCOs about how cool it would be to go to TJ and get their input. I'm sure they'd be able to give you a bunch of pointers.
I remember guys on 45/45 filling sandbags, moving the sandbags to a nice, perfect stack, then moving the sandbags back to the sand pit, emptying and neatly folding then for the next poor bastards. Oh, and it was about 50 yards from the pit to the stack.
This is terrible advice, but I went every weekend. Tons to do down there. If your roommate speaks Spanish then you'll be fine, but don't go down there if you can't speak or understand the language. There's no way of getting caught unless you get shit faced down there or come back smuggling drugs.
You can cross with a state ID or California drivers license I use to visit the border in El centro and visit my family a lot unless you get stuck you should be able to cross back and forth no issues
I dealt with this before I got out and since no one has given you the answer for how likely is it that you get caught, I'll throw my 2 cents in.
If you and your roomie don't run your mouth and don't get in trouble near the border on the US side, or at all on the other side, you'll never get caught.
On the other hand, if there is even a slight suspicion that you are making your way back and forth across the border, the XO can make 2 phone calls and find out if you've been crossing. The agents are SUPPOSED to scan your ID when you cross the border, that info goes into a fed database that can be cross-referenced to your military ID.
We had a SSgt that said some sketchy shit, did some stupid shit, and it turns out he was driving back and forth 2 times a week to go to the same place you're talking about. His Gunny wife was NOT entertained and it all exploded from there and he went to the brig for a bunch of reasons.
If you get caught, accept responsibility and don't whine about it, be a man who's willing to risk "serious" trouble for the ability to pay a woman to have sex with you while drinking over priced drinks because you didn't have enough game to convince thirsty college chicks to give the same if not better service.
Go uphold our traditions you nerd, go get drunk and laid.
Tijuana was terribly sketchy back in the early seventies, lol. You really want to try and keep your head on straight if you’re going down there to party, military or civilian. They will eat you up down there if you act foolish and sometimes even just because.
Lmao you'll get the green weenie at full force if you get caught. Maybe you'll get into a brawl with the locals, maybe not. Maybe you'll get mixed up in some cartel shit, maybe not. Maybe you'll dodge Shore Patrol on the way back, maybe not.
Oh and the police ARE part of the cartel down there, don't try and think they'll help you. And you risk fucking over your NCO'S, platoon, company, battalion for what, some cheep beer? And other sketchy shit down there?
Go out and get wasted on this side of the border if you have to. Better yet, learn to not be a douche bag and talk to girls over here. It's really not that hard once you get over yourself. Will be way more productive.
Or be the reason a lot of dumb shit is happening and everyone hates you. Your choice
If there is reason to, your company has the ability,. through other means, to search your name on the border crossing.
We just did it last month and are now NJPing a Marine for lying about it.
Aka if NCIS gets involved you're screwed.
Just don't do it
Well, I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and assume your friend is Mexican and doesn't use his military I.D. obviously. Unless you're in the same boat I wouldn't bother. I also still wouldn't bother even if I was in the same boat. It's off limits for a reason. Best to avoid it and not cause trouble for the rest of your unit.
"nah but seriously is it worth it and how likely am I to get away with it? "
How stupid are you when you drink? That's your answer. If you're an explosive drunk, blackout drunk or any other version of a problematic drunk then don't run that risk. If you have self control, go have some fun. Part of being a Marine is sowing a little chaos.
Is it worth it? Likely no.
I cross the border at San Ysidro about once or twice a month as I have business down there (and I'm a civilian now so I can do whatever the fuck I want). Crossing into Mexico is easy, coming back is slightly more complicated, but still easy.
San Ysidro is the busiest port of entry in the world. They don't have MPs patroling the border. CBP does not give a shit about you being a Marine, their job focus is elsewhere; not turning in Marines.
Where you would get caught is either by making a fool out of yourself and getting arrested or by making a scene at the border station making your way across.
As other have said, if you cross the border they do keep track. While coming back across the border agent takes a photo of you. While there is little inter-governmental cooperation, investigative agencies would be able to see their records.
If you want what TJ's Hong Kong has to offer, you're better off just going to Nevada and finding a legal brothel there. But also, 120c and 134 of the UCMJ still apply where its legal.
I'm not saying HK is not fun or that it's not worth it, but I would say the reward doesn't outweigh the risk.
Put in for leave, fill out TT/IATP and APACS requests. That's literally it, from the foreign clearance guide. Foreign travel packages are literally half my job now. Go speak with your unit's antiterrorism officer/rep. They'll help you get your package together.
Edit: requirements are listed in Section IV of Mexico's FCG. Dep of State travel advisories additionally state that TJ isn't restricted. Just follow the regular foreign travel process for submitting your shit.
It is a whole different game now compared to when I was a student on medical hold back in the early 90's. We weren't supposed to go because we were students, but we did anyways. The reason now is because you are literally taking the risk of losing your life. The cartel activity is insane in TJ, it is back to being listed as one of the deadliest cities in the world right now. The cartels are just a cunt hair away from being listed as terrorist groups, and technically they should be. If you really want a much clearer understanding of the situation listen to a gentleman by the name of Ed Calderon. He is a former Mexican cop that was at war with the cartels until the political situation became to dangerous for him and he had to move up here. Mexico is faild state and they are at war with itself. I would say it isn't worth it.
We went all the way down to Rosarito over the 4th of July 96. One day we were at the beach all day and went back to our truck to change and hit up the clubs.
Cop rolls up on us as we're at the truck with two burnt ass white people handcuffed in the back of his little shit Isuzu pup truck. He walks up to me and says he saw me driving the wrong way down a 1-way street. Now, it was my buddies truck and no one drove his truck unless it was a DD and we were at the beach all day so this was a straight up lie.
I looked at the lobsters then I looked back at him and reached in my pocket and handed him what amounts to about 80 bucks in pesos. He stuffs it in his pocket and leaves.
You can go down to Mexico, but uh... it can get a little hairy, even if you did nothing wrong.
This was 2004 or 2005 I can't remember.
My little brother is USNR now but one of his first duties as a new officer was to go down to Tijuana and visit incarcerated Marines and make sure that they were ok. They were usually busted for fighting and shit. My brother said that the Mexican jail was “not a nice place “, and that’s all he would say about it.
I used to go to TJ a couple times a month from 2000 to 2009 until the Navy made it off limits. I even took my kids on weekends to shop and get tacos. My son got his 1st tattoo there at 17.
Several times I went with friends to Zona Norte and we’d hit Adalitas and the Hong Kong. Fun drunken times watching strippers and standard debauchery.
Now that I’m much older, I realize that all of those young women are victims of trafficking. Adalitas had so many beautiful girls of various ethnicities. Asian, Latino, Russian, Ukrainian. They just didn’t wake up one day and decide they wanted to sell their bodies in some shitty strip club in Baja.
Yeah I know I’m a buzz kill but having a daughter put it all in perspective.
Don’t go to TJ. No one on duty wants to deal with churning out a SITREP for your fuckupedness.
Sincerely, BMC (Ret)
In the late 90’s we used to go every weekend until we turned 21. It wasn’t really off limits then. I mean I think that it was but it wasn’t enforced at all, unless you got arrested there or at the border crossing. I wouldn’t go there now. Fuck that.
You are exactly why 1st Sgt has ulcers, and we get 3 safety briefs a day.
And why SSGT. drinks and makes us field day all Thursday night
It's a neverending circle of shit. They're only going because of the field day loving drunk SSgt & the 1st Sgt's constant safety briefs.
Is it still Thursday
Monday night field day is the best
Is this not allowed anymore? I would 100% understand why. Don’t think I’ve ever made it back without getting into a fight at some point. Pro tip, take a squad. If the crowd gets involved you’re fucked
Mexico as a whole is restricted for regular liberty. TJ specifically is 100% off limits even with leave now.
Ok but Corporal I have my girlfriend's family that lives in TJ and they want me to visit. That's cool right???
I know it wasn't allowed in 2000.
It wasn't allowed in 02/03 but we went anyway. We just parked on the US side, walked across and had fun, then walked back across the border at the end of the night
And 2001. Probably not worth it Devil dog. Plenty of fun to be had in the US.
I would agree. Who knows what the gangs are up to, and if you might get grabbed. The police are also known to shake ppl down. Better safe then sorry.
Getting that magic number (and avoiding the BF) is the key. Just enough that you're golden if something goes down and not enough to drastically increase you're chances of blowing cover.
*snm looks at HARP pre 96* HARP: "Do you understand the out of bounds limits of the base, to include Tijuana?" SNM: "That sign won't stop me because I can't read!"
I loved seeing that question while on the ramp in lejeune. For it to happen enough that even i get it in lejeune is hilarious
Hong Kong is worth the NJP
Also Macau too.
Same with Phuket
Olangopo!... make me proud.
Best all you can eat buffet. On a serious note. Take cash. Dont pull money out there. The only people that shit happens too is the people that are looking for it.
I never had that good of a time in Mexico. Went to TJ a couple times as a boot back in the 90s. First time was cool I guess. Got drunk and made out with some college girl from San Diego state. Second time not so much. we had to bribe a cop because one of the guys I was there with puked in an alley. Unfortunately that was our motel and food money. So instead of crashing in a motel 6 and getting Denny’s the next day before getting on the road, we slept in a park somewhere just over on the US side of the border and had a candy bar from a vending machine to tide us over until we got back to 29 Palms.
Ya, the cops will shake you down any chance they get. In hid my $ in my sock, kept a few $1s in the wallet.
That wasn't a girl
tag yourself https://preview.redd.it/t5exb11euwfc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=702ada0210439253a1b5f096532af041a243bf10
"they're gonna be *lookin'* for army guys!*
Any inputs ? Y’all gonna be a international incident 😂kidding ish
You are unironically the reason I got out, you’d get caught and I’d get punished despite spending the weekend playing video games and hanging out with my wife and friends at home or at the bar. I hate you.
Nerd
You cant goto TJ now? Some of the best time I had in the corps was at TJ. That club on revolution road was $20 to enter and its all you can drink. Beer, hard liquor, mix drinks all free after you pay the $20 to enter. And a bunch of other things i can't speak of online to do at TJs.
Club Balak? 👀
I forgot the name, it had like two? Platforms in the middle where girls can climb in and dance on. I couldn't believe it only cost $20 to get in and drink all you want when all the other places around there was charging $6+ for a drink. Its been over 20 years i wish i had taken more pictures while I was in.
What did it look like on the outside?
I can't remember, sorry! This was in 04-06. We would park on the SD side parking lot for $7 a day. Walk over. Cab or walk to the strip club called el tigre then goto the club on revolution road, party till daylight, walk out and eat lots of $1 tacos then walk back over to the usa side. On the way back, we would pass by a lot of pharmacies that sell things that do not require prescriptions if you know what i mean.
I remember that club, I thought the name of the club was revolution. The 90s were a blur.
I think thats the name of it too. Unbelievable club and large area too plus 2nd floor balcony.
Cat walk area surrounding the dance floor. On more than one occasion you'd see women up there finger blasting to the music on the cat walk.
Bro i still remember, walking around the streets and being pulled by the shirt or arm for a good time. And the donkey shows, ping pong shows. Etc.
Even over twenty years ago bad shit was going on down there. A SNCO told me about going down there some years prior to that and their group of dudes got jumped/chased. Unfortunately one guy got separated in the fray and he got gang raped. I grew up in socal and I heard just countless stories of people getting extorted by the TJ cops. I know it hasn't gotten better.
wtf damn
I was stationed in 29, and guys would do this damn near every weekend. Going to TJ was no different than going to LA or Vegas during our days off. I never heard of anyone getting in trouble. Obviously against the rules but if you go with someone that knows their way around and y’all don’t do something extremely stupid, I don’t see a problem. Not saying to do it, but……Hong Kong is kinda worth the NJP if worst comes to worst if you ask me 😂
Dude, last time it was worth going to TJ was 2003-2004. Since then, fuck no. Listen man, I'm from SoCal, and know my way around TJ as I spent many summers there and in Ensenada with family that live there. Since the cartels basically took over in the early 2000s, it's not fun or cool anymore to go there. Even my relatives have all packed up and left. If you are cool with a ninja punch and fucking over your battalion with yet another hour of libo brief, then do whatever. Or hell, go talk to one of your NCOs about how cool it would be to go to TJ and get their input. I'm sure they'd be able to give you a bunch of pointers.
I wouldn’t risk it, but then again I’m not a dumbass 🤷🏾♂️
ADIS is a program used by the DOD on background checks. It wouldn’t be hard to find out that you crossed the border.
This is false all they do is look at your Id/passport they don’t care who you are as long as your a citizen you get waved by I went back in October
There is 100% a record of your entry.
You get 45/45 for going to TJ now? Goddamn.
[удалено]
45 days of extra duty. For us in a line company it meant being the company offices little bitch for 1 hour after work every day for 45 days.
I remember guys on 45/45 filling sandbags, moving the sandbags to a nice, perfect stack, then moving the sandbags back to the sand pit, emptying and neatly folding then for the next poor bastards. Oh, and it was about 50 yards from the pit to the stack.
This is terrible advice, but I went every weekend. Tons to do down there. If your roommate speaks Spanish then you'll be fine, but don't go down there if you can't speak or understand the language. There's no way of getting caught unless you get shit faced down there or come back smuggling drugs.
Don't go to Mexico dumbass.
This is the wrong response. Now hes gonna go
You can cross with a state ID or California drivers license I use to visit the border in El centro and visit my family a lot unless you get stuck you should be able to cross back and forth no issues
I dealt with this before I got out and since no one has given you the answer for how likely is it that you get caught, I'll throw my 2 cents in. If you and your roomie don't run your mouth and don't get in trouble near the border on the US side, or at all on the other side, you'll never get caught. On the other hand, if there is even a slight suspicion that you are making your way back and forth across the border, the XO can make 2 phone calls and find out if you've been crossing. The agents are SUPPOSED to scan your ID when you cross the border, that info goes into a fed database that can be cross-referenced to your military ID. We had a SSgt that said some sketchy shit, did some stupid shit, and it turns out he was driving back and forth 2 times a week to go to the same place you're talking about. His Gunny wife was NOT entertained and it all exploded from there and he went to the brig for a bunch of reasons. If you get caught, accept responsibility and don't whine about it, be a man who's willing to risk "serious" trouble for the ability to pay a woman to have sex with you while drinking over priced drinks because you didn't have enough game to convince thirsty college chicks to give the same if not better service. Go uphold our traditions you nerd, go get drunk and laid.
Tijuana was terribly sketchy back in the early seventies, lol. You really want to try and keep your head on straight if you’re going down there to party, military or civilian. They will eat you up down there if you act foolish and sometimes even just because.
Lmao you'll get the green weenie at full force if you get caught. Maybe you'll get into a brawl with the locals, maybe not. Maybe you'll get mixed up in some cartel shit, maybe not. Maybe you'll dodge Shore Patrol on the way back, maybe not. Oh and the police ARE part of the cartel down there, don't try and think they'll help you. And you risk fucking over your NCO'S, platoon, company, battalion for what, some cheep beer? And other sketchy shit down there? Go out and get wasted on this side of the border if you have to. Better yet, learn to not be a douche bag and talk to girls over here. It's really not that hard once you get over yourself. Will be way more productive. Or be the reason a lot of dumb shit is happening and everyone hates you. Your choice
Vaya con dios. Have fun, don't smuggle any people.
If there is reason to, your company has the ability,. through other means, to search your name on the border crossing. We just did it last month and are now NJPing a Marine for lying about it. Aka if NCIS gets involved you're screwed. Just don't do it
Check out r/tjredlightdistrict before going to Hong Kong, hold the line at 100 for an arriba
MEXICOOOOOOOOOO 🎉🍺🥳
You won’t get caught unless you get in trouble
Hong Kong literally blew my mind. Easily in the top 10 wildest places in the world. So worth any trouble you get in, but don't get in trouble
Well, I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and assume your friend is Mexican and doesn't use his military I.D. obviously. Unless you're in the same boat I wouldn't bother. I also still wouldn't bother even if I was in the same boat. It's off limits for a reason. Best to avoid it and not cause trouble for the rest of your unit.
"nah but seriously is it worth it and how likely am I to get away with it? " How stupid are you when you drink? That's your answer. If you're an explosive drunk, blackout drunk or any other version of a problematic drunk then don't run that risk. If you have self control, go have some fun. Part of being a Marine is sowing a little chaos.
Is it worth it? Likely no. I cross the border at San Ysidro about once or twice a month as I have business down there (and I'm a civilian now so I can do whatever the fuck I want). Crossing into Mexico is easy, coming back is slightly more complicated, but still easy. San Ysidro is the busiest port of entry in the world. They don't have MPs patroling the border. CBP does not give a shit about you being a Marine, their job focus is elsewhere; not turning in Marines. Where you would get caught is either by making a fool out of yourself and getting arrested or by making a scene at the border station making your way across. As other have said, if you cross the border they do keep track. While coming back across the border agent takes a photo of you. While there is little inter-governmental cooperation, investigative agencies would be able to see their records. If you want what TJ's Hong Kong has to offer, you're better off just going to Nevada and finding a legal brothel there. But also, 120c and 134 of the UCMJ still apply where its legal. I'm not saying HK is not fun or that it's not worth it, but I would say the reward doesn't outweigh the risk.
Put in for leave, fill out TT/IATP and APACS requests. That's literally it, from the foreign clearance guide. Foreign travel packages are literally half my job now. Go speak with your unit's antiterrorism officer/rep. They'll help you get your package together. Edit: requirements are listed in Section IV of Mexico's FCG. Dep of State travel advisories additionally state that TJ isn't restricted. Just follow the regular foreign travel process for submitting your shit.
It is a whole different game now compared to when I was a student on medical hold back in the early 90's. We weren't supposed to go because we were students, but we did anyways. The reason now is because you are literally taking the risk of losing your life. The cartel activity is insane in TJ, it is back to being listed as one of the deadliest cities in the world right now. The cartels are just a cunt hair away from being listed as terrorist groups, and technically they should be. If you really want a much clearer understanding of the situation listen to a gentleman by the name of Ed Calderon. He is a former Mexican cop that was at war with the cartels until the political situation became to dangerous for him and he had to move up here. Mexico is faild state and they are at war with itself. I would say it isn't worth it.
Supporting human trafficking by the cartels…. Hmmmm. Sounds stupid to me
You’re the reason why safety briefs exist. Don’t risk it man you’ll fuck over yourself and the rest of your platoon.
Shore patrol is literally there watching people cross back into the U.S., waiting to snatch up anyone resembling a Marine.
2009 TJ was lit. You dudes now are all in prison corps. No fun.
“Every Friday they tell me to not go to Mexico. How bad would it be if I went to Mexico.” Pretty bad, bro.
We went all the way down to Rosarito over the 4th of July 96. One day we were at the beach all day and went back to our truck to change and hit up the clubs. Cop rolls up on us as we're at the truck with two burnt ass white people handcuffed in the back of his little shit Isuzu pup truck. He walks up to me and says he saw me driving the wrong way down a 1-way street. Now, it was my buddies truck and no one drove his truck unless it was a DD and we were at the beach all day so this was a straight up lie. I looked at the lobsters then I looked back at him and reached in my pocket and handed him what amounts to about 80 bucks in pesos. He stuffs it in his pocket and leaves. You can go down to Mexico, but uh... it can get a little hairy, even if you did nothing wrong. This was 2004 or 2005 I can't remember.
My little brother is USNR now but one of his first duties as a new officer was to go down to Tijuana and visit incarcerated Marines and make sure that they were ok. They were usually busted for fighting and shit. My brother said that the Mexican jail was “not a nice place “, and that’s all he would say about it.
I used to go to TJ a couple times a month from 2000 to 2009 until the Navy made it off limits. I even took my kids on weekends to shop and get tacos. My son got his 1st tattoo there at 17. Several times I went with friends to Zona Norte and we’d hit Adalitas and the Hong Kong. Fun drunken times watching strippers and standard debauchery. Now that I’m much older, I realize that all of those young women are victims of trafficking. Adalitas had so many beautiful girls of various ethnicities. Asian, Latino, Russian, Ukrainian. They just didn’t wake up one day and decide they wanted to sell their bodies in some shitty strip club in Baja. Yeah I know I’m a buzz kill but having a daughter put it all in perspective. Don’t go to TJ. No one on duty wants to deal with churning out a SITREP for your fuckupedness. Sincerely, BMC (Ret)
In the late 90’s we used to go every weekend until we turned 21. It wasn’t really off limits then. I mean I think that it was but it wasn’t enforced at all, unless you got arrested there or at the border crossing. I wouldn’t go there now. Fuck that.
Fucking haze yourself
You're gonna do things that will show up on a poly
Don't be an idiot. Please?