Just wanted to say Welcome Home (although probably won't be for long) from a fellow AFG army vet. I got started on ecigs three months ago and am happily vaping along. Started with a ciggie size unit and quickly upgraded to an EGO (riva is a clone of the genuine Joye EGO) for longer battery life and more satisfying vapes. Recently discovered madvapes EGO Mego Dual Coil Cartos that hold a ton of juice and don't burn as easy as the Boges. Give them a try after you get your set up if you get an EGO bat or clone. Very easy to use.
As for mimicking the taste of a Marlboro my advice is not even to try. The tobacco flavors suck and you won't care once you get a good tasting juice. I prefer the mints as well for a good cigarette like throat hit. Get lots of small samples of juice from a JUICE supplier (versus a hardware supplier) and you will discover a world of flavor. Also your tastebuds are recovering from smoking so what you like today you might hate tomorrow (My first fave which I have four 30 ml bottles of now tastes like SOAP - ugh!).
Don't wait too long to (excuse the expression) pull that trigger. Get a real ecig before your 7-11 model dies and you revert back to analogs.
Best of luck.
I will WVvet thank you again