New Marines Please Stand Up

[Namvet67]

I have followed the posts of the wannabe Marines with great interest...you asked questions, you listened (most of you) and you succeded in you quest to become one of the few. Now that you have earned the title...Was boot camp what you thought it would be? How tuff was it on a scale of 1-10? Did you think at any point that you were not going to make it? And finally what DO YOU REALLY THINK OF YOUR DRILL INSTRUCTOR? I'm all ears!

[PooleeWebber]

It was definately the hardest thing I've ever done in my life...but at the same time I think it should be tougher. Out of the 85 recruits that were in my platoon on graduation day, I'd say 10 of them should not have been there. A lot of nasties slip through the cracks, unfortunately, and that's why I think it should be tougher.

I respected my drill instructors. They were all top notch Marines. One of them had just gotten back from Iraq. He was an 03 and saw a lot of combat. So needless to say, he was beating recruits asses quite frequently. No matter how bad things got though, I always respected the drill instructors.

So out of 1-10, I'd give it an 8 for toughness, but it should be an 11 out of 10....it would be if it were up to me, anyways.

There wasn't as much PT as I thought there would be. I think they should spend less time messing with the platoon, playing games and stuff, and spend more time actually working out and getting big.

Bottom line: I'm sure as hell glad to be out of there! It was hell for 3 months, but definitely worth it.

[Namvet67]

Thanks PooleeWebber...1st up to the plate. The bottom 10 you rated may very well not be there in the end.

[Cole11]

boot camp on a scale of 1-10 in toughness was about a 5, the only point i felt like i wasnt going to make it was in recieving, but other than that, I was pretty confident. I think that my drill instructors were some of the best Marines I have ever had the honor of meeting. My Senior Drill Instructor, made me a Marine more than the training did, simply by leading by example.

[hrscowboy]

listen at this bull hockey you new guys have no idea what bootcamp really was.. bootcamp has softened up so much it almost makes me puke. you havent seen drill instructors kickin ass and taken names and i mean kickin ass. Correctional Custody is a thing of the past but trust me if you seen them boys running around getting there asses kicked all day long you would know what i am talking about. The new corps give you clarino shoes so you dont have to spit shine anymore and your dress cover too.. and oh yes your boots you dont shine and spit shine every day either. you dont shine your brass buckles anymore either and all this was done everyday and i mean everyday. I ask you how many of you New guys got your arses kicked gettin off the cattle car or the bus when you went to the yellow footprints. And how many of you New guys got butt stroked with a rifle because you didnt clean your weapon right. These are just some of the things the old Corps did. So i ask you wanna talk about stress????

[LivinSoFree]

Boot was, to be honest, not quite what I thought it would be like. It was unpleasant, to be certain, but at no point did I ever think that 1) I wasn't going to make it or 2) That I wanted to quit and go home. Sure, it sucked, but going home a failure would've been a LOT worse. Honestly, the hard part was having a platoon full of numbnuts and no way to square them away... with all the PC garbage about "recruit abuse" (which yes, there is such a thing, but there's a difference between pointless abuse and "squaring away" a jacked up recruit... unfortunately, HQMC and DoD, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to err on the side of covering their hides), there wasn't much we could do to correct deficiencies. I'll definitely agree with Webber about slipping through the cracks... about HALF of my platoon should've graduated. Recruits with 3 pullups... hump-drops, just stupid/lazy, etc. Was boot unpleasant, yes, did it weed some recruits out, yes, but did it weed out ENOUGH of them? In my limited opinion, no.

My drill instructors were some of the most motivating Marines I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Sure, getting smoked and screwed with daily sucked, but that's their job. Not once did I ever see them let up. My Senior was an air winger, he was the cockiest, most squared away Marine I've ever met. He taught us the attitude, how to BE a Marine. My 2nd hat was, I swear, superhuman. He had left a 100,000+ a year job, 2 cars and a golf course home to join the Corps 6 years ago. While I was on the island, he got meritoriously promoted to SSgt. He was an 03xx. I say 03xx because he's served in every infantry MOS except for mortars and could probably do their job anyway. When we went on Crucible, he knew what the hell he was doing, and he taught us more little minute tricks and details than anyone else got. I couldn't have been any luckier. To top that off, both him and my Senior were drill FANATICS. All drill instructors are, of course... but SSgt Worley was... excessively so... just gotta see it to understand it. My 3rd and 4th hat were an 0311 and a Motor-T Marine, respectively. My 4th hat was a black belt instructor-trainer, but he was on his first cycle and it showed... he made what I recognize now were some common new drill instructor mistakes.. they were pretty obvious to the platoon at the time, but it's not like I'm a drill instructor, so I'm not in any position to harp on it.

I'll also go along with Webber's comment about balancing the mindf**k games with PT. I would've liked to have spent less time getting screwed with and more time training... because my DIs had a wealth of knowledge and experience that we saw only a sliver of, and could've benefitted greatly from greater exposure to.

I could write a litany on this subject, but I'll leave it at that for the moment...

Hrscowboy, perhaps the Corps is evolving, as it always has? While tradition is important, who's to say that maybe not spending time shining shoes and and such doesn't free up time for something else that might be more important, like PT, MCMAP, snap-in periods... etc.? I spent four years shining shoes and brass for high-school JROTC trash... so I can say that I prefer being able to spend my time working on something that might save my life because the Corps has deemed to issue me better gear that requires less time to maintain. No, boot isn't the same... and 20 or 30 years from now, it won't be the same as when I went through it... is that because it's weaker... or smarter?

- Meyer

[Marzyn]

Bootcamp was a lot easier than I expected, we didn't PT half as much as I thought we would, the training itself wasn't all that hard, even the Crucible was a let down. I freakin loved my kill hat, he was friggin dang awesome. I have the utmost respect for all DI's, they've got a hell of a tough job and they do it 24/7 for 3 months straight. I definitely agree with Livin & Webber, we got played with more than we actually trained, like, during Drill we'd go to the pit instead of learning to drill and then the DI's wonder why we took 6th place in Initial & Final drill.... whatever.

That's my 2cents

Semper Fi
Joe

[Namvet67]

Hrscowboy...some excellent points made...I agree with you and it really ticks me off that the Corps is not as tuff as it used to be. I don't know any Marine from my days that said boot camp wasn't that tuff...It took EVERYTHING

[hrscowboy]

I want to Thank each and everyone of you young men and women (damn dont forget the Women) for serving in My Marine Corps.. You young people could not have chosen a better or a finer organization to belong too. I also want to tell you that as you get older like myself there will times when young people like yourselfs will find out your a Marine and walk up to you and ask you what its like.. I tell them that if you want to be the very best there is bar none and you have the heart, and brains to do it then the Marine Corps is the place to be.. God bless each and everyone of you and stand proud because you are one of the few the proud the Marine...

[jinelson]

Great post hrscowboy your remarks are shared by me as well. You young Marines have and are living up to the finest traditions of the Corps. God Bless and keep everyone of you.

Thank You For Your Sacrafices and Semper Fi
Jim

[LivinSoFree]

We're living up to a hell of a legacy thanks to the Marines like yourselves who continued to raise the bar and accept nothing less than perfection from yourselves and those who followed you. Thanks for leading the way.

- Meyer