marinemom
02-24-05, 03:37 AM
Boot camp is where it begins
February 24,2005
CYNDI BROWN, Jacksonville Daily News
PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. - It took Adam S. Adam five years to have even the opportunity to become a Marine.
"All I've ever wanted to do is be in the military," said Adam, 22, of Jacksonville. "It frustrated me to no extent. Kids take for granted getting in."
But an eye injury, the result of a childhood BB gun accident, required half a decade of pursuing medical waivers before he was granted the one that allowed him to enlist.
And at a graduation ceremony held at Parris Island on a frigid January morning, Adam saw the result of his determination.
He was finally a Marine.
Receiving 'Yes sir! No sir!'
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., which opened its gates to men in 1915 and women in 1949, trains all male recruits who enlist in the Marine Corps east of the Mississippi River and all female recruits.
Receiving is the recruit's introduction to the Marine Corps - and to the drill instructors. For many, it will be a blur.
"Recruits don't walk anywhere; they'll be running tonight," said Staff Sgt. Patrick Wiley.
They'll learn, and learn quickly, it's "Yes, sir!" or "No, sir!" Yeahs and nos belong to the world outside the gates.
Inside, on that first day, they're facing the haircut, paperwork, a medical screening, strength test, gear issue and a scripted phone call home.
"This is Recruit I've arrived safely at Parris Island," the message begins. "Don't send bulky items Don't send food Goodbye for now."
The process seems endless - most recruits will be up about 36 straight hours before being allowed to sleep.
"It's good preparation for the Crucible," Wiley said.
Day 2 'You disgusting pigs'
On day two, they're reminded that they are still "filthy, disgusting civilians."
"Drop, drop you disgusting pigs," a DI screeches at the startled recruits.
The sun hasn't even risen on the females in P Company, but they're already sweating through a back-breaking series of jumping jacks, crunches and lunges.
"All the way down, one, two, three. Or we'll start all over, one, two, three. I can't hear you, one, two, three. You're not done, one, two, three. "
While Marine Corps rules state it's strictly "hands off," recruits are seen being jerked sharply into the next position if they're not moving fast enough. It's doubtful they even noticed. And for every "disgusting pig" there's a "good job. Keep it up."
It's knowing what to say and when to say it.
Day 6 Pulling them in
1st Lt. Tim Wright is watching recruits on training day 6. At that stage of boot camp, Wright said the recruits should know the basic routines, start settling in and getting used to physical exertion.
"I expect them to start conforming to Marine Corps standards, take orders and react," Wright said. "They don't understand why, they just know they're being told to do it."
That immediate obedience would come into play on the battlefield - in a combat situation, Wright explained, Marines have to follow orders unquestioningly. The journey from receiving to a war zone could take less than six months.
"At two weeks, they're starting to get it," said Wright, who has lost six recruits to fraudulent enlistment. Others will drop along the way - nearly 7 percent of the male and 17 percent of the female recruits will never wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor. Wright has seen them leave boot camp as far along in the process as day 65.
He pointed out an "apathetic" one who sat "guarding" the weapons, a task usually left to those ill or injured - Wright thought he would be the next to go, but it was still too early to be sure.
"Even the apathetic ones typically a good senior drill instructor can pull them in," said Wright. "Right now, they're struggling mentally."
The hardest thing to overcome is ego. The first thing the DIs have to accomplish is to tear down the recruit. The rebuilding, the making of a Marine, comes later.
"Here, he's nothing," Wright said. "They're not 'Joe' anymore. They're Recruit 'Johnson.' It strips them of their individuality."
There may be an "I" in recruit, but they're not allowed to use it - the recruits are required to speak in the third person.
Week 3 'This recruit '
"Mainly this recruit is looking forward to graduation," said 19-year-old Kimberly Jones of Havelock, who in week three of training was comfortable with asking permission to do anything. But she admitted that, "this recruit" slips every once in awhile out of the unfamiliar third person.
Jones was one of the first recruits interviewed during a four-day visit arranged and funded by the Marine Corps. In consideration of the visitors - about 70 educators from Marine Corps Recruiting Commands Raleigh and Louisville, Ky., plus 10 media - recruits were later permitted to revert to the less-distracting first person. But that was also tough.
Jones was at first hesitant about following her parents and brother into the military, but in her last years at Havelock High School she started considering the Air Force. Then she decided she wanted more of a challenge. The Marine Corps provided it.
"Every day is a challenge," Jones said. "It's not always easy having someone yell at you, but this recruit has gotten used to it."
After graduation, Jones will work in supply and administration. She's hoping to be stationed on the West Coast and will face possible deployment to a combat zone if the time comes.
"What's going to happen will happen," said Jones, adding that the drill instructors prepare them well.
Jasmine Williams, also of Havelock, was with Jones at the confidence course. There they faced the first of two visits to the obstacle course that includes an 11-station array of ropes, bars and logs with intimidating names like Slide For Life, Skyscraper, Confidence Climb and The Tough One.
"It's been the most challenging obstacle in my life," said Williams of her three weeks in boot camp. "I've never been away (from home) this long in my life."
Williams, 18, is the daughter of an active-duty gunnery sergeant. Her dad, who originally didn't want his daughter to enlist, tried to prepare her.
Even though she knew what to expect, Williams was still shocked by her first encounter with the DIs. The yelling, Williams said, is the biggest mental challenge; and hygiene issues proved to be a "rude awakening." She expected more emphasis on, and time devoted to, proper hygiene.
"I just deal with it," said Williams, who after graduation will be an aviation electrician and hopes to end up alongside her dad at Cherry Point.
Week 5 Confidence Course
Gunnery Sgt. Suzie Hollings says the recruits' first visit to the Confidence Course offers them their first taste of self-assurance.
"They've been broken down since they got here," Hollings said. "They're in boot camp. They're not supposed to do anything right."
But as Phase 1 nears its end, the recruits are expected to know the basic daily routine, how to talk to the DIs and how to conduct themselves.
"We expect them to grasp everything they've been taught," Hollings said. "From this part, everything is remediation."
By week five, when Phase 2 is just getting under way, most who can't handle it mentally will have been weeded out, Hollings said.
They will, however, still face physical challenges.
"They've got the swing of things now," Hollings said. "The ones we have now, if we lose them now it's due to injury or failing a testable event" like marksmanship, swimming or physical fitness.
The recruits are still a little timid, she said, but pride and the Marine Corps demeanor are starting to show. They still know they're far from being Marines.
"I definitely don't feel I'm at that point right now," said James Moreira, a 25-year-old recruit from Cape Carteret in week seven, firing week. His father is a retired Marine. He told his son what to expect.
"He went through boot camp in San Diego, which is different so I'm told," said Moreira, who enlisted for the career opportunities and "to support my country."
"It's been pretty tough at times. I'm just trying to keep my head up and get through it," he said. "It was a pretty rough experience from the time I stepped on the yellow footprints."
With various jobs under his belt during his time as a civilian, Moreira said he thinks he can handle the challenge better than his fellow recruits.
Cody Vermalen thought he was doing just fine.
"Really and truly I haven't been challenged by too many things here," said Vermalen, a 2000 graduate of Richlands High School. "Everything that happened, I expected to happen."
The swim quals were an exception. Swim qualifications, which are held in a pool located in a cavernous room made close and humid by 91-degree water, are a "deal breaker" for the recruit intent on becoming a Marine. But that's not the challenge Vermalen faced.
"I wanted, had to, get the highest score possible," Vermalen said.
He did.
At 22, Vermalen, like Moreira, is a little older than the average 19.6-year-old male and 19.7-year-old female recruit.
After high school, Vermalen completed an associates degree at Coastal Carolina Community College and was accepted at North Carolina State University. He regretted his decision not to enlist right after high school.
"I always wanted to defend my country," Vermalen said. "The war made me want to go in more."
On training day 45, Vermalen was treated to a break in the routine. Select recruits were taken to have lunch with educators from their hometown and given a little more - but not much - leeway in how they behaved.
"It's always nice to get away from that, nice to talk and have a conversation," said Vermalen, who still ate using only one hand as taught.
But, he added, "I'm ready to start training again."
And he was ready for what he called the "fun stuff, warrior stuff - running through fields, shooting moving targets."
That would come in two weeks. That would come with the Crucible.
Week 9 Rite of passage
The Crucible is the "rite of passage" instituted for all Marine recruits in 1996. They have two and a half days to travel 42 miles and complete 29 problem-solving exercises - all on a maximum of four hours sleep each night and three MREs to last the full 54 hours.
"It's been easier than I thought in some ways," said Clifton Fitzsimmons, from Jamestown, S.C., a small town with "a gas station and a blinking light." He was about halfway through the challenge.
The biggest surprise to Fitsimmons was to be working finally as a team with the rest of D Company - something he's been waiting for since the day he enlisted.
"I picked the Marine Corps (because) it's the only branch with honor, pride and teamwork," said Fitzsimmons. "It's not an Army of one."
By the time of the Crucible, on days 55 through 57, most of the hard work in boot camp has been done. But there are still reviews, tests and courses ahead to complete the transition from recruit to Marine.
February 24,2005
CYNDI BROWN, Jacksonville Daily News
PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. - It took Adam S. Adam five years to have even the opportunity to become a Marine.
"All I've ever wanted to do is be in the military," said Adam, 22, of Jacksonville. "It frustrated me to no extent. Kids take for granted getting in."
But an eye injury, the result of a childhood BB gun accident, required half a decade of pursuing medical waivers before he was granted the one that allowed him to enlist.
And at a graduation ceremony held at Parris Island on a frigid January morning, Adam saw the result of his determination.
He was finally a Marine.
Receiving 'Yes sir! No sir!'
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., which opened its gates to men in 1915 and women in 1949, trains all male recruits who enlist in the Marine Corps east of the Mississippi River and all female recruits.
Receiving is the recruit's introduction to the Marine Corps - and to the drill instructors. For many, it will be a blur.
"Recruits don't walk anywhere; they'll be running tonight," said Staff Sgt. Patrick Wiley.
They'll learn, and learn quickly, it's "Yes, sir!" or "No, sir!" Yeahs and nos belong to the world outside the gates.
Inside, on that first day, they're facing the haircut, paperwork, a medical screening, strength test, gear issue and a scripted phone call home.
"This is Recruit I've arrived safely at Parris Island," the message begins. "Don't send bulky items Don't send food Goodbye for now."
The process seems endless - most recruits will be up about 36 straight hours before being allowed to sleep.
"It's good preparation for the Crucible," Wiley said.
Day 2 'You disgusting pigs'
On day two, they're reminded that they are still "filthy, disgusting civilians."
"Drop, drop you disgusting pigs," a DI screeches at the startled recruits.
The sun hasn't even risen on the females in P Company, but they're already sweating through a back-breaking series of jumping jacks, crunches and lunges.
"All the way down, one, two, three. Or we'll start all over, one, two, three. I can't hear you, one, two, three. You're not done, one, two, three. "
While Marine Corps rules state it's strictly "hands off," recruits are seen being jerked sharply into the next position if they're not moving fast enough. It's doubtful they even noticed. And for every "disgusting pig" there's a "good job. Keep it up."
It's knowing what to say and when to say it.
Day 6 Pulling them in
1st Lt. Tim Wright is watching recruits on training day 6. At that stage of boot camp, Wright said the recruits should know the basic routines, start settling in and getting used to physical exertion.
"I expect them to start conforming to Marine Corps standards, take orders and react," Wright said. "They don't understand why, they just know they're being told to do it."
That immediate obedience would come into play on the battlefield - in a combat situation, Wright explained, Marines have to follow orders unquestioningly. The journey from receiving to a war zone could take less than six months.
"At two weeks, they're starting to get it," said Wright, who has lost six recruits to fraudulent enlistment. Others will drop along the way - nearly 7 percent of the male and 17 percent of the female recruits will never wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor. Wright has seen them leave boot camp as far along in the process as day 65.
He pointed out an "apathetic" one who sat "guarding" the weapons, a task usually left to those ill or injured - Wright thought he would be the next to go, but it was still too early to be sure.
"Even the apathetic ones typically a good senior drill instructor can pull them in," said Wright. "Right now, they're struggling mentally."
The hardest thing to overcome is ego. The first thing the DIs have to accomplish is to tear down the recruit. The rebuilding, the making of a Marine, comes later.
"Here, he's nothing," Wright said. "They're not 'Joe' anymore. They're Recruit 'Johnson.' It strips them of their individuality."
There may be an "I" in recruit, but they're not allowed to use it - the recruits are required to speak in the third person.
Week 3 'This recruit '
"Mainly this recruit is looking forward to graduation," said 19-year-old Kimberly Jones of Havelock, who in week three of training was comfortable with asking permission to do anything. But she admitted that, "this recruit" slips every once in awhile out of the unfamiliar third person.
Jones was one of the first recruits interviewed during a four-day visit arranged and funded by the Marine Corps. In consideration of the visitors - about 70 educators from Marine Corps Recruiting Commands Raleigh and Louisville, Ky., plus 10 media - recruits were later permitted to revert to the less-distracting first person. But that was also tough.
Jones was at first hesitant about following her parents and brother into the military, but in her last years at Havelock High School she started considering the Air Force. Then she decided she wanted more of a challenge. The Marine Corps provided it.
"Every day is a challenge," Jones said. "It's not always easy having someone yell at you, but this recruit has gotten used to it."
After graduation, Jones will work in supply and administration. She's hoping to be stationed on the West Coast and will face possible deployment to a combat zone if the time comes.
"What's going to happen will happen," said Jones, adding that the drill instructors prepare them well.
Jasmine Williams, also of Havelock, was with Jones at the confidence course. There they faced the first of two visits to the obstacle course that includes an 11-station array of ropes, bars and logs with intimidating names like Slide For Life, Skyscraper, Confidence Climb and The Tough One.
"It's been the most challenging obstacle in my life," said Williams of her three weeks in boot camp. "I've never been away (from home) this long in my life."
Williams, 18, is the daughter of an active-duty gunnery sergeant. Her dad, who originally didn't want his daughter to enlist, tried to prepare her.
Even though she knew what to expect, Williams was still shocked by her first encounter with the DIs. The yelling, Williams said, is the biggest mental challenge; and hygiene issues proved to be a "rude awakening." She expected more emphasis on, and time devoted to, proper hygiene.
"I just deal with it," said Williams, who after graduation will be an aviation electrician and hopes to end up alongside her dad at Cherry Point.
Week 5 Confidence Course
Gunnery Sgt. Suzie Hollings says the recruits' first visit to the Confidence Course offers them their first taste of self-assurance.
"They've been broken down since they got here," Hollings said. "They're in boot camp. They're not supposed to do anything right."
But as Phase 1 nears its end, the recruits are expected to know the basic daily routine, how to talk to the DIs and how to conduct themselves.
"We expect them to grasp everything they've been taught," Hollings said. "From this part, everything is remediation."
By week five, when Phase 2 is just getting under way, most who can't handle it mentally will have been weeded out, Hollings said.
They will, however, still face physical challenges.
"They've got the swing of things now," Hollings said. "The ones we have now, if we lose them now it's due to injury or failing a testable event" like marksmanship, swimming or physical fitness.
The recruits are still a little timid, she said, but pride and the Marine Corps demeanor are starting to show. They still know they're far from being Marines.
"I definitely don't feel I'm at that point right now," said James Moreira, a 25-year-old recruit from Cape Carteret in week seven, firing week. His father is a retired Marine. He told his son what to expect.
"He went through boot camp in San Diego, which is different so I'm told," said Moreira, who enlisted for the career opportunities and "to support my country."
"It's been pretty tough at times. I'm just trying to keep my head up and get through it," he said. "It was a pretty rough experience from the time I stepped on the yellow footprints."
With various jobs under his belt during his time as a civilian, Moreira said he thinks he can handle the challenge better than his fellow recruits.
Cody Vermalen thought he was doing just fine.
"Really and truly I haven't been challenged by too many things here," said Vermalen, a 2000 graduate of Richlands High School. "Everything that happened, I expected to happen."
The swim quals were an exception. Swim qualifications, which are held in a pool located in a cavernous room made close and humid by 91-degree water, are a "deal breaker" for the recruit intent on becoming a Marine. But that's not the challenge Vermalen faced.
"I wanted, had to, get the highest score possible," Vermalen said.
He did.
At 22, Vermalen, like Moreira, is a little older than the average 19.6-year-old male and 19.7-year-old female recruit.
After high school, Vermalen completed an associates degree at Coastal Carolina Community College and was accepted at North Carolina State University. He regretted his decision not to enlist right after high school.
"I always wanted to defend my country," Vermalen said. "The war made me want to go in more."
On training day 45, Vermalen was treated to a break in the routine. Select recruits were taken to have lunch with educators from their hometown and given a little more - but not much - leeway in how they behaved.
"It's always nice to get away from that, nice to talk and have a conversation," said Vermalen, who still ate using only one hand as taught.
But, he added, "I'm ready to start training again."
And he was ready for what he called the "fun stuff, warrior stuff - running through fields, shooting moving targets."
That would come in two weeks. That would come with the Crucible.
Week 9 Rite of passage
The Crucible is the "rite of passage" instituted for all Marine recruits in 1996. They have two and a half days to travel 42 miles and complete 29 problem-solving exercises - all on a maximum of four hours sleep each night and three MREs to last the full 54 hours.
"It's been easier than I thought in some ways," said Clifton Fitzsimmons, from Jamestown, S.C., a small town with "a gas station and a blinking light." He was about halfway through the challenge.
The biggest surprise to Fitsimmons was to be working finally as a team with the rest of D Company - something he's been waiting for since the day he enlisted.
"I picked the Marine Corps (because) it's the only branch with honor, pride and teamwork," said Fitzsimmons. "It's not an Army of one."
By the time of the Crucible, on days 55 through 57, most of the hard work in boot camp has been done. But there are still reviews, tests and courses ahead to complete the transition from recruit to Marine.