Im Back From The Island!

[Tegan]

IM BACK FROM THE ISLAND! I graduated on the 10th and we drove back to Wisconsin and got home yesterday morning! What an experience. I thought I would never ever get out of that place! But when time started to wind down, I almost didn't want it to end! Our Platoon, 4009, won initial and final drill, knowledge and the PFT trophies. THe only one we didnt win was for the rifle range! We had 12 girls not qualify on qual friday!
I've had plenty of people ask me about female DI's... all I can say is that they are awesome! Perfect examples of how female Marines should conduct themselves. I actually miss my 'kill hat' DI SGT VAN LOO. She was so awesome! I have some pretty funny stories about her too. One time at mail call when we were at WFTBN, she made us put on our gortex top and bottoms, polypro top and bottoms and our extra set of camis..OVER the camis and boots we already had on! Then we had to put on a skivvie shirt and shorts and 'waddle' up to the DI house in all that gear to get our mail. It was hilarious and we made her lose her bearing, so she had to close the hatch to the DI house.
My brother that is stationed in OKI made a surprise visit too! He flew all the way from OKI to see me graduate! When I saw him in the bleachers on family day when I was receiving my EGA, I was so happy. I spent all day yesterday with him and he was giving me more insight about what is next for me! Reassuring me about everything Ive done, because Ive been a Marine for a few days now, and It's still hard to comprehend. Last night I went out to eat at Applebee's with my best friend and the Manager came over and shook my hand and said thank you.. He was in the Marines and I had a nice chat with him. When It came time to pay the bill, he took care of more than half of it! When we were leaving I made sure to shake his hand and say thank you, then he gave me a motivated Semper Fi and we left. The people in the restaurant were looking at me throughout our whole meal, which was alittle weird.... I went to Enterprise to rent a car yesterday, and because I showed him my military ID, he gave me an awesome deal on my 05 Liberty. Im just trying to soak up the fact that I'm a Marine now!! IM so proud of myself for sticking with it when It got hard! If any of the poolees have ?'s, pm me or something. Im also on myspace too, which I know lots of poolees are on there too. www.myspace.com/teg8403
SEMPER FI!!!

Tegan:marine:

[jryanjack]

Congrats Tegan! Now change that avatar! Enjoy your liberty.

[yellowwing]

Oustanding Tegan! Congratulations Marine. It seemed like only last week you embarked to Parris Island. Now go motivate PooleeMichael (http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27384), she's getting antsy.

[cgkades]

semper fi

[jinelson]

Welcome back Marine! Semper Fi

[Brooklyn]

Congrats, can't wait to be in your shoes!

[bigdog43701]

congrats MARINE. you earned the title. good luck.

[Marine84]

Welcome to the ELITE branch Marine! You'll be surprised to see what the title is going to get for you for the rest of your life now. Semper Fi!

[GySgtRet]

Congratulations on a job well done. You seem to be enjoying the lime light I hope that you never come down from it. That must have been awsome to see your brother there at your graduation! I have to agree you need to change your avitar. The Drill Instructors seemed to have done a good job on you.

Semper Fidelis

:banana:

[thedrifter]

Congratulations Marine!

Ellie

[AmyG]

Congratulations!! Look forward to going to PI more and more!!

[May06Enlistee]

congrats tegan!!! i can't wait to be in your position...i'm on myspace too...ween143 or angie...anyway, enjoy your leave...so proud...semper fi, hun...maybe we'll cross paths someday...have a super day!!!

[hrscowboy]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooorahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh outstanding Marine congratulations...

[drillinstructor]

damnit another survived.ok just kidding congrats Tegan

[CrazyBrave83]

Congrats, Marine.

[Tegan]

Thank you all! IM so happy to finally be a Marine!! Now, if I could only get used to all this darn snow in Wisconsin!

[Rdy2gopoolie]

Tegan has it been 13 weeks already. I remember reading your posts before you left. CONGRATS!!! Have fun and see you in the fleet some day :)

[rsta]

Congratulations, Marine! Wow, that was a fast 13 weeks. Well, it was for me anyway. Enjoy your time home with your folks.

Bob

[christine_06]

congrats tegan!

[Fast Co SSgt]

Congrats!!!!

[cgkades]

now you need to change your profile and change your occupation to Marine not poolee!!!

[May06Enlistee]

Mr. Drill Instructor,
I just received a letter from a friend in boot, and he said that his Drill Instructors and Senior Drill Instructor hate him and quarterdeck him on the regular. He said he's singled out and that the rest of his platoon is a bunch of biznizzles and thieves and don't want to listen and hurt the rest of the bunch of them. I told him that his Drill Instructors wouldn't do that to him unless they thought he had potential and want to see him succeed and be a leader. He wanted a leadership position when he first left, and now he doesn't, but I told him that he's gotta go for it and show them that he deserves it. Am i correct in what i said to him and in my reasoning? I'm leaving for boot myself at the end of May, and this is the mindset I'm going in with. Why would they put him through extra hell if they didn't think he could do it or if they weren't testing his strength and leadership capabilities? Thanks for your help, sir.

Angie :)

[drillinstructor]

It sounds like your friend is having it rough. All recruits are having it rough and all recruits think they are always the one getting singled out. You made good comments to him and if he breaks then we don't want him. It is earned and never given so if he wants it bad enough he will stick it out

[Marine84]

Ditto - tell him to stick it out - they all try to break you, he just has to have the attitude that he IS worth having the title and everything will be fine.

[May06Enlistee]

i'm glad i'm on the same page as you two. that's exactly what i told him. he's gotta suck it up, and have fun too. that's the whole idea of bootcamp. you just gotta stay focused and honestly have fun with it. keep positive, and take the constructive criticism as a means of motivation, not just something said to **** you off. i told him he's gotta prove that he deserves to be there and earn it. it's not given. he made the choice, and he's gotta show his love of the corps and determination. stay positive. you gentlemen are wonderful. i can't wait to leave. i do have a couple of questions tho. i have dry skin, usually in the winter, but are we allowed to purchase skin lotion at the PX? and are we allowed to purchase sunscreen as well? i will be at basic during june, july, and august, so i was just curious. thanks so much, sir(s). have a wonderful day!!!

angie :)

[drillinstructor]

Sun Screen is in your bucket issue...As for the lotion you can't have that unless you are prescribed it by a doctor on the Depot

[May06Enlistee]

thank you very much, sir...and thank you too Marine84, ma'am. i didn't remember who else responded to the last statement i left up there...so thank you very much sir and ma'am. you two are very helpful. what kind of sneakers do we get to wear in basic? i've been spoiled with my nike shox. i've never had a better pair of running shoes. they're awesome. i have four pairs of them. i guess you could say i'm a sneaker freak. haha. they got a ton of usage. in your opinion(s), would it be beneficial for me to introduce myself from the start to my fellow lady recruits and to tell them that i'm there for them and that we need to just stick together as a team and we'll be just fine, or will they see me as just trying to be a...what's the word...not suckup, but i can't put my finger on the word...hopefully, you know what i mean? i just want to have a really great morale and trust going from the getgo. i want the girls to know they can trust me to be there for them, no matter what, cuz that's just how i am. i'm a teamplayer and motivator. i'm a go-getter and i just want my ladies to understand that we're all in it together. i also don't want to sound conceiter or anything, cuz i'm the furthest thing from that. i just wanted a little input. i do want that leadership position, no matter how my squad performs. i want to be an example and if that means taking a beating for it, then so be it. at least they'll see my dedication and determination. thanks again!!!

angie :)

[drillinstructor]

New Balance Is What You Will Be Issued.........

[rb1651]

Congrats to you tegan, on becoming one of the few to earn the title MARINE!

[May06Enlistee]

new balance are good...thanks for the input...you're a great help, sir!

angie :)

[drillinstructor]

no problem and best of luck to you.......

[Marine84]

No problem Angie - when I went through we weren't issued sneakers, we got to use the ones we brought in with us. I was there during the summer months too and I had a great "farmers tan" when I left and, no, there wasn't any sunscreen and lotion for dry skin. You're going to see that you'll have a hard enough time getting all of you (we started out with 70 some odd of us) to work as a team to even get a freakin' shower within the 30 minutes (or less) that you'll get for ALL of you to take a shower, get dressed in a clean uniform AND be standing online at attention. Your best bet is to take the minimum amount of time that it will take for you to do anything. You'll just be wasting time adding makeup (there will be no men to impress) or doing your hair (again, who are you going to impress?) or adding sunscreen and lotion.

As far as telling your fellow female recruits that you're there for them - don't say squat. If you see that somebody is having a hard time making that rack fast enough or tight enough - help them. If you see somebody is having a hard time getting that perfect shine on stuff - help them out by showing them what it is you do that makes you get that shine. A lot of the women that you'll hit the island with will not make it through anyway. You'll be able to figure out in the first few weeks who's there to earn the title for real and the ones who only joined because they were looking for a few good men themselves.

[May06Enlistee]

thanks marine84...ya know i wasn't going to really say anything, i just wanted to establish from the start that my girls could count on me. i'm the helper...always have been. i'm sure i will be the one helping everyone out. i want everyone to make it and accomplish their goals. we are a team and we should help eachother out. how many girls out of your 70 made it? do a lot more girls drop than men? i'm not concerned with what guys think of me while im there. makeup will NOT be an issue with me. i'll have a nice facial sunburn anyway...haha...who needs makeup? anyway, i'm sure the farmer's tan will be enough to show the guys what a sexy beeotch i am...haha...j/k. really, guys aren't my concern now, and they sure as hell won't be while i'm there. i'm very focused right now. it has been awhile tho...but my trusty pocket rocket does more than most guys can anyway. sorry fellas. it's quick, enjoyable, and doesn't require much of my time or effort. who can beat that? haha...j/k. i'm sure there will be some nice eyecandy, but like i said, i'm very focused, and i just want to excel in the Corps. that's my goal, and i'm not letting anything get in the way of that. i can have fun later on when i'm settled in and adjusted, maybe. we'll see how things go. i'm a relationship person, so if i have time for one and it's in the cards, then that someone will find me. i'm not wasting my time looking for anyone. it'll happen when it's meant to. i wish we got to wear our own kicks cuz i'm obsessed with my nike shox. but that's ok. i'll adjust. what was your mos, marine84? i'm going to be an MP, supposedly i'll be hated. whatever, tho. i'm not out to bust anyone. i'm just gonna do my job and do it well. no powertrip or arrogance. no need. i'm just me, and i'll do what i do, like always.

[Marine84]

We dropped at least 20 to 25 of them, if not more. They were the weaklings anyway - like I said you'll be able to weed them out. I would assume that more females drop than males but then again.................. Eye candy? Girl, if you're smart you won't even think about eyeballin' any swinging d__ks that you may see because WM DIs have eyes in the back of their heads and you will get busted and IPTd to death for looking at them.

[GriT]

Question: I see variations of physical training, IT? PT? IPT? what does the IT and IPT mean.

thank you

[ssgtt32]

IT= Incentive Training
PT= Physical Training
IPT= Intentse Physical Therapy

Got to Love It

[Tegan]

okok... may06enlistee.. dont even let another MARINE see you 'eyeballin' one of the males, you will pay! Many times that happened to females in my platoon and they were made examples of in front of our series, sometimes in front of the males! It WILL happen! We had a few girls trying to sneak off with males at the crucible, they'd pass notes in church, every chance they'd get, they would try to get in contact with any male there!! IT was 'buttcrack nasty' as my fave DI would say... Any female that has male on the brain in bootcamp is there for the wrong reason. Females train away from the males for the most part. We had a brother company, Charlie Co, that we did our final PFT, Crucible and gas chamber with ( Most big training evolutions were done with our brother company) and we were in close proximity of them, but most of us would never strain our eyeballs to look at any of them.

i'm going to be an MP, supposedly i'll be hated.(yes, dont mention that your going to be an MP to your DI's.. the ones that did in my platoon were in the spotlight for awhile) whatever, tho. i'm not out to bust anyone. i'm just gonna do my job and do it well. no powertrip or arrogance. no need. i'm just me, and i'll do what i do, like always. ( ok, these few sentence fragments bothered me a bit. IT was all I this and I that... bootcamp- there are no I's. Everything is done as a team, dont even get caught saying I! Dont get caught being an individual either!
I agree with Marine84 about not saying 'squat' to the other females. DONT! The last thing the female DI's want to see is a bunch of "cheerleaders". Get things done without saying a peep. It builds discipline.
As for the whole makeup-tennyrunners-male thing.. You'll get what the Marines give you and you'll be happy with it. New Balance. Makeup- we were not allowed to wear until family day. Lotion we were able to buy at the PX, they had Jergens, Palmers Cocoa Butter, couple others.. and you were able to keep it in your hygiene bag or footlocker. SunSCREEN should be in your squadboxes and gear locker in case you absolutely need it. I got most of my redneck tan when we were drilling on the parade deck. You dont want to be smearing lotion on when your going outside to drill with your rifle do you?? The DI's ask you who burns easily and they paint stripes on your skivvie shirts to distinguish between the rest of the platoon. They'll keep a closer eye on you in the summer time.. heat casualties, exhaustion...
Anyways, Im just voicing my little opinion becuase I know when I was in bootcamp, the male and female DI's hated to see other recruits lookin' at eachother. The female Marines all over the island, not just your DI's, will preach to you the whole time your there on how to set an example and to not turn into a statistic by getting pregnant right out of boot or at MCT. Just keep the males off your mind while your there, there is no need for it. It would make me sick to hear the other females in my platoon 'wonder' about what the males think of them, and " I wonder how many hotties will be with me at my MOS school... how many hotties will be at MCT.. " It was disgusting and it really made me upset to think that all they care about are the males on the other side of the Island.
- Sorry if this is a little harsh for any of you, but these things I typed were things that were drilled into my head for 3 months and that were said by other recruits.
Tegan

[jewels2304]

hey I'm trying to find my friend carlos cristales who is in the marines I'm having no luck,how do i go about my search.

[GriT]

scratch that.

[Mama]

Congrats Tegan!

Thank you :)

[CHOPPER7199]

Congrats, Tegan, Now The Journy Begins, Enjoy The Ride.

[CHOPPER7199]

What? Sun Screen Issued? Gee, Next Thing Will Be Insect Repellent Also, Or Do They Do That Now Also? Been Awhile Since P.i.

[LittleDevilDog]

Congratulations, Tegan!

I did end up adding you on Myspace. See you around, OOH RAH! Nice job!

[May06Enlistee]

hey tegan...i think what i said was taken wrong...i was just playing around...i wouldn't dare look or talk to any guys...i was just trying to get across that i couldn't care less about them, and please don't ever think that i would EVER become a stat...sorry, i don't sleep around...it's disgusting...and i don't care what guys think of me now, so why would i in basic? um, about the MP thing...i am a HUGE team player...i've never been the kind of person to act as an individual and selfishly in that kind of setting...i was just saying that i know there are those that go on powertrips and do act as an individual and just look out for themselves, i am the complete opposite of this...i was just saying that i'll never turn into that kind of person...i understand everything you're saying and i agree 110%...i just don't want you to think otherwise...i feel like you took offense to everything i said...basically, i was saying everything you were, but i guess i didn't get that idea out too well...the lotion i would only use at night before bed, and sunscreen only if i DID burn...i'm not too worried bout it...just some questions i had...i kinda feel bad now...i feel like you all have the wrong idea about me...i hope you all know that i am one of the most unselfish ppl you'll ever meet...i am a team player to the nth degree, and i'm the least bit boycrazy...while i appreciate a nice, sweet guy...guys are the last thing on my mind here...and i'm not going into the corps with the idea that there's gonna be a whole lotta c*ck to be had, because that's just disgusting, and i could care less about the guys...everyone exists to me as a fellow family member and coworker...there will be time for friendships and whatnot and of course relationships in the future, but like i said, i'm not a ***** and never will be...hope y'all understand where i'm coming from...have a super day everyone!!! thanks tegan for looking out, i understand where you're coming from and i agree completely...good lookin out...

[Tegan]

hey all, im off to MCT. sorry may06 if you took what i said too personally. Im just trying to look out for the future:)
take care all!
Tegan