View Full Version : Hi all, I'm Back...with pictures!
devildoghopeful
08-25-06, 09:14 AM
Hey all you Marines/Poolees!
I've just had one of the most interesting summers of my life. As you may or may not remember from previous posts, I signed myself up for Royal Marines Amphibious training at RM Poole (one of the Marine bases). After that, I went straight to Colorado for "lightweight" backpacking for two weeks (I guess it was pretty lightweight but the pack was about half my body weight). Nothing, not even my school CCF (equivalent of JROTC) nor serious work-outs could have prepared me for either adventure. Unfortunately I only have pictures of the Royal Marines training and even they themselves are limited. However I thought that considering I am part of this community, I should share these pictures with you. In the group pictures there are only two Sergeants Major (Big Crown insignia - No chevrons/stripes). I'm the short one...in fact I was the shortest cadet there....yet apparently the loudest too!
http://public.fotki.com/Bermy/rm_amphibious_train/raiders_9.html
http://public.fotki.com/Bermy/rm_amphibious_train/raiders_29.html
http://public.fotki.com/Bermy/rm_amphibious_train/the_group.html
http://public.fotki.com/Bermy/rm_amphibious_train/the_group3.html
http://public.fotki.com/Bermy/rm_amphibious_train/the_group_at_the_rm.html
http://public.fotki.com/Bermy/rm_amphibious_train/me_in_the_rm_poole_heads.html
P.S. I was not the photographer for these pictures, they were all (except the last one) taken by our hilarious Commanding Officer - Lt.Cdr. Roger Vine -Royal Navy-
Hope you like 'em.
P.P.S. Did Royal Marine morning PT with them and it was AWESOME but seriously difficult...they asked me if I wanted to join the Royal Marines...I said 'No Sergeant, I'm actually more interested in becoming a US Marine'. That was most definitely the wrong answer. Let's just say I was doing PT for longer than was totally necessary...in the rain LOL. Still, I can't complain I had a GREAT time.
jinelson
08-25-06, 10:01 AM
Bermy interesting and nice photos thanks for sharing!
quote by Bermy - P.P.S. Did Royal Marine morning PT with them and it was AWESOME but seriously difficult...they asked me if I wanted to join the Royal Marines...I said 'No Sergeant, I'm actually more interested in becoming a US Marine'. That was most definitely the wrong answer. Let's just say I was doing PT for longer than was totally necessary...in the rain LOL. Still, I can't complain I had a GREAT time.
That may have been the wrong answer but I like your style. I can just imagine the look on that RM Sergeants face when you answered up LMAOROTF!
Jim :D
outlaw3179
08-25-06, 10:33 AM
That some good stuff poolee. Looks like you had a pretty great summer ! Semper Fi!
Looks like fun, what program is it that you went through?
devildoghopeful
08-25-06, 01:23 PM
I live in Britain and my school has something called the CCF (Combined Cadet Force) which starts at 13yrs old. It's one of two options that one has to take at that stage in school; the other is community service. At the start, you choose whether to join the Navy Section, the RAF (Royal Air Force) Section or the Army Section. I put RAF as 1st choice and Army as 2nd. They put me in the Army and I have never been more grateful for the decision they made.
Anyways, now after 4 years of motivational service :p and slowly climbing ranks, they promoted me to Squadron Sergeant Major (SSM) and have recently given me the post of Head of Training Section....which makes me the CCF equivalent of the Senior Drill Instructor for my school. Squaring away 13 year olds is now my business...and business is good;). Have I drifted from the question? Yes I have, sorry. The Royal Navy operates different training courses for CCFs around the Nation. I was hanging around with a friend in the CCF office one day and we decided that our CCF didn't offer us enough in the way of different field excersises, so we went to our C.O. and asked if there were any cool courses being offered to cadets around the country. He gave us the list and Amphib was by far the most attractive although I have to admit that I was a little scared... Anyway I pushed the fear down and signed my name. They got back to me telling me that I'd been accepted (my CO must have written a nice reccomendation letter), I got on the train to Poole and the rest is history.
Does that answer your question?
I'm pretty tired so if that didn't make any sense then tell me and I'll try to clarify.
LEADEROFMARINES
08-25-06, 05:34 PM
P.P.S. Did Royal Marine morning PT with them and it was AWESOME but seriously difficult...they asked me if I wanted to join the Royal Marines...I said 'No Sergeant, I'm actually more interested in becoming a US Marine'. That was most definitely the wrong answer. Let's just say I was doing PT for longer than was totally necessary...in the rain LOL. Still, I can't complain I had a GREAT time.[/quote]
Poolee I like your style. You've definetely got spunk! Stay moto.
:flag:
I live in Britain and my school has something called the CCF (Combined Cadet Force) which starts at 13yrs old. It's one of two options that one has to take at that stage in school; the other is community service. At the start, you choose whether to join the Navy Section, the RAF (Royal Air Force) Section or the Army Section. I put RAF as 1st choice and Army as 2nd. They put me in the Army and I have never been more grateful for the decision they made.
Anyways, now after 4 years of motivational service :p and slowly climbing ranks, they promoted me to Squadron Sergeant Major (SSM) and have recently given me the post of Head of Training Section....which makes me the CCF equivalent of the Senior Drill Instructor for my school. Squaring away 13 year olds is now my business...and business is good;). Have I drifted from the question? Yes I have, sorry. The Royal Navy operates different training courses for CCFs around the Nation. I was hanging around with a friend in the CCF office one day and we decided that our CCF didn't offer us enough in the way of different field excersises, so we went to our C.O. and asked if there were any cool courses being offered to cadets around the country. He gave us the list and Amphib was by far the most attractive although I have to admit that I was a little scared... Anyway I pushed the fear down and signed my name. They got back to me telling me that I'd been accepted (my CO must have written a nice reccomendation letter), I got on the train to Poole and the rest is history.
Does that answer your question?
I'm pretty tired so if that didn't make any sense then tell me and I'll try to clarify.
When you're in boot and your DI asks why you didn't want to defend your country and join their military and instead wanted to be a US Marine, make sure you tell him "Sir, before the uprising in the colonies, this was this recruits country!" :D
The Sandman
08-26-06, 07:49 AM
When you're in boot and your DI asks why you didn't want to defend your country and join their military and instead wanted to be a US Marine, make sure you tell him "Sir, before the uprising in the colonies, this was this recruits country!" :D
I think I blew a funny fuse. I personally dont believe that the Drill Instructor will appreciate the wit, but I bet the rest of the platoon will be on the quarterdeck with him for laughing.
Alex:
Bro, like everyone else said, I like your style. That was no "wrong" answer, it was the truthful one. I'm sure, at the end of the day, he respected you for it.
Look at it this way, you got more PT, because you wanted to be the UNITED STATES Marine. STAY MOTO, brother!
Motivated,
-Jon :iwo:
Jsphsl4204
08-26-06, 08:10 PM
I wondered where you went, man. I didn't hear anything about it.
Glad to hear you had a good time!
devildoghopeful
08-27-06, 06:31 AM
It was awesome, I have yet to have a feeling that tops racing towards a beach at breakneck speed in a Rigid Raider with 5 buddies and a Royal Marine Cox'n, especially as we were all in combat gear (BDUs, SA80 assault rifle (don't EVER call it a gun!), webbing w/ food (MREs), ammo (blank rounds), water etc.
The wind whipping through what little hair I had at that time, the sting of the sea spray on my face and the scream of the Raider's engine made it one heck of an experience.
Anyone who lives in England here (and I know there are a couple of them) should definately look into this trip. If you go, you'll get to do more than I did because about halfway through the trip, about ten helos came and picked up a bunch of Marines to go to Afghanistan. And then the day after, the body of a Marine killed in action in Afghanistan was returned to base and was given a proper military funeral before being sent home to be buried. As a result we cadets had to be off-base while this happened, sacrificing a 48hr exercise. There were no complaints though, Per Mare Per Terram, Rest in Peace Marine.
lol, some really funny responses!
I've just finished boarding school in the U.K.
I also did C.C.F. .... had some really cool experiences, such as flying around in a military helicopter and doing obstacle courses on various bases.
One of the coolest experiences I had though was when I also had contact with the Royal Marines; I volunteered to be a hostage for a few days in the RM's equivalent of 'The Crucible'.
We sat in a hut in the middle of nowhere (it was one of those islands off the coast...) for the night, did some PT, walked around in randomly in the middle of the night to look like a clueless guard, and in the morning there was loads of fighting and firing of blanks and we had to get on boats and were motored out to sea :D
Basically, it was fun and a good excuse for missing a few days of school...
Another awesome experience was this time we visited a Ghurka base. All the officers were English, and they showed us around, and the Ghurkas showed us their knives (not taking it out of the sheath, of course, for those who know about that ;) ) and we got to load and fire some heavy machine guns, and eat Ghurka rations, lol.
That was a while ago but it was a cool experience.
I had a sort of reverse of what you went through though, since I'm American :)
The CCF in my school was kind of sleazy though, with all the VI former NCO's just smoking and bullying the 14-15 year olds. Often it's not taken too seriously by the rest of teh school. I didn't do CCF up until the end of my time at school (I stopped after the Lower VI), but it was fun while I was there, and I managed to make it to the rank of Corporal.
By the way, what school do you go to in the UK? I know that CCF is confined to Independent schools and grammar schools mostly...
Also, don't you get a lot of stick for being so into America even though you're British? It was already pretty hard explaining why I wanted to serve America (the poorly led, arrogant and ignorant former colony... although always said to me in a joking manner ;) ) but I'm American! ... how do you usually explain your motives to your friends?
(Also, I'm guessing you'll be starting your Upper VIth year this september...)
devildoghopeful
09-03-06, 04:17 AM
Yeah, I go to City of London Sch. You? Yeah I used to get a lot of s**t for being American and wanting to join the USMC. I never bothered to try to explain to those who don't know me why I wanted to be a US Marine.
They used to ask all the time but since I became a WO2, they suddenly stopped criticizing me...I wonder why;)? To my friends, they don't bother to ask any more since they know I'll go on a rant about how great the Marines are and bore the a$$ off all of them.
My advice to you is...if the person who is trying to put down the USA and the Marine Corps in front of you is younger and smaller than yourself, don't hesitate to speak down to them. Eg. "I wouldn't expect someone like yourself to understand the first thing about what I'm talking about"...or alternatively, use the CCF Senior NCO/Drill Instructor voice that you always wanted to use. "WHAT DID YOU SAY!?!?! I DIDN'T HEAR YOU, DO YOU WANT TO SAY THAT AGAIN? I DARE YOU, SAY IT AGAIN YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING!":devious:
However, if the person is significantly bigger and stronger than yourself or it's a friend of yours, just give them a little history. Battle of Belleau wood is always a good place to start with the actions of Dan Daly. How about John Basilone on Guadalcanal in WWII? Wake Island? Iwo Jima? Chesty Puller at Chosin, Korea? The options are endless. Plus - show them a picture of a Marine in Dress Blues or Service A's.
Hope this helps. - Yes I'm moving into Upper VII. Are you planning on joining now/going to university/getting a job, now?
Alex
No, here is the best advice.
Stare them DIRECTLY IN THE EYE, and smile.
"Only two people know Marines; Marines, and their enemies."
lol, I didn't have any problems justifying myself, although those were some pretty good responses ;)
I went to a boarding school called Tonbridge (in the town next to Tunbridge Wells).
I was asking more out of curiosity though, cause I'd assumed you were British! If you're American, people just seem to assume that you're patriotic and fulfill all the stereotypes, so I rarely had any trouble.
I don't know if any of you remember, but I started that thread asking for patriotic music suggestions for 4th of July, so that I could make effective use of my speakers in my room @ school. That's the sort of thing I did ;) Surprisingly, I still had friends lol.
The biggest arguments I had were with a Chinese friend, when I brought up Tibet... boy, I didn't know I was going to be raising so much anger by mentioning it (I asked him what he thought about Tibet, vis a vis the whole Chinese occupation etc.) and he got pretty furious :/ I guess I learnt that nobody likes feeling like their country might be doing the wrong thing, or to have someone opinionating about their country's domestic affairs.
Probably the funniest thing that happened with reguard to me being American was when I played 'courtesey of the red, white and blue' by Toby Keith on my speakers. People were asking me whether the song was real, or satire (because it's so stereotypically jingoistic!) in the vein of 'Team America'. People's faces when I told them that the song was being serious... lol.
devildoghopeful
09-03-06, 05:19 PM
Lol yeah, I'm a half American (dual citizenship) but having lived in the UK my whole life, I have a British accent. People get really surprised when I come out with all of my pro-America stuff because now (as I'm sure you know) it has become fashionable to hate the USA and especially George Bush. But when a cadet under my command/supervision in CCF bad-mouths America without knowing my background and political stance...that's fun. I very much enjoy changing people's minds about the States - especially when I get to do it Drill Instructor style.
Me when staring down a cadet - :devious:
Cadet - :sick:
Me when officers are looking - :angel: