Basic info help!

[lonehunter]

Ok so i leave to basic training in about 5months im pumped up about it but then im also nervous see the thing is well i cant swim. I can float but i just cant seem to swim. I just need to know what im facing before i go to basic because i think the swimming part is what is gonna hurt me the most. So any help will be good thanks.

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Robert
20070618

[Allen870922]

Ok so i leave to basic training in about 5months im pumped up about it but then im also nervous see the thing is well i cant swim. I can float but i just cant seem to swim. I just need to know what im facing before i go to basic because i think the swimming part is what is gonna hurt me the most. So any help will be good thanks.

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Robert
20070618
I couldn't swim before I shipped either. Do you float on your back? If you can float on your back then all you need is the arm motion to propel yourself.

[lonehunter]

yeah i can float on my back so thats all im gonna really need to do then is just mainly know how to float on my back now?

[Allen870922]

yeah i can float on my back so thats all im gonna really need to do then is just mainly know how to float on my back now?

Depends on which way of swimming you like better and which one is easier. For me, since I was unable to swim on my stomach, I had to learn their way. Their way is on your back, bicycle kicking to stay afloat with your head tilted back, and then shooting your arms up your body and then around back down real fast to your sides to help propel you. The Minimum you need to graduate with is the WSQ 4. You might need 3 or 2 if your MOS requires it. 4 is just swimming 25m without touching the bottom. Then jumping off the 10ft tower. Then swimming another 25m. And then you tread water. If you can't tread water right now, don't freak out. You'll be wearing a Blouse and trouser. They'll show you how to stay afloat using your blouse. Its a "superman" thing. You go under water real quick, blow air into your blouse and come up with both hands on either side of your blouse like you are opening it like Superman. Treading water part only last a minute or so.

You'll be fine. My suggestion is that you inform your recruiter of your problem and see if he can teach you a little.

[lonehunter]

well yeah see my MOS is infantry so i dont know what i need to do about the swimming par to go with my MOS. you make this sound so simple but im just gonna have to get through it to be a Marine. And my recruiter knows about my situation he just tells me that theyll teach me at basic that theyll pull me away from the other guys for a week to teach me an now that i think about i that may delay my graduation day by a week.

[Allen870922]

well yeah see my MOS is infantry so i dont know what i need to do about the swimming par to go with my MOS. you make this sound so simple but im just gonna have to get through it to be a Marine. And my recruiter knows about my situation he just tells me that theyll teach me at basic that theyll pull me away from the other guys for a week to teach me an now that i think about i that may delay my graduation day by a week.

Infantry? You'll need WSQ 4.

I didn't know how to swim at all when I went. Didn't even know how to float. I still made it through.

You'll have like a week, week and a half tops, to qualify. Your first day is a short class on the things you'll do and such. Then you all go to shallow end of the pool to do your 25m swim. They give you 2 chances at that spot without touching the bottom. Touch the bottom once, go back and try again. Do it again and you'll have to get out of the pool and sit down with the other "unqs"(unqualified recruit). Once everyone is done with that 25m swim, you'll all get back in and learn their way as I explained it. You'll be there everyday for, I think, 2 hours maybe more until you finish that 25m swim. After that, the other stuff for WSQ 4 ain't bad. But try to go higher for the swim quals if you can. I was unable to cause I qualified on like the last day that I was allowed to.

But still bug your recruiter. His job is to help prepare you. If not, go get some swim lessons. Better to be comfortable with your abilities when you are there than to be worried constantly that "I can't do it. I'm gonna get dropped".

[lonehunter]

thanks for all the advice by the way. when you talk about dont touch the bottom do you mean in the shallow end or the deep end of the pool? im pretty sure its the shallow though. i just need to get in a pool an see how i would do. i called the local pool to see if their offering lessons an their not offering any till the summer an i leave in the summer maybe if i can squeeze in some lessons in the 2wks b4 i leave then maybe i have a chance. being a Marine is all ive ever wanted to be since i was at least 7. Thanks for the advice im gonna do my best to remember what i can an use it and ill also talk to my recruiter about the whole swimming deal. well i need to get going now so thanks for the advice like i keep on saying haha thanks.

[Allen870922]

thanks for all the advice by the way. when you talk about dont touch the bottom do you mean in the shallow end or the deep end of the pool? im pretty sure its the shallow though. i just need to get in a pool an see how i would do. i called the local pool to see if their offering lessons an their not offering any till the summer an i leave in the summer maybe if i can squeeze in some lessons in the 2wks b4 i leave then maybe i have a chance. being a Marine is all ive ever wanted to be since i was at least 7. Thanks for the advice im gonna do my best to remember what i can an use it and ill also talk to my recruiter about the whole swimming deal. well i need to get going now so thanks for the advice like i keep on saying haha thanks.

Don't touch the bottom at all when you are swimming. Deep end or shallow end.

No problem. I've always wanted to be a Marine too. Unfortunatly its just going to take another shot at boot camp for that to happen for me. :p


If you have anymore questions, just ask. Well, if its about PI. I'm sure SD does things similiar but I'm not completely sure.

[yellowwing]

First off, it is Boot Camp or Recruit Training.

You got five months to get some swim lessons in at the Red Cross or YMCA. Its usually not expensive at all, but if you have to you can bag groceries or something for 15 hours a week to pay for it. Swim training is worth every dime.

[davecerami275]

Ok so i leave to basic training in about 5months im pumped up about it but then im also nervous see the thing is well i cant swim. I can float but i just cant seem to swim. I just need to know what im facing before i go to basic because i think the swimming part is what is gonna hurt me the most. So any help will be good thanks.

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Robert
20070618

basic training?? cant help you there.i never attended basic training. i did attend recruit training or boot camp. go ask a soldier or airman youre basic training questions

[USMCVet1992]

Just make sure you don't freak out when you get in the water. The DI's won't let you drown, but they won't hold your hand either. Don't try to fight your gear through the water. If you find you are seemingly paddling your azz off and going nowhere, that's because you are. Slow yourself down and think. Don't be afraid to put your face in the water. You have 5 months before you ship, go hit a pool and start learning to swim. And as previously stated, we never attended "Basic."