Corps to move Crucible to end of boot camp

[thedrifter]

Corps to move Crucible to end of boot camp
By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 2, 2007 18:53:56 EDT

Recruits from east of the Mississippi River will be the first to experience recently approved tweaks to boot camp training when Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., makes “the Crucible” its capstone event before graduation, the general in charge of Marine training and education told reporters during a Pentagon briefing Wednesday.

The Crucible is a 54-hour event involving sleep and food deprivation that physically and mentally challenges recruits to work as a team in overcoming various obstacles, Training and Education Command’s Maj. Gen. George Flynn explained in the briefing.

Training at both of the Corps’ boot camps is 12 weeks long. At Parris Island, recruits go through the Crucible during the tenth week of training. MCRD San Diego, which trains recruits whose home towns are west of the Mississippi, holds the Crucible during the eighth week of training.

The planned change, which goes into effect later this month, will move the Crucible to the 11th week of training at Parris Island. The Corps will eventually synchronize the training schedules on both coasts, but San Diego will not make the change until November due to logistical kinks that need to be ironed out there, Flynn said.

He said moving the Crucible to the end of training makes “it the culminating event it was designed to be.”

Under the new training schedule, recruits will receive their first eagle, globe and anchor at the end of the Crucible, which makes their transformation from recruit to Marine complete.

Flynn said the final week of boot camp will be a transitional period for new Marines to acclimate themselves to the less-restrictive environment they will encounter once they leave the depots.

He said other changes to recruit training will include modifications to the values and ethics classes recruits receive from their senior drill instructors. He said each of the Corps’ recruit training battalions will also employ sports trainers to optimize physical training while lowering instances of related injuries.

www.marines.com/page/usmc.jsp?pageId=/page/Detail-XML-Conversion.jsp?pageName=The-Crucible&flashRedirect=true

Ellie

[futureMarine418]

That is good to know. Thank you. I was allways wondering why the crucible wasnt closer to the end of training.

[usmc2007]

i was wondering the same thing. but thats good to know, because i am shipping August 6. do you think that this will take affect before then?

[jegries]

I graduated 09 Sept 2001 from PI and it was near the end of bootcamp with the eagle globe and anchor immediately following the return hump from the crucible. Then one week for bills and batallion commanders inspection and outprocessing.

[HLeyb]

i was wondering the same thing. but thats good to know, because i am shipping August 6. do you think that this will take affect before then?

"The planned change, which goes into effect later this month"


C'mon 2007, attention to detail! ;)

[BrentAndrew]

"The planned change, which goes into effect later this month"


C'mon 2007, attention to detail! ;)

That means my company will be the one of the first ones for it then. I pick up May 29th!

[HLeyb]

Same here Brent Andrew, I really hope I get assigned the same platoon as some of you guys leaving at the end of May, it would be cool to go through Boot with a fellow Leathernecker.

[usmc2007]

"The planned change, which goes into effect later this month"


C'mon 2007, attention to detail! ;)

i apoligize. i just scanned over it and i didnt see that part. thats my fault for not seeing it.

[millar123]

Well boot camp is deffinately getting weaker. AWESOME, glad I went through during the rough times.

[killerinstinct]

in 97 it was the BN commanders inspection was before and the crucible was the end of field and GOD it was friggin nice to have as much food at that warriors breakfast they called it b4 bussing back to the depot.. Either way the hardest part for me was the infiltration course as i had a helmet that was made for a big headed retard or something so kep slipping off and gathering all mud just sucked..

[outlaw3179]

Yah my crucible was at the end with only one week back to walk around thinking you were a bad ass.

[thedrifter]

‘Crucible’ exercise final test in becoming Marine
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, May 5, 2007

ARLINGTON, Va. — Marines will now face the grueling “Crucible” exercise in the second-to-last week of basic training. Afterward, they will be full-fledged Marines.

During the Crucible, Marines must March about 40 miles over 54 hours with little food or sleep.

Until now, Marine recruits at San Diego have gone through the Crucible during the eighth week of their 12-week basic training and recruits at Parris Island, S.C., have done the exercise in week 10, Maj. Gen. George J. Flynn said.

Now Marines at both San Diego and Parris Island will go through the Crucible during week 11 of basic training, said Flynn, commander of Training and Education Command.

“We want to make the Crucible the true culminating event that it was originally designed to be. … At the end of this 54-hour event, you will be recognized as earning the right to be called a United States Marine,” Flynn told reporters Wednesday.

The change is effective this month at Parris Island and Oct. 1 at San Diego, Flynn said.

The final week of basic training will now be known as “Marine Week,” during which Marines will focus on the transition from recruit to Marine, he said.

“It’s a transition from going to a very restrictive environment to learning about how you’re going to function as a Marine when you reach the operating forces,” he said.

During this time, Marines will learn to understand the role of noncommissioned officers who are not drill instructors, he said.

The moves come after the commandant, Gen. James Conway, tasked TECOM last fall with reviewing entry-level training for Marines, Flynn said.

The Corps also plans to give drill instructors more time to talk about a variety of topics with recruits, Flynn said.

“It could be from everything about what it’s like when you first get to a unit, and what leadership to expect; it could be how to deal with financing; it could be about how to behave when you’re on boot leave; it could be about just about any topic you could think of where you have what Gen. [John A.] Lejeune referred to as the ‘teacher-scholar relationship,’ or the ‘father-son relationship’ that he talked about,” Flynn said.

The Marine Corps is also considering giving all Marines an extra week of training after they leave boot camp. The extra week would give Marines more time to emphasize convoy operations and counter-roadside bomb training and practice on crew-served weapons, Flynn said.

The extra training would provide “a better-trained Marine to the operating forces,” Flynn said.

“We should know whether we can do that or not probably in another month, and then we’ll take the appropriate action on that” he said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Crucible moved to end of recruit training
By John Hoellwarth - jhoellwarth@militarytimes.com
Posted : May 14, 2007

Recruits from east of the Mississippi River will be the first to experience recently approved tweaks to boot camp training when Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., makes “the Crucible” its capstone event before graduation, the general in charge of Marine training and education told reporters during a Pentagon briefing May 2.

The Crucible is a 54-hour event involving sleep and food deprivation that physically and mentally challenges recruits to work as a team in overcoming obstacles, Training and Education Command’s Maj. Gen. George Flynn said during the briefing.

“At the end of this 54-hour event, you will be recognized as earning the right to be called a U.S. Marine,” Flynn said.

Training at the Corps’ two boot camps is 12 weeks long. At Parris Island, recruits go through the Crucible during the tenth week of training. MCRD San Diego, which trains recruits whose hometowns are west of the Mississippi, holds the Crucible during the eighth week of training.

The planned change, which goes into effect when Parris Island’s India and Papa companies begin training simultaneously May 8, will move the Crucible to the eleventh week of training. The Corps will synchronize the training schedules on both coasts, but San Diego will not make the change until November due to logistical kinks that need to be ironed out there, Flynn said.

He said moving the Crucible to the end of training makes “it the culminating event it was designed to be.”

Under the new training schedule, recruits will receive their eagle, globe and anchor at the end of the Crucible, which makes their transformation from recruit to Marine complete.

Flynn said the final week of boot camp will be a transitional period for new Marines to acclimate themselves to the less-restrictive environment they will encounter once they leave the depots.
Retooled ethics training

He said other changes to recruit training will include modifications to the values and ethics classes recruits receive from their senior drill instructors.

Flynn said incidents of Marines allegedly killing Iraqi civilians in Hamdaniya and Hadithah were used as “data points” when considering changes to the values classes that recruits receive from their senior drill instructors.

“Keep in mind that the Marine Corps’ standards for values and ethics is 100 percent,” he said. “Ninety-nine percent is not good enough. We want 100 percent, and that’s what this is about.”

Flynn said Sgt. Maj. John Estrada, who turned over his post as sergeant major of the Marine Corps to Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent on April 25, was consulted about the changes to values and ethics training in boot camp.

During an April 23 interview with Marine Corps Times, Estrada echoed Flynn’s concern that “it takes just one” Hadithah or Hamdaniya to “wipe out” the good things Marines have accomplished overseas.

“I’m also talking about the young Marines down in Camp Lejeune killing other Marines. We had last year a female Marine who was killed, and another male was killed by Marines in the same unit,” he said. “What aren’t we doing as a Marine Corps that’s allowing fools to make those decisions? Training.”

Flynn said each of the Corps’ recruit training battalions will also employ sports trainers to optimize physical training while lowering instances of related injuries.

Ellie

[Master Sephiroth]

Seems rather fitting to have such an event at the end of boot rather than the middle. One does not have to go through boot to know that it will give the recruit a sense of finality, as they'd earn the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor right after (well that's how it is in PI I read, I don't know about SD).

[millar123]

WOW, this is getting crazy with the whole boot camp thing changing a lot wow, well I guess putting the crucible at the end will be better for the recruits they will more physically ready for the long fricken hikes and the food and sleep deprevation. And the whole thing with more weapons training sounds like boot camp is going to get more fun. And my last week of boot camp was still just like the rest but, not so streesful recruits still got taken to the quarter deck all till the day of graduation. AMAZING

[Ignition]

i always enjoyed seeing some recruits getting 'deckd while in their Alphas because they fukd up. hahahhaaaaa

[millar123]

Yeah tha schitt was hilarious

[Sally]

Well boot camp is deffinately getting weaker. AWESOME, glad I went through during the rough times.

Is that true? I will not be able to experience The Crucible on the 11th week. It does make more sense putting it at the end of boot. Now, what do you do after The Crucible?

[davblay]

WOW, this is getting crazy with the whole boot camp thing changing a lot wow

Imagine how we old farts feel when we look at the training schedule! The DI's can't slap the hell out of you any more---What has my Corps come to? Well it seems that it's doing ok with the caliber of Marines they are putting out! These young Marines are the best motivated, best trained and best all round that we have ever had! They carry the torch well, I have no problems with the NEW CORPS! These guys are AWSOME! :thumbup:

Semper Fi to all my Brothers and Sisters! :marine:

[velocity500]

I do agree with most of you "old timers" that bootcamp is much easier than it was previously. That is why I will take it upon myself to go into a special program they have. "Permanent Personel Duty" they call it. Anyone that gets IT'd you get IT'd along with them.

If anything, I'll come out stronger than an ox. I hope that this will just motivate me in the end when I'm hungry, exhausted, and mentally fatigued I'll be able to pull through.

[Kurby494]

I do agree with most of you "old timers" that bootcamp is much easier than it was previously.

Because you've been through it right...WRONG.

I think it's human nature for someone to think they had it tougher because they had it first. Just like all those "We walked through 20 feet of snow for 75 miles just to get to the dinosaur infested walkway to school" stories older folks allways tell. But you were'nt there first, you have'nt even been yet so hold off on that kind of thinking.

or

Just keep on thinking that. As a matter of fact you be sure to let your kill hat know that you think boot camp is much easier. I'm sure he'd love nothing better than to amp it up so as to provide you with the challenge you feel necesarry.

[bgsuwoody]

Because you've been through it right...WRONG.

I think it's human nature for someone to think they had it tougher because they had it first. Just like all those "We walked through 20 feet of snow for 75 miles just to get to the dinosaur infested walkway to school" stories older folks allways tell. But you were'nt there first, you have'nt even been yet so hold off on that kind of thinking.



My walk to school just didn't have the dinosaurs...we had dragons!;)

[Kurby494]

My walk to school just didn't have the dinosaurs...we had dragons!;)

As long as there was some form of ancient and/or mythical reptile.

[immaproshooter]

i would like to know how they plan on moving it to the 11th week and still expect to have a week after that.....right when i was graduating in May they told us Fox Company who was picking up right after we left would be the first company to experience the new changes but they were dropping team week to make boot a week shorter

[Sgt Jim]

you know my mom and dad busted my A## when i probably needed it,My DI kicked My A## ,because i did need it ,marine boot camp is still marine boot camp .the best

[immaproshooter]

lol sadly enough i will say this i got away with more things at boot then i do at ITB..... SOI has some extremely strict instructors like they wish they were DI's or something ...but for the most part the Sgt's and Cpls are all laid back though

[davblay]

i would like to know how they plan on moving it to the 11th week and still expect to have a week after that.....right when i was graduating in May they told us Fox Company who was picking up right after we left would be the first company to experience the new changes but they were dropping team week to make boot a week shorter

This should/could have been posted in the RUMORS thread! Good to see it is still going on! LMAOROTF! ;)

[immaproshooter]

well i dunno i was told by my BTN CMDR about how they shortened boot for the next company and there after i dunno if they actually did it or not but this would have been for starting in the first week of june.......i never heard anything about them jsut moving the crucibal back a week instead until i read it and it was posted as an article reference

[jetdoc]

You freaken boots don't know how easy you have it...back in 78, that was the toughest year EVER in the Marines....lol.

I agree with Kurby, our Marines today are some of the best trained, and most highly motivated Marines ever...way to to brothers and sisters, keep up the good work.

BTW, I think the new training schedule is a good move, it will provide even better trained Marines.

[davblay]

well i dunno i was told by my BTN CMDR about how they shortened boot for the next company and there after i dunno if they actually did it or not but this would have been for starting in the first week of june.......i never heard anything about them jsut moving the crucibal back a week instead until i read it and it was posted as an article reference

The training schedule hasn't changed as far as number of weeks! That rumor always comes out of MCRD after every graduation.

Wht, did your BN commander just come up and say " Hey they are shortening Boot camp the next company"?

[immaproshooter]

they had set us down and were talking bout alot of things right after the Moto run on family day and they had brought up stuff weve been through through our training and also informing us of all the new changes like aparently june 11th they started issuing dress blues straight out of boot....they didnt do that for us and i graduated may 25th

[Luke86]

I just graduated from India Company yesterday and had the privilege of being part of the first company (along with Papa from 4th RTBN) to undergo the new schedule. I'm so glad that the Crucible was moved to the 11th week and that the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor ceremony followed immediately after the 9 mile hump back because receiving it when I felt so broken off meant so much more than it would have had we received it on family day. The only thing I didn't like about the Crucible was all of the hype that surrounded it. Because we were the first ones to do it, there was a lot of brass out there, and there were film crews in our faces all of the time because apparently the depot is updating the video they show on family day. We had cameras in our faces from the time we stepped out early Thursday morning until we left for the warriors' breakfast. Not that that is horrible or anything, but a lot of the realism is lost when you're negotiating the assault course and there is a camera right next to you.

Anyways, I loved boot camp and I think the new schedule is going to work out well- Marine week and all.

-PFC Pyeatt<O:p</O:p

[zackmerc]

They just did this to MCRDSD. India Company and onwards gets to have their Crucible on the 11th week. Yeah, they get more time for recovery after field week.

[latinlady]

my platoon 4021, was the last platoon to get their eagle, globe, and anchor at the family day ceremony, i like it how they have it now, it would've been a more personal experience

[HopefulGrunt2Be]

graduated 060922 MCRD-SD, C CO, plt 1019.... Moving the crucible to the end of training is a great idea. in my opinion too many recruits felt they made it after the crucible. forgeting there were 4 weeks of training left. you arent a Marine after the crucible. you are a Marine after recruit training.

[kbs95125]

Now you are a Marine after the Crucible. Instead of Graduation week, its now Marine week, and you are treated as such by ALMOST everyone. Drill Instructors other then your own shaking your hand and saying congrats Marine in the chow hall. I say ALMOST everyone though because some Marines @ MCRDSD still don't like the idea of the new schedule or changing from Recruit to Private.

[Jebediah]

Not to change the subject but does anyon else in here go to MCRD San Diego around June 9th

[Camper51]

Now you are a Marine after the Crucible. Instead of Graduation week, its now Marine week, and you are treated as such by ALMOST everyone. Drill Instructors other then your own shaking your hand and saying congrats Marine in the chow hall. I say ALMOST everyone though because some Marines @ MCRDSD still don't like the idea of the new schedule or changing from Recruit to Private.

Things change.

We were known as Privates throughout boot camp (when the DI's were being nice).

We had to use Sir sandwiches (first and last words out of your mouth were always SIR).

There was no crucible until long after I got out in 1977, and we received our EGA just minutes before we marched on to the parade field for graduation.

We found out our MOS's the night before graduation.

After graduation we got half a day's base liberty and could visit with family for those 4 hours.

The next morning we mounted the busses for ITR.

Oh yeah, our 10 days leave came after ITR when we were travelling to our MOS Schools. During ITR I don't even remember getting even base liberty.

Such fun...

[Rawkelbabyy]

That's exciittinngg. Lol, I can't WAIT to be sleep deprived & starved!
Sad thing is I'm not even kidding. The thought of boot camp makes me
incredibly way too happy. Lol.

[bigalholmes165]

Things change.

We were known as Privates throughout boot camp (when the DI's were being nice). (YEP!)

We had to use Sir sandwiches (first and last words out of your mouth were always SIR). (YEP!)

There was no crucible until long after I got out in 1977, (YEP) and we received our EGA just minutes before we marched on to the parade field for graduation. (hmmmm???)

We found out our MOS's the night before graduation. (at ITR)

After graduation we got half a day's base liberty and could visit with family for those 4 hours. (no family there for me, just walked around in a daze)

The next morning we mounted the busses for ITR. (Yep!)

Oh yeah, our 10 days leave came after ITR when we were travelling to our MOS Schools. During ITR I don't even remember getting even base liberty.(one, for us, Saurday evening, till 3-4 pm Sunday. didn't get to go. dirty brass. those that went, along with us, were PT'd heavily Sunday late. the beer drinkers suffered.)

Such fun...

Pretty much the same, except that MOS's were announced at ITR.

For the life of me, I can't remember when we got the EGA.

[bigalholmes165]

That's exciittinngg. Lol, I can't WAIT to be sleep deprived & starved!
Sad thing is I'm not even kidding. The thought of boot camp makes me
incredibly way too happy. Lol.

REALLY!!!!

I wish you well.

[davblay]

Pretty much the same, except that MOS's were announced at ITR.

For the life of me, I can't remember when we got the EGA.

Bigal, there wasn't a cremony for that, hey just gave them to us and showed us how to wear them on our Trop Covers, But we graduated in Tropicals "A", with the barracks covers. :marine:

Ah the memories.

Semper Fi,

Dave

[Rains]

Corps to move Crucible to end of boot camp
By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 2, 2007 18:53:56 EDT

Recruits from east of the Mississippi River will be the first to experience recently approved tweaks to boot camp training when Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., makes “the Crucible” its capstone event before graduation, the general in charge of Marine training and education told reporters during a Pentagon briefing Wednesday.

The Crucible is a 54-hour event involving sleep and food deprivation that physically and mentally challenges recruits to work as a team in overcoming various obstacles, Training and Education Command’s Maj. Gen. George Flynn explained in the briefing.

Training at both of the Corps’ boot camps is 12 weeks long. At Parris Island, recruits go through the Crucible during the tenth week of training. MCRD San Diego, which trains recruits whose home towns are west of the Mississippi, holds the Crucible during the eighth week of training.

The planned change, which goes into effect later this month, will move the Crucible to the 11th week of training at Parris Island. The Corps will eventually synchronize the training schedules on both coasts, but San Diego will not make the change until November due to logistical kinks that need to be ironed out there, Flynn said.

He said moving the Crucible to the end of training makes “it the culminating event it was designed to be.”

Under the new training schedule, recruits will receive their first eagle, globe and anchor at the end of the Crucible, which makes their transformation from recruit to Marine complete.

Flynn said the final week of boot camp will be a transitional period for new Marines to acclimate themselves to the less-restrictive environment they will encounter once they leave the depots.

He said other changes to recruit training will include modifications to the values and ethics classes recruits receive from their senior drill instructors. He said each of the Corps’ recruit training battalions will also employ sports trainers to optimize physical training while lowering instances of related injuries.

www.marines.com/page/usmc.jsp?pageId=/page/Detail-XML-Conversion.jsp?pageName=The-Crucible&flashRedirect=true (http://www.marines.com/page/usmc.jsp?pageId=/page/Detail-XML-Conversion.jsp?pageName=The-Crucible&flashRedirect=true)

Ellie


Good! :thumbup:

I was kind of dissapointed back when i heard that the Crucible was nearer to the middle of Boot, now Im happy that it will be the defineing event that will complete my training. :cool:

[Bulkyker]

Our presentation of the EGA was a roll of iron ons for the platoon and a class on how to iron them on our cammies. Half the platoon ironed them on the wrong pocket and ended up with one on each pocket and the other half of the platoon ironed the instructions along with the EGA on their pockets. I can't remember which one I was but I think I still have a cammie blouse with "cut along the dotted line" on there.

[SlingerDun]

That's exciittinngg. Lol, I can't WAIT to be sleep deprived & starved!hehe it's miserable and gets old double time, especially when your too tired to sleep when the time finally arrives. Though a good opportunity to conjour up visions, numbers and winning race horses

[THAT AINT IT]

On the hike back i swore i saw an elephant in the woods and the recruit in front of me had 8 legs lol I only got two hours of sleep on my Crucible and i think i only ate once. I was too tired to eat and sleep and talk...the only things i could say was yes m'am, no ma'am, and aye ma'am. i have never been that tired. but it was all worth it when my Drill Instructor put that Eagle, Globe, and Anchor in my hand and said Welcome to the Corps, Marine.

[Sgt Petzold]

I think these little tweeks are good... I never liked how the two MCRDs were not in sync with training schedules...

thanks for the update.

[DevilDogJAL]

I was in the second company to go through the new training schedule. I definitely loved getting the EGA right after the crucible. My SDI was our group leader, and he broke us off hard, so he had us stand in front and he personally gave us our EGA's.

I nearly passed out when we were walking back to the squad bay and our kill hat reached out to shake my hand.