thedrifter
05-16-07, 06:20 AM
Northland Recruits Have What It Takes To Become Marines
Northland's News Center
May 15, 2007 - Posted 10:59 a.m. - Every week, thousands of the nation's men and women answer the call to serve their country.
Chris Buckley met up with some Northland recruits in San Diego to see what it takes to join the U.S. Marine Corps.
A favorite slogan in the Marine Corps is "If everybody could be a Marine, then it wouldn't be the Marines."
The recruits who show up to boot camp are already among the nations elite.
But over the course of the next thirteen weeks, they are literally transformed.
Only then do they know what it takes to be one of the few, the proud, the Marines.
"Do you think you have what it takes to be a United States Marine?"
These recruits are about to find out.
These are their last few moments as civilians.
Outside the airport USO they're lines up and bussed out.
Their destination: Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, a sprawling 388 acre complex.
But that's now how recruits first see it.
They're brought in under cover of night, heads down, to the receiving area of the depot, where they're greeted by the legendary Marine Corps drill instructors.
It's a ride they'll never forget.
"I remember being on the bus like it was yesterday,” said SSgt. Jeff Janowiek. “I remember my head being down, and you can't look up, you don't know exactly where you're going from the USO, you travel, I don't know where you go but you end up at the Depot, the DI's come on the bus, and they say look at me, so you look up, and it's all downhill from there. Or maybe I should say uphill."
Then it's off the bus and onto the famous yellow footprints, where recruits learn the position of attention, how to address others, and the uniform code of military justice.
"I remember standing on the yellow footprints back in 1993,” said Sgt. Darrin Conn. “I still remember everything, I remember my drill instructors, every single one of them I had, I'll never forget them. Same with these recruits, they'll never forget."
Next they'll enter the contraband room, where they'll separate their personal belongings, collect their bucket issue and get their heads shaved.
And there's a lot of yelling.
"We yell a lot,” said GySgt. Milton Hawkins. “Basically it's something we use as a tool to break down the individualism of the recruit and to try and start that business of building teamwork, building that camaraderie as the Marines here in receiving."
For some, that first day is what they were expecting.
"It was what I was expecting for recruit training,” said Duluth Recruit, David Hautamaki.
"I knew there was going to be a lot of yelling, and that's exactly what I got,” said Ely Recruit, Jeremy Harristhal.
Others got a little more than they'd bargained for.
"What did I get myself into, ma'am,” said Duluth Recruit, Mathew Foucault.
"Oh my, what did I get myself into,” said St. Cloud Recruit, Joshua Jesberg. “I couldn't believe it, everyone was screaming at you."
"Didn't really know what I was getting myself into, knew it was going to be hard, but didn't know exactly what was going to happen,” said Andrew Sincebaugh, from Edina. “But as soon as those drill instructors got on you, you knew exactly what you were going to do because they told you what you were going to do."
They say it does get easier.
"The first weeks are the hardest, getting used to the routine, the DI's, the intensity of everything."
"It was rough at the beginning, but you get used to the recruit training, it seems to get easier as you go, as you get in better shape."
Tough as it is, between 95 and 99 percent of all recruits do graduate boot camp.
Recruiters say it's because they search out the best and the brightest.
"The Marine Corps looks for one hundred percent at all times; I expect a hundred and ten,” said Recruiter, Sgt. Robert Bosch. “I look for the best and the brightest, I mold them from there to get them to be the best they can be before they go to recruit training."
And those that get here have already earned a level of respect.
"Now, during the times we're in, I would say it's a special individual now, during the times we're in, it takes a special individual to make that decision to come into the USMC, most of the DI's here respect them."
And what keeps the recruits going is the knowledge that they're all working toward the same goal, and they all know why they're here.
"It was knowing that at the end of this I become a Marine."
"They're the best, they're the Marine Corps, and everyone knows they're the best. My mother kept pushing me to go Air Force, but I decided I wanted to be a warrior, so the Marine Corps was the best choice for me."
"To prove to mys
Video
www.northlandsnewscenter.com/video/Video.aspx?stype=ln&sTitle=Northland%20Recruits%20Have%20What%20It%20T akes%20To%20Become%20Marines&clip=11marines&storyID=6163
Ellie
Northland's News Center
May 15, 2007 - Posted 10:59 a.m. - Every week, thousands of the nation's men and women answer the call to serve their country.
Chris Buckley met up with some Northland recruits in San Diego to see what it takes to join the U.S. Marine Corps.
A favorite slogan in the Marine Corps is "If everybody could be a Marine, then it wouldn't be the Marines."
The recruits who show up to boot camp are already among the nations elite.
But over the course of the next thirteen weeks, they are literally transformed.
Only then do they know what it takes to be one of the few, the proud, the Marines.
"Do you think you have what it takes to be a United States Marine?"
These recruits are about to find out.
These are their last few moments as civilians.
Outside the airport USO they're lines up and bussed out.
Their destination: Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, a sprawling 388 acre complex.
But that's now how recruits first see it.
They're brought in under cover of night, heads down, to the receiving area of the depot, where they're greeted by the legendary Marine Corps drill instructors.
It's a ride they'll never forget.
"I remember being on the bus like it was yesterday,” said SSgt. Jeff Janowiek. “I remember my head being down, and you can't look up, you don't know exactly where you're going from the USO, you travel, I don't know where you go but you end up at the Depot, the DI's come on the bus, and they say look at me, so you look up, and it's all downhill from there. Or maybe I should say uphill."
Then it's off the bus and onto the famous yellow footprints, where recruits learn the position of attention, how to address others, and the uniform code of military justice.
"I remember standing on the yellow footprints back in 1993,” said Sgt. Darrin Conn. “I still remember everything, I remember my drill instructors, every single one of them I had, I'll never forget them. Same with these recruits, they'll never forget."
Next they'll enter the contraband room, where they'll separate their personal belongings, collect their bucket issue and get their heads shaved.
And there's a lot of yelling.
"We yell a lot,” said GySgt. Milton Hawkins. “Basically it's something we use as a tool to break down the individualism of the recruit and to try and start that business of building teamwork, building that camaraderie as the Marines here in receiving."
For some, that first day is what they were expecting.
"It was what I was expecting for recruit training,” said Duluth Recruit, David Hautamaki.
"I knew there was going to be a lot of yelling, and that's exactly what I got,” said Ely Recruit, Jeremy Harristhal.
Others got a little more than they'd bargained for.
"What did I get myself into, ma'am,” said Duluth Recruit, Mathew Foucault.
"Oh my, what did I get myself into,” said St. Cloud Recruit, Joshua Jesberg. “I couldn't believe it, everyone was screaming at you."
"Didn't really know what I was getting myself into, knew it was going to be hard, but didn't know exactly what was going to happen,” said Andrew Sincebaugh, from Edina. “But as soon as those drill instructors got on you, you knew exactly what you were going to do because they told you what you were going to do."
They say it does get easier.
"The first weeks are the hardest, getting used to the routine, the DI's, the intensity of everything."
"It was rough at the beginning, but you get used to the recruit training, it seems to get easier as you go, as you get in better shape."
Tough as it is, between 95 and 99 percent of all recruits do graduate boot camp.
Recruiters say it's because they search out the best and the brightest.
"The Marine Corps looks for one hundred percent at all times; I expect a hundred and ten,” said Recruiter, Sgt. Robert Bosch. “I look for the best and the brightest, I mold them from there to get them to be the best they can be before they go to recruit training."
And those that get here have already earned a level of respect.
"Now, during the times we're in, I would say it's a special individual now, during the times we're in, it takes a special individual to make that decision to come into the USMC, most of the DI's here respect them."
And what keeps the recruits going is the knowledge that they're all working toward the same goal, and they all know why they're here.
"It was knowing that at the end of this I become a Marine."
"They're the best, they're the Marine Corps, and everyone knows they're the best. My mother kept pushing me to go Air Force, but I decided I wanted to be a warrior, so the Marine Corps was the best choice for me."
"To prove to mys
Video
www.northlandsnewscenter.com/video/Video.aspx?stype=ln&sTitle=Northland%20Recruits%20Have%20What%20It%20T akes%20To%20Become%20Marines&clip=11marines&storyID=6163
Ellie