Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before Bootcamp...

[bgsuwoody]

These are just a few of the things I wish I would have known before I went to bootcamp...

I wish I would have known...

How to share a porta potty with 2-3 other people...

How to eat chow with my left hand, right hand on knee, eyes straight ahead, back straight, feet at a 45 degree angle...

How much a bootband could be worth...

How to play 2 sheets and a blanket...

What scuzzbrushes to the bulkhead was and how to beat it...

How to make a house (if you've done it you know what I mean)...

How to survive hours of snapping in in the prone position with a TIGHT loop sling...

How to kneel on rough gravel for long stints of time...

That a cough drop could taste as good as the best candy in the world...

That one could acquire a taste for sand...

How much an unaligned shoe display could **** off a drill instructor...

How fast the rainroom could be transformed into a boxing ring...

How to "hide my teeth"...

That even if it only rained 4 days while you were there, it was going to rain both days at the Crucible...

That you will eventually "lose" something; because there are no theives in the Marine Corps, just 1 guy missing his stuff and 80 others trying to get theirs back.

All the tricks for getting dressed/undressed faster (you all know what I mean)...

How to work the guidon (I held the Series Guidon and was 4th squad leader so always had it when the guide was gone; I often made a fool out of myself)...

To double check your BZO's even if they are given from the PMI/CMT...

Balance, Balance, Balance...I am horrible at this...(Almost cost me the Series Rag on the obstacle course, but good thing I can climb like a monkey)

NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, HOW FAST IT IS, HOW CORRECT IT IS, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE WRONG......LEARN THIS NOW!!!!!

There's a lot more, I'm going to leave it open for other people to put there's here though especially since we have a lot of new Marines around here. If you don't understand anything just ask.

[HurricaneRJ]

Nice. Can you teach me any of those?

[RockSteady85]

How to make a house (if you've done it you know what I mean)...

Hahah oh yeah I know what you mean...we do that all of the time at our PT sessions at our RSS :-)

[Achped]

Great memories, all of them.

[Books]

How to share a porta potty with 2-3 other people...

... the hell?

[HardJedi]

get used to it, Books, there is no privacy in boot camp, and my DI'S used to always say, " you can get three more around that ****er! we don't have all damn day! MOVE IT!"

[HardJedi]

one thing I wish i would have known? how easy the first couple of days of bootcamp really were. I was terrified we would start out runing 5 miles a day the first day! recieving barracks is cake compared to what happens next.

honestly, I also wish I would have known what skivvies were, so i wouldn't be standing there naked when told to put my skivies on and all I could find was underwear.

[bgsuwoody]

Oh yes yes yes...that reminds me...I still wish I ****ing knew the difference between what goes in a brown or a white grunt roll lol. I think it changed everyweek...

Is it skivvy shorts or skivvy drawers...who the hell knows

[zackmerc]

I remember all those.

2 sheet and a blanket on line right now! Good, one of you nasty recuits didn't make my time hatch, foot lockers, unlock them right now!

My arm fell asleep when we were snapping in. Our PMI hated us so he made us get in the kneeling position and snap in for about ten minutes. Every time a recruit complained or fell, he reset the ten minutes.

Also, one recruit decided to fall asleep while snapping in the prone position. The PMI saw him and called our killhat over. Our killhat flew over to us with a demented, sadisitc smile on his face. He IT'd the sleepy recruit and everyone else within ten feet of him for not correcting the sleep guy.

I hated getting dressed by the numbers in the morning. One day, I decided to wake up fully dressed in cammies. I also slept on top of all my linen so I wouldn't have to make them. My killhat began screaming and I thought I was in trouble. He walked over and I knew I was gonna get IT'd. But he was actually looking at another recruit who did the exact same thing I did. I got away that time.

I remember our killhat. At 0500 in the morning, we were at the firing range getting ready to ground our daypacks. It was pitch black and there was a lot of confusion. He took the entire platoon over to the darkest part and told everyone: "Nobody knows we're out here so I can murder every last one of you." I started laughing and our killhat thought it was another recruit and yelled at him.

One more thing, recruits at San Diego likes to touch their faces. That gets most of the Drill Instructors there ticked off. "QUIT TOUCHING YOUR FACE!"

Our killhat told me once: "One of your eyes are more slanted than the other. Go away before I jump kick you." I was trying so hard not to laugh.

I hope I've entertained some poolees here because boot camp IS annoying but IT can be funny as hell.

[bgsuwoody]

Oh yeah, I will never forget hearing "Woodall, get your fat ass fingers our of your fat ass face you disgusting thing you."

[zackmerc]

For some reason everything was fat, especially our mouths. Later, everything was changed to disgusting. Even after the Emblem Ceremony, our killhat called us disgusting boot Marines.

[Books]

One more thing, recruits at San Diego likes to touch their faces. That gets most of the Drill Instructors there ticked off. "QUIT TOUCHING YOUR FACE!"

They don't have sand fleas there, do they?

[bgsuwoody]

Oh yeah, and I kinda wish other people would have known how to tie ties and iron their clothes, but it was good because I could trade it for other jobs I didn't want to do like packing my ****, or cleaning ****, or marking it, or other things. I recommend you guys ask mommy to show you how to iron and daddy to show you how to tie a tie (a full windsor knot) and it will save you the trouble of disgusting double seams and wrinkled uniforms.

[KRenee87]

I've hit the jackpot with you and Achped. Recruiters can only give you so much information to get you ready and it helps to get it from Marines who have just returned.

Thanks!

[Books]

I've hit the jackpot with you and Achped. Recruiters can only give you so much information to get you ready and it helps to get it from Marines who have just returned.

Thanks!

I know, right? I would have never have guessed to ask about this critical information. The things you never think about but will certainly add up to bite you in the ass.

[bgsuwoody]

Like I said though, you can never be prepared enough and no matter how well you do things, you WILL NEVER BE RIGHT!...Period. It doesn't hurt to be ahead of the game, but don't expect it to be your free pass through the island. I learned real quick my knowledge meant little in the long run, they will teach you, issue to you, or force upon you, everything you need to know

[zackmerc]

They don't have sand fleas there, do they?

No sand fleas. Just a nice ocean beach (you can't even see it) with the sun shining at a temperature of about 90 degrees. Bad cases of sun burns happen everywhere. Lots of airplanes taking off. I could never hear my drill instructors. During PT sessions, we'd have to war cry whenever an airplane was taking off or landing.

Also, lots of dust and hills. I will say this, MCRDSD recruits probably have stronger legs and backs than MCRDPI recruits. The hills of Camp Pendleton really killed us all. They ain't no regular hills either. They are steep as hell and have all sorts of obstacles like potholes or rocks. Some hills were extremely sandy and your feet snak into it every time you stepped. Ankle sprains were common up there.

[SlingerDun]

Ankle sprains were common up there.can you post a photo of the boots you were issued?

[Bulkyker]

Great post Woody. Some of them really brought a chuckle.

[Covey_Rider]

haha our DI's managed to fit 11 recruits into a porta john. funny stuff.