POOL-EEs, DEPers and wannabes! SOUND OFF!

[wrbones]

I need to get you nitwits sorted out again.

22devilpup87 is my main flipflop, Seeley is on that list as well. jenmurray, I think you've earned a spot, too! Keep the rest of these idjits sorted out for me.

The rest of, I need to know how much time ya got left til ya leave for MCRD!

We can't help ya if ya don't sound off loud and clear.

NOW SOUND OFF!!

[22DevilPup87]

Yup, I'll be here forever, Sgt. Bones, at least that's what it seems like. Here I sit with a form letter from the office of Vice President Cheney on my right, applications for nominations that require I write a novel on my left, and my social security card under my watch because I don't have a pocket and needed it to fill out the application to the Merchant Marine Academy. All this and I still have five years before I have a shot at claiming the Title ... a year before I can start earning it!

Good news: Ya'll got me here for just about ever.

Moral of the story: Keep working and stay motivated through the long haul.

[BGMFH]

I'm here. 232lbs, gotta get down to 220, then I'll be off to PI as soon as they'll let me.

[wrbones]

Keep pluggin' away, Jess. You'll do fine!I'm glad yer gonna be around fer a bit, though! I need you and Seeley as long as I can have ya!

BGMFH, Give up the soda pop and the snacks. Eat three squares a day and keep up yer PT. Have ya found that stuff on PT and diet we have on the site? If not let me know. If ya haven't looked, do a search first. It ain't hard if ya want it bad enough.

[blacklion]

off in two weeks hells yes
so much excitement i cant contain myself i tell everyone i meet and it is going to be announced in the local paper

[wrbones]

blacklion, you've been around here for a few months. I hope ya took advantage and read everything ya could find in the POOL-ee Hall and Marine Mentor forums. If ya did that, MCRD won't be as big a problem for ya!

Go over the basics, general orders and rifle creed and such. IF ya been PT-ing regular, it might be time to back off a bit . Exercise enough every day to stay loose, though.

Make sure ya stop back in here after MCRD and tell us all about it. Some of the new guys like to hear what's goin' on from the 'horse's mouth', ya know. Let's the rest of us kow if we did ya any good, as well. We tweak things a bit when we see anything that needs changed as far as helpin' you guys get ready for your first meetin' with a Drill Instructor! ;)

[Travis_R_Wilson]

I depart December 8th of this year...It feels like forever away though...until then i just keep working on my run b/c my weight is at a good level now.

[wrbones]

Travis, I just emailed ya. It's about the same thing I'm gonna tell ya right now. The POOL-ee Hall and Marine Mentor forums are the place for you to be! Read everything! Everything you need to kow to be a success in the Marine Corps is posted on this site, and those two forums have nearly everything you need to know to get a good running start on your career in the Marine Corps! I guarantee you!

You've got time to take advantage of it, and it's an opportunity you don't want to pass up.

I haven't been to Granite City in a loooong time. Has that place settled down any!

[cg03]

I am a new poolee (only been in the DEP for about 3 or 4 weeks). Since I still gotta finish highschool, (be a senior next year), I still got a little over 11 months. I ship out 9 days after I graduate! I went to my first poolee meeting this past saturday. It went well, but we went on a long run (at least it seemed long), I didn't last very long (could hardly breathe...about to puke)...then I learned not to eat cereal or any dairy products before you run(duh, I should've figured that). I've also been working out on my own, trying to build up endurance and stuff. I'll be sure to check out the stuff on PT on the site (that you were talking to BGMFH about). well, I gotta go.

[jenrmurray]

Sgt. Bones, thank you!
You've got me for four and a half months, then I am off. My days are filled with PT, job searching and bugging my Recruiter to get off his duff and find me an AD slot.

cg03- My husband went to boot camp last November. Before he left, he puked pretty much everytime we ran because he was a little out of shape. From what he told me when he came home: In shape or not, you're going to puke at boot camp. It's something we will have to learn to deal with on the fly. Like you learned- never eat heavy foods before PT... but next time you feel puke coming on during a run, DON'T STOP, run through it. A few years ago, the Olympic Gold Medal winner in the Marathon threw up so many times over those 26 miles... but he never stopped, AND he beat everyone's pants off. We can do that, too.

and good luck! :)

[Travis_R_Wilson]

Bones,

Granite City is still dirty as f***. I'm actually originally from Centralia, IL but moved here when I thought college was my future. As long as you don't give the whinos and beggars your money it's all good. Also thanks for all the info and the time you take to share and help us poolees. All the support really helps. I can't wait to one day be called a Marine!!! (capitalized it this time sir)

[wrbones]

Yep. That sounds like the Granite City I once knew! LOL.

A lot of good Marines have posted info that will be of use to ya. A couple of us have spent hours and days finding the info for you to use! Make sure ya take advantage of it!

[BGMFH]

234 with clothes immediately after large lunch with recruiter yesterday.

Making Progess.

Tired, working 2 jobs to pay debts at 18% interest. costs me over 200$ a month just to keep the interest charges off the account.

Can do set of 20 pullups with a 120lb assist, but cant seem to quite get one deadhang. crunches doing 26 in 50 secs.

Not sure about running yet.

Will check in later with more.

[jdewiii]

Sgt. Bones,
Poolee Dewson from R.S.S. Wilmington, DE. I ship out Jan. 5th for the Island, and with a semester of college before I go, these months seems like they are gonna drag. On the bright side, I am pumped to even have the opportunity at the chance of earning the title Marine. This forum is absolutely the best as I have been reading all these informative posts for the past 3 months.

[wrbones]

I've seen ya around, jdweiii. About time ya sounded off loud and clear!

If ya read and heed what's posted on this site for the POOL-ees and DEPers, you'll have a real and certain advantage over your peers when ya go to MCRD and then to the 'Fleet'.

You've seen what others have said when they came back from their transformation from POOL-ee to Marine! We know what we're doing here.

Between working with your recruiters and the people on this site, you can become the best who ever wore the Eagle, Globe and Anchor, if you are of a mind to.

Our purpose in even dealing with POOL-ees and DEPers is to help you to reach that goal.

To become one of the best fighting men who ever lived.

We will accept nothing less then the best you have to offer....and then we will demand more. That's what it takes to become one of the best.

A United States Marine.

[CrazyBrave83]

Poolee Sullivan here, Sir! From Massachusetts, recruited at Milford PCS (which is under Worcester RSS). At this point I'm scheduled for a ship date of Dec. 1st, kinda far away but it gives me a chance to work my knee and get into better shape than ever. I've been running everyday and doing other PT, I can do 10 dead hang pull ups, about 80 or so push ups, straight, and 96 sit ups in 50 seconds. My running is the only weak area, and not because of the knee, really, just because I'm somewhat out of shape. At our Poolee Functions my recruiter makes us run 5 miles sometimes, and it's tough but I'll get better at it.

-Poolee Matthew P. Sullivan, in the DEP since 10 April 2003

[wrbones]

Keep up on yer PT Sully, yer gettin' there.

Read and heed everything in the POOL-ee Hall and Marine Mentor forums. Everything ya need to know is posted there. If ya can't find what yer lookin' for there, ask. But by God, look first!

Yer work is cut out for ya. There's near four hundred threads in there...and ya need to know a good bit of it to have a head start on everyone else.

After readin' yer post about gettin' past the bum knee, I think you MAY have what it takes...but yer real work is still ahead of ya. You want to be one of the best the world has ever seen, ya gotta bust yer ass all the time

Keep workin'. You'll get there. If it was easy, it wouldn't be the Marine Corps.

[Seeley]

Bones:
I've been busy lately setting up the plans for next year's MCJROTC. Its my job to get my unit out of the hole that the staff last year created. Last year our XO and S1 decided to just up and leave the unit. Every year before has always been better than the next and I'm about sick of that sh**. Things are going to change and things are going to change fast!

I rode my bike down to my recruiting station today (10 miles each way) in the 92 deg. weather! I got there dripping of sweat wearing my homemade muscle shirt from my rifle team t-shirt. The recruiters just beamed when I pulled up and gave me more information on what I need to do in order to have my parents sign my papers the end of the second week of July! 'Ya hear that Bones?! Thats only about 20 days away! I can't wait I'm going nuts!

Anyway, sorry I haven't been around much. I promise I'll be around here more often for now on. I'm looking into OF 40, 57 and 58 right now (Data Systems, Military Police and Corrections, NBC). I want to keep my options open because I remember hearing that you needed to be 19 in order to become an MP. Other than that things are going great. I just got a girlfriend and I'm working hard to get a job.

POOLees:
DON'T GIVE UP! I'VE BEEN THERE AND WAITED FOREVER TOO! KEEP PUSHING AND NEVER STOP BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT MAKES PUKES INTO MARINES LATER ON IN LIFE!

[Barry]

MTB (Marine To Be) Young here Meps was a blast got my 0300 locked in and leaving in Nov for MCRDPI. HEHE sounds like fun huh.

[Lucky]

I'm a Pool-ee from Dallas shipping out to MCRDSD on Oct. 14th. Hopefully I'll join the ranks of the few.

[BGMFH]

Done with most of my work at the job for now.

Didnt drop any weight this week, but took 30secs of my 1.5mile. Down to 14:00 with my horrible stamina... bout 4 jogging sections with 3 restwalks inbetween

Still cant do the 3 pullups required for me to go DEP in. Still working hard.

[22DevilPup87]

BGMFH,
Congrats on taking 30 seconds off of your run time! Bravo Zulu!

I've never done a pullup, but I've found that lots and lots of push-ups help with my FAH.

[CPLRapoza]

BGMFH,
Doing assisted pullups, will help you a little, but unless you add weight to your body (ie, a backpack full of books, or a dip belt with extra weight attached to it) you will not get the desired effect. If you just use something like the gravitron then all your doing is toneing the muscle you already have but by adding weights to your excercise you will build u your stregth which in your case, is what you must do. If you can try and balance your diet with mainly fiber and protien, with as little carbs as possible. You can buid muscle that way and also decrease your body fat percentage. I don't know if your recruiter told you this, but you don't nessesarily have to drop the weight because everyone knows muscle weighs more then fat, but you must decrease your body fat percentage. We had a guy in my platoon who was twenty pounds over weight but didn't have an ounce of fat on him, what are they going to tell you to do lose your strength and drop that muscle I don't think so. And as for your debts, I'm not sure how this works but there is a program in the Marine Corps that will drop the interest rate on debts, once your in, to a resable price do to the fact that you will be traveling alot and will be out of country in some cases so talk to your Recruiter about that. Other then that You should be good to go.

As for the rest of you always remember, If at the end of every run you haven't puked, you haven't run hard enough.