thedrifter
08-28-09, 07:55 AM
Boot Camp 101
RHS principal gets first-hand look at Marines
By Sherry Wachtler, Recorder Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, August 27, 2009 1:54 PM CDT
As Greg Shepard signed up for the Marine Boot Camp for Educators this summer in San Diego, he thought, “Why not?”
As Ralston High School principal, he’d worked with recruiters a lot and realized that for graduating seniors the military - like two-year and four-year colleges – is another option for schooling or training.
So he thought he’d learn a lot at the camp and pick up some tips to bring back. He picked up more than that - he picked up an M-16 rifle, a 30-pound helmet and a bullet-proof vest to wear.
Shepard learned quickly about being a recruit. He was scarcely off the bus when a drill sergeant started yelling at him.
“Get off my bus and stand at attention! I said get off my bus!” Drill Sgt. Walker yelled. “Go stand on the yellow footsteps.”
“I said to the others on the bus, ‘Oh-oh, what did we get ourselves into?’ ” Shepard said.
The “educator recruits” from Iowa and Nebraska did exactly as they were told.
“We went and stood on those footsteps – they’re at 45-degree angles for us to stand at attention,” Shepard said, “Then, they chewed on us for two minutes straight.”
Shepard, who had no prior military experience, wondered what was next.
The drill sergeant told the educators they had just been treated like all recruits, except for one thing. Usually the recruits arrive at the airport between 6 to 10 p.m., but they aren’t picked up until 1 a.m., so they come to camp dead tired and are met with instructions on the yellow footsteps just like the educators were.
Following that, they are provided their gear, get haircuts, turn in everything they own and get one phone call home to let parents know they’ve arrived safely (while the drill instructors are yelling in the background.)
The Marine recruits are there for 90 days. The educators had five days ahead of them.
What they learned the next five days opened Shepard’s eyes to some great educational and career opportunities for young men and women.
“At Ralston High School, we’ve been very open here and offer something for everyone, including the military,” Shepard said.
“Lot of schools don’t allow recruiters in the building [and] shame on any high school that doesn’t allow that to be an option. There’s always kids that have a need for direction and for me, the military is one more viable option to fill those needs.”
Shepard said the educators were right in the middle of the boot camp action.
“We had to march the streets right beside the kids,” Shepard said, “And we had to eat in the mess hall for lunch.”
Interestingly, every recruit they talked to said the food was great.
Another surprise was the fact that profanity was played down and not nearly like it used to be.
“Oh, there’s some, the kids said, but it’s not bad,” Shepard said.
Shepard visited with a young recruit from Millard West and another from his home state of Illinois. Since the educators were the only civilians the recruits saw during Boot Camp, they were excited to visit with them.
“It was really quite the experience. I literally saw the different groups that were there - from the one that arrived that week to the one going through the Crucible” - a demanding two-day and two-night desert journey before graduation.
He also visited Camp Pendleton (where they live after Boot Camp), sat in the cockpit of an F-14 and a transport helicopter, held a 50-caliber machine gun and a grenade launcher.
Shepard had another surprise. Both the Marines and recruits thanked the educators over and over for preparing the students so well.
“It was good for us to see how much influence their teachers and counselors had on them,” he said.
Shepard brought home three important pieces of information.
He can now talk to recruits at the high school and give them a first-hand report of what to expect in the military. The second was seeing the pride young people have in what they’re doing; and third, he saw the overall importance of the high school experience in preparing them for the military.
He also came home with a big disappointment.
“I’m 47, and can’t join. Had I known more about it, for me, that’s what I should have done,” he said. “I really didn’t have a sense of direction, and this would have helped. There’s so much potential for opportunity for these kids.”
Ellie
RHS principal gets first-hand look at Marines
By Sherry Wachtler, Recorder Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, August 27, 2009 1:54 PM CDT
As Greg Shepard signed up for the Marine Boot Camp for Educators this summer in San Diego, he thought, “Why not?”
As Ralston High School principal, he’d worked with recruiters a lot and realized that for graduating seniors the military - like two-year and four-year colleges – is another option for schooling or training.
So he thought he’d learn a lot at the camp and pick up some tips to bring back. He picked up more than that - he picked up an M-16 rifle, a 30-pound helmet and a bullet-proof vest to wear.
Shepard learned quickly about being a recruit. He was scarcely off the bus when a drill sergeant started yelling at him.
“Get off my bus and stand at attention! I said get off my bus!” Drill Sgt. Walker yelled. “Go stand on the yellow footsteps.”
“I said to the others on the bus, ‘Oh-oh, what did we get ourselves into?’ ” Shepard said.
The “educator recruits” from Iowa and Nebraska did exactly as they were told.
“We went and stood on those footsteps – they’re at 45-degree angles for us to stand at attention,” Shepard said, “Then, they chewed on us for two minutes straight.”
Shepard, who had no prior military experience, wondered what was next.
The drill sergeant told the educators they had just been treated like all recruits, except for one thing. Usually the recruits arrive at the airport between 6 to 10 p.m., but they aren’t picked up until 1 a.m., so they come to camp dead tired and are met with instructions on the yellow footsteps just like the educators were.
Following that, they are provided their gear, get haircuts, turn in everything they own and get one phone call home to let parents know they’ve arrived safely (while the drill instructors are yelling in the background.)
The Marine recruits are there for 90 days. The educators had five days ahead of them.
What they learned the next five days opened Shepard’s eyes to some great educational and career opportunities for young men and women.
“At Ralston High School, we’ve been very open here and offer something for everyone, including the military,” Shepard said.
“Lot of schools don’t allow recruiters in the building [and] shame on any high school that doesn’t allow that to be an option. There’s always kids that have a need for direction and for me, the military is one more viable option to fill those needs.”
Shepard said the educators were right in the middle of the boot camp action.
“We had to march the streets right beside the kids,” Shepard said, “And we had to eat in the mess hall for lunch.”
Interestingly, every recruit they talked to said the food was great.
Another surprise was the fact that profanity was played down and not nearly like it used to be.
“Oh, there’s some, the kids said, but it’s not bad,” Shepard said.
Shepard visited with a young recruit from Millard West and another from his home state of Illinois. Since the educators were the only civilians the recruits saw during Boot Camp, they were excited to visit with them.
“It was really quite the experience. I literally saw the different groups that were there - from the one that arrived that week to the one going through the Crucible” - a demanding two-day and two-night desert journey before graduation.
He also visited Camp Pendleton (where they live after Boot Camp), sat in the cockpit of an F-14 and a transport helicopter, held a 50-caliber machine gun and a grenade launcher.
Shepard had another surprise. Both the Marines and recruits thanked the educators over and over for preparing the students so well.
“It was good for us to see how much influence their teachers and counselors had on them,” he said.
Shepard brought home three important pieces of information.
He can now talk to recruits at the high school and give them a first-hand report of what to expect in the military. The second was seeing the pride young people have in what they’re doing; and third, he saw the overall importance of the high school experience in preparing them for the military.
He also came home with a big disappointment.
“I’m 47, and can’t join. Had I known more about it, for me, that’s what I should have done,” he said. “I really didn’t have a sense of direction, and this would have helped. There’s so much potential for opportunity for these kids.”
Ellie