A question to those that have graduated from Parris Island.

[Mledford]

From the time that you first got off the bus, all the way until you graduated, how much did your experience differ from what you thought it was going to be like?

I know I'll never be able do this, but I'm trying to put together what it will be like in my head.

Thanks Marines.

[josephd]

Not sure what Parris Island has to do with your question (I am sure that is where you will be going)...I am a Hollywood Marine but I am gonna give you my $.02 anyway

Bootcamp was much different than what I was expecting, not easier or harder just different. Everything is mental and what you make of it. Even the physical aspects, if you tell yourself something is gonna be hard and build up that idea then its gonna be a nightmare to complete. If you have confidence in your abilities and dumb everything down for yourself it will be easy(relatively). Your Drill Instructors aren't monsters, do what your told and do it for yourself to become a Marine not to impress your DI's. No matter how much of a bada$$ you may be your not going to impress them.

Every single Marine here could tell you what they think and how their boot camp experience went but it is different for everyone.

[Zulu 36]

From the time that you first got off the bus, all the way until you graduated, how much did your experience differ from what you thought it was going to be like?

I know I'll never be able do this, but I'm trying to put together what it will be like in my head.

Thanks Marines.

I didn't graduate from PI, but it doesn't matter anyway.

When I went to boot camp, there was very little information available on what goes on. Poolees had to depend on their recruiters and Marine vets, and the tales varied widely. Most of us on the yellow footprints didn't even know our General Orders and yet somehow made it through.

Boot camp is different than what you thought it would be from the second the bus pulls up at Receiving. Watching boot camp videos of Drill Instructors yelling at recruits just doesn't match up to the real thing of three or four hat brims in your face.

Some aspects of boot camp may meet your expectations, some may fall short, some may exceed. Every recruit has different strengths and weaknesses so the individual transition is just that, individual.

This sounds strange considering the Drill Instructors will pound teamwork, teamwork, teamwork into your head, but every recruit works toward the final product on their own path, building on their strengths and eliminating their weaknesses. The paths will converge, probably in Third Phase, and the platoon becomes a team. You'll feel it one day, probably on the drill field. Just a whole different feeling.

I admired my father very deeply for his service as a WWII Marine, and all through boot camp I felt privileged just to be there like he had been. Everyday was an experience (in more ways that one). But I was still glad to get the heck out of there.

[Wyoming]

Me and a buddy signed up together. At the recruiting center in Corpus Christi, Buddy Program.

That would have been in June.

Didn't know we were in the DEP. (Were we?)

Then, late August, we went to San Antonio.

Spent the night in the YMCA. No xbox or laptop or nothng.

Up early. Went for physical and some tests.

Same day, we caught a flight to La.

Then a bus ride to MCRDSD, with orders to keep our heads down, etc.

Once there, the **** hit the proverbial fan..

Was it what we expected? Hell, we had no idea what to expect, had never heard of General Orders or even yellow footprints.

We made it. Even UNQs at the range made it. That was not a washout criteria, at the time.

Go to Church, never volunteer, pay attention, be loud, and never nod off in class.

[usmcmsf]

I thought I was going to die but I came out alive so it was a positive experience.

[SGT7477]

I thought what the hell did I get myself into now but I'm glad I made the right choice by becoming a Marine.

[Mledford]

Well, I put Parris Island in the title because that is where I am going, but I guess the experience is relatively the same so just ignore it.

Thanks for the responses Marines! Keep them coming! :)

[rg2o3]

For me, the mental was the hardest for me. The day to day rigor of recruit training, you get used to fast. You really have no chance to quit the physical part, its the mental part that made recruit training tough for me. Missing home, missing my fiance, etc. All I have to say, when you first get there it is going to suck ALOT. But you do start to get used to it, and it does not get easier, but you will get used to the way of life, and after a bit, its not so bad.

[ameriken]

To echo what Zulu said, when I joined there were no cell phones, no internet, and very little information about what Boot Camp or the Corps was like. Perhaps the only images I had in mind about Boot Camp was from the movie "The D.I." with Jack Webb.

I dont remember there being any times when poolees got together to do PT or test their run times or anything like that. Everyone went as they were: stupid, mottley, long haired slouchers who hadnt a clue what to expect. I did know it would be physically challenging and that the Drill Instructors yelled at recruits a lot, but there is really no way to prepare for what it is really like.

Our bus arrived at P.I. at Parris Island at something like 1 or 2 am. There you are, in the hot, damp swamp air, both excited and tired, everyone in the world is alseep but you and now some wide eyed Sergeant starts yelling at the top of his lungs to get off his bus.

That's when my mind said 'uh oh' and I got my first taste of what I was in for over the next 13 weeks.