question about soi itb

[Brian1215]

Good morning Marines,

Man im proud to say that, i just graduated MCRD PI on feb 26, and now im about to go to itb at soi, this question is for all the new marines who have recently graduated itb, basically whats it like? i hear mixed stories about cell phones, lap tops, weekend libo? some say yes some say no, ive heard that its like a 4th phase of boot, how much is actually like recruit training? can u eat as much chow as you want, how about hair cuts, are they any better? as you can tell i love picking marines brains for knowledge, the more prepared i am for somthing the more confidence i have to give 100% thank you to anyone who can respond with some info. :usmc:

PFC Scheck

[usmc3521]

congrats on earniing the title! Welcome to the brotherhood.

Now to be very blunt and honest, SOI is a joke now,a complete joke. Cell phones, myspace and **** poor training. When I went back in 1997 it was 8 weeks of learning not to die in combat and keeping marines alive by being a proficient infantry marine. We had 2 short weekends of libo the enitre 8 weeks. The rest we were in the field the entire time and ended the school with a 5 day war. Your best bet is not to worry about how much you can eat, sleep or play on your cell phone. You NEED to worry about learning the tools of the trade so you do NOT die and combat and or get other Marines killed. That is the harsh reality my friend. Semper Fi and good luck

[Brian1215]

definatly understood, training is more important than anything, i was just curious as to how everything works compared to recruit training, ie cell phones and the weekend libo the website says we get all that, i wanted to no if thats all bs or if its like how the soi website says it is

[usmc3521]

yes you will get more than a few weekends of libo but you are restricted to stay in jacksonville and surrounding areas. You can bring your cell phone and lap top but keep it secured at all times, sad but alot of theft. I do not recommend taking a cell or ipod out in the field as it will just get ruined. Keep all your valuables in zip/air tight baggies to keep them from getting dirty and wet.

Make sure to visit Driftwood :marine:

[sully0331]

Brian SOI is not as bad as bootcamp. If your an 0311 you may get one weekend of libo. All the rest you will get it every weekend after the first weekend. You can use your cell phones on the weekend and sometimes at night. If your instructors are cool with it you get smoke and dip breaks at night for about an hour and as time goes on after chow and pt they will let you smoke and or dip. Laptops are not allowed at all you must go to the computer lab which is only allowed on weekends. Also you have to stand duty on weekends...I was Delta company and all Guides and Squad Leaders were allowed to leave for the whole weekend so the rest of you have to serve. We would go to Wilmington and Emerald Isle and Surf City all weekend so try to be **** hot so you never have to stand duty. This could have changed been a year and a
half ago so good luck. Also in the beginning if you get 4 minutes per meal you will be lucky as time goes on 4 minutes turns into half hour

[Supersquishy]

Congrats Marine!

[0231]

"how about hair cuts, are they any better?"

better than what? lol....nope...you can't get a dye job, a perm or extensions...

[Brian1215]

better than the 10sec high and tight i got last cut of boot lol
are the living arrangements the same as the squadbays im used to?

[Hanzo]

I was at SOI West about 7 years ago, so take this with a grain of salt.

Haircuts: Yes, they're better, not great, but better. If you get weekend libo, I'd recommend getting it done at a barbar off base, and get it done early. There are lines that form and the last thing you want to do is have 2 hours till formation and be sitting in a line thats going to take you 2.5 hours to get a haircut. Thats where guys get barracks cuts from, and they suck.

Barracks: They're nicer than the squadbays in boot, but they're still squadbays. Ours were carpeted and had wall lockers.

[Brian1215]

any 0311s have any good stories, i read that they do alot of firing and alot of feild ops? any comments?

[sully0331]

we all do they just live out there...SOI east squadbays are just as ugly as boot minus the fast a little bit better rack and a nice wall closet haircuts are better fades are good to go not motard high and tights

[rg2o3]

If you have questions, message me. I graduated mct back in the beginning of December.

[PaidinBlood]

congrats on earniing the title! Welcome to the brotherhood.

Now to be very blunt and honest, SOI is a joke now,a complete joke. Cell phones, myspace and **** poor training. When I went back in 1997 it was 8 weeks of learning not to die in combat and keeping marines alive by being a proficient infantry marine. We had 2 short weekends of libo the enitre 8 weeks. The rest we were in the field the entire time and ended the school with a 5 day war. Your best bet is not to worry about how much you can eat, sleep or play on your cell phone. You NEED to worry about learning the tools of the trade so you do NOT die and combat and or get other Marines killed. That is the harsh reality my friend. Semper Fi and good luck

Hate to disagree, brother, but putting down the current generation of Marines who are busting their humps (students, instructors, personnel) to train Marine infantrymen and keep them alive is a lame way to feel better about yourself.

A lot has changed since '97 and not all bad like you think. MCIC has tightened up and gotten harder-for several reasons.

also what were you training to fight in '97? By '05 we had a clear mission, lessons learned, and NCOs were comin back from war with fresh experience to impart and a renewed sense of urgency and enthusiasm. we did the same lame patrolling but learned about IEDs and VBIEDS and SVBIEDs and so forth and so on. We learned how to tailor the curriculum (which had still changed little fromthe cold war) to today's chaotic COINops.

Besides, ITB is just a primer for your first unit where you truly learn it all.

But then again, what do I know? I'm a P O G now.:banana:

Congrats, brian

[Brian1215]

i appreciate all the responses, how do the guide and squad leaders jobs differ from boot cuz theres no more getting quarter decked cuz somone in your squad messed up... so i wonder what there objective is?

[PaidinBlood]

i appreciate all the responses, how do the guide and squad leaders jobs differ from boot cuz theres no more getting quarter decked cuz somone in your squad messed up... so i wonder what there objective is?

1. Don't ever write "cuz"if you want to be taken seriously.
2. The answer to your question is in their names...Their purpose was never to be a scapegoat,not even in boot camp.
3. If that didn't make sense, let me know.

[Brian1215]

i appolojize for the slang, i was texting at the same time, i no what the purpose of a guide and squad leader are, but the reality of it was non of us were tought exactly what we were supposed to do in boot, we just found out when somthing went wrong, i just wanted to know if thats how it was at soi..

[PaidinBlood]

i appolojize for the slang, i was texting at the same time, i no what the purpose of a guide and squad leader are, but the reality of it was non of us were tought exactly what we were supposed to do in boot, we just found out when somthing went wrong, i just wanted to know if thats how it was at soi..

Understandable,
What I mean is that the squad and fireteam leaders lead, and the guide guides, both at SOI and in the fleet. Your instructors (fleet NCO's) and the staff will rely on these billets to ensure that accountability is maintained and all operates efficiently.

[Brian1215]

im sorry for using slang, and i know why there are guides and squad leaders but in boot all they did was hand out fire watch to the recruits who talked during class, i was just wondering if they have more repsonsibility or is it kind of like boot

[PaidinBlood]

im sorry for using slang, and i know why there are guides and squad leaders but in boot all they did was hand out fire watch to the recruits who talked during class, i was just wondering if they have more repsonsibility or is it kind of like boot



Your instructors (fleet NCO's) and the staff will rely on these billets to ensure that accountability is maintained and all operates efficiently.



There ya go, man, I made it bigger for ya. :thumbup:

[Supersquishy]

PB!! Good to see you around again!

[PaidinBlood]

thanks brother..just passin through... s/f :usmc: