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  1. 0311perezA's Avatar
    unfortunately, it's true. I started seeing this problem in 2004 when we were getting new Marines(Boots) to the fleet. Hard core NCO's started fading away. It all starts with those making the rules upthere... politics... different generations. I went through bootcamp in 2000, and we got our rears kicked, but this was well worth it."no pain no gain", sound familiar?. Anyone in 3/1 Kilo Camp horno(2000-2004) can testify to this. All the new boots would tell us ," oh no, we don't do that anymore because someone complained"...WHAT?? I DONT THINK SO!!!This is not the Air Force, WE ARE MARINES, THE FEW THE PROUD BECAUSE OF HOW WE TRAIN, THATS THE DIFFERENCE!! 0311 3/1 KILO CAMP HORNO OEF/OIF
  2. 0311perezA's Avatar
    unfortunately, it's true. I started seeing this problem in 2004 when we were getting new Marines(Boots) to the fleet. Hard core NCO's started fading away. It all starts with those making the rules upthere... politics... different generations. I went through bootcamp in 2000, and we got our rears kicked, but this was well worth it."no pain no gain", sound familiar?. Anyone in 3/1 Kilo Camp horno(2000-2004) can testify to this. All the new boots would tell us ," oh no, we don't do that anymore because someone complained"...WHAT?? I DONT THINK SO!!!This is not the Air Force, WE ARE MARINES, THE FEW THE PROUD BECAUSE OF HOW WE TRAIN, THATS THE DIFFERENCE!! 0311 3/1 KILO CAMP HORNO OEF/OIF
  3. ameriken's Avatar
    I went in 1976. I heard all of the stories about the ass-whoopings DI's would give recruits....I mean beating the crap out of them. When I went in, it was no longer allowed, but verbal abuse was ok. I think training then was about 13 weeks....something we always boasted about since the Army was only 8 weeks. Though the physical abuse was supposed to have stopped, every other form of abuse was ok. From time to time there were recruits who committed suicide or threatened suicide just so they could get out. I'd like to say I am 'old corps' but I know that those who came before me had it much harder. I am saddened to hear that political correctness is continuing to decay one of Americas proudest traditions. Boot Camp should not be a Boy Scout camp.
    Updated 03-04-10 at 08:33 PM by ameriken
  4. 6yrforMar's Avatar
    I went thru boot camp May-Aug.1965,it was really tough going,lots of PT and some ass kickin.It was one of the most difficult things that I did in my life but it was worth it.I guess nothing stays the same.I just hope the Corps.does not change or soften the training.I think all of this political correctness is going to screw everything up.
  5. ronniejr37's Avatar
    Semper Fi Marine...It was no pic-nic,,,but I actually had fun, not to sure I would do it again!!! and yeh, I remember, the peeing thing, guys crying, We also had a few recruits try to jump the fence onto Lindberg field. One recruit actually jumped the back wall to the Naval Training Center....we actually had a few mothers show up to check on their sons,,,and the thing that blew me away was the Command Staff actually let them do it, as far as I remember, they could not speak to the recruits, but they were able to see them....so I guess in the early 80's we had are lil quirks that probably would not have happened a few years earlier!!
  6. APX7000's Avatar
    My brother entered the Corps in 1978 and went to Parris Island for recruit training. His advice was to request San Diego recruit training, I did. The recruiter wanted to know how I knew about san Diego. I did my research and my brother's advice. In 1979 the Corps was very limited on funds but not limited to hard training. It was 12 week training then, I was there for almost 14 weeks in waiting for more recruits to arrive from the rest of the country to complete a series, platoon 3002. The day out drill instructer pick us up, all H@#$@!ll broke loose. A lot of the recruits were crying on the deck and asking for their mothers. They got over it as soon as the Senior Drill Instructer threw them across the squad bay. They hit us, screamed, and had us make rain from the sand pit. they had us do Foot locker drills. Several recruits were so scared the would pee next to their rack during the night. They did not need permission to make a HEAD Call during the night. To make a story short, All of us made it. But I will always remember it and I would not like to return to recruit training. Some would say it was the OLD CORPS,but it was worth it. Am proud to be a US Marine.


    Semper Fi, Marines past and present
  7. ronniejr37's Avatar
    Bravo for stating the obvious!!! I have to give you alot of credit for speaking your mind! I went through in the early 80's. Most of my drill instructors served in Vietnam with a few of the Officers (Usually Mustangs) that had combat experiance as well. When I went through bootcamp, I must say I enjoyed it but it was no fricken picnic...and it was 13 weeks! Every other word was a "four Letter word" or combination and then to top it off, I heard words coming out of the drill instructors mouths and was being called things that I had never heard before. I loved it. Then, the Drill Instructors were allowed to touch you to "Motivate" you...Im sure all of you who went thru in my generation understand what I mean by that. Then there was the Trashing/Thrashing drills and the "pit", anybody remember the "Pit"..Anybody remember the "Whiskey Locker Meetings"....What has happened to our beloved Corps Boot Camp!!! But also keep this in mind, I have had someone in my Family in the Marines since WWI..I was the first and last of my generation to be a Marine or actually enter the miltary at all! So, I have had a relative or family member in the Corps/military almost every decade since the early 1900's.....every generation or decade seems to say that the following decades get softer on the recruits and they had it much harder than us. I believe that to a point. I have had friends that joined the corps in the 90's and into 2000 up to current. It seems to me that Boot Camp started going to hell in the mid to late 90's because of all the poitical correctness crap, reduction of training funds and "we" dont want to offend anybody"...so, I think it has gone way to far and boot camp is now a retirement community....I have heard that the recruits get time outs, get breaks, and can pretty much drop out of a run or hump!!! If you could clarify this for me,,I would appreciate it. The Marines Still has the hardest and longest Bootcamp out of all branches of the military!!!! SO, as far as I'm concerned, every MARINE has earned the title MARINE and still has the best bootcamp training out of any of the other branches!!!! If you have seen the movie "FULL METAL JACKET" that as is close as it gets to what my Boot Camp was like, No kidding!! Any Marine I think would agree with me who entered in the early 1980's and prior.....It still gives me a you know what to watch the first 45 minutes of that movie,,,ooh rah MARINES!!!!!
  8. Crowe0311's Avatar
    I can't speak for boot camp these days, but I was worked over good when I went in in 1992. Plenty of cussing, and attitude adjustments. Very painful time in my life, but the most positive experience. I doubt anyone in my platoon would use the words easy when describing boot camp. Yea the pt was tough, but you were up to speed real quick, and you were able to complete it. The mental abuse......I think still lingers with me. I'll say one thing about boot camp it makes you into something you never thought you could be. And your able to draw from boot camp all your life when things get tough. I'm a proud Marine, and proud of everyone who earns the title, even if they dont't think it was hard.
  9. buddy47's Avatar
    Back in my day in the Corps as an Instructor The wimps that failed to produce would write mommy! witch in turn created a group called mothers of America! Who then would write and call the real evil and most destructive force to our Marine Corps The Politicians!!! Need I say more?
  10. SGT Hazlett's Avatar
    My 8 years in the Corps we all heard the same thing, like when the crucible started and Marines were checking in all F---ed up. Now alot of those guys are Gunny's and SSGT's. Anyway the Corps has not changed, the NCO's just need to man up and square these Marines away. Boot Camp is what you make of it, some people struggle and some have no problems. Its all about the individual and what you did before you shipped that determines that.
  11. gaboyusmc's Avatar
    one thing i did leave out i got called a pussy ***** and a mf along with other things but it still is'nt what it used to be
  12. gaboyusmc's Avatar
    i had went through parris island in 2006..i thought it was easy the hardest part for me was not being able to talk to my wife and it kinda ****ed me off that it was not was expected but now that im out i'd go back to bootcamp anytime cause it was fun as hell
  13. Quinbo's Avatar
    The proof is in the pudding. There is a member of this site, NCO at that, who is in Iraq and able to get on the computer ... yea I said it right computer... and ***** because he is cold and hasn't been laid in a week. That is the product of 21 st century kid glove training; whining about stuff you would expect a Marine to be able to handle with ease.
  14. semperfigungho's Avatar
    i was in 92-94 boot was no joke then they need to keep up rigorous training to keep up combat readiness so our brothers aint coming home in body bags
  15. Tanker2141's Avatar
    I went through boot camp in 1965. I heard rumblings about how the "new" Corps wasn't like the old days. Each generation has it's own set of values and its own set of combat readiness and tactics.

    One would like to think we are getting smarter, wiser and developing what is best for the country and the Corps.
  16. cw2533's Avatar
    I arrived at boot camp Nov 16th 1958 and from the first moment I thought I had died and went to hell. My first night was spent with my nose against a brick wall and yelling "Sir Yes Sir" That was the beginning and it got no better until we graduated. Oh yes if we screwed up we felt the pain from a punch in the gut to other things, but it didn't hurt us it made us better Marines. Semper Fi to my DI's Tech Sgt Luty, Buck Sgt Wilson and Buck Sgt Holland
  17. HiDezMarine's Avatar
    I personally have not discussed Boot Camp experiences with young Marines I have met,but I will say that my Basic training at MCRD San Diego taught me not only how to survive in the fleet,but how to conduct myself in a military manner,love for my country and love for the Marine Corps.I successfully fulfilled my obligation to my country and the Marine Corps twenty four years ago and I still present myself as if I were still in uniform.I guess you can say what I learned in Boot Camp will leave a life long impression on me.That's powerful.Thanks to my Drill instructors who were relentless,demanding,agressive sometimes overly agressive but always good teachers. God Bless our Country and God Bless the Marine Corps.
  18. 82Marine's Avatar
    I also need to chime in and say that every year it seems to get softer. I joined the Marine Corps in 1982 and even then as much as we were getting our teeth kicked in we were constantly being called the " Pepsi generation" because our senior used to tell us how much more difficult recruit training was when they went through it. " We had a DI brought up on charges of "hazing" he was eventually demoted and removed from the drill field, it was a wild time indeed but looking back I now see that, that kind of training served its purpose. "Mothers of America" have been putting political pressure on the Marine Corps to scale back on the more rigorous and emotional challenging parts of the training. I for one do not need to see a recruit permanently injured but let's be serious gentleman our enemy isn't going to do us any favors either. Just my 2 cents.
  19. RedmanEcho5's Avatar
    When the enemy is taken out by a bullet from the rifle of a gay or straight person, does it matter??
  20. advanced's Avatar
    I started PI (real Marine) Jan 67. PI was very physically and emotionally violent "When you joined the Marine Corps you gave up your lives, every day you live is another benny from the Marine Corps, God Bless the Marine Corps." We were run through the swamps and I learned to never ever be a quitter - lower than whale sh-t. We were taught to be "Born Again Hard."

    However, where they later sent us, Hue City, Arizona Territory, Happy Valley, etc. the training should have been much harder.

    But, I must admit the world has changed since then. I haven't told any of my stories in years, first nobody believes them or people looked at me like I was really strange.
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