Honor Grad info

[robbyj]

I would like to try to be the honor grad when I leave boot camp, I know that I need perfect CFT/PFT/Rifle range scores to be a candidate for it, but what should I know for the knowledge part? And should I know anything else for that matter?

[BGW]

Its more then that, and its quite impossible to try to prepare for it. So you shouldnt even be trying to aim for something like this, its just pointless. One you have to be the guide of your platoon, and keep it. Then at the end of boot camp they take all the guides of the company and do little tests. Its more on testing knowledge I believe.

I am sure you aware of this but squad leaders and guides are always replaced. A platoon can go through so many in boot camp. You can get fired over some real stupid ****. So if you trying to leave boot camp as a LCpl I wouldnt worry about it. Of course it never hurts to try to prepare by studying knowledge.

[BadAce2212]

So if you trying to leave boot camp as a LCpl I wouldnt worry about it. .

Not to say it doesnt happen, but the only recruit I've ever heard of that came out of boot as a LCpl had prior service in another branch.So many things come in effect when it comes to honor grad. In my opinion you should just focus on being guide and KEEPING it. I was guide from TD-1 up until grass week when the PMI's started jokin around with my platoon. SDI felt like I wasnt meant for guide because I didnt keep my platoon in check. Long story short maintaining your guide status will be a task in itself.

[YourPhoneIsMine]

you don't need a perfect pft/cft/rifle score for it but the few points could mean the difference

then again our company honorman was a sharpshooter; he took it because he'd spend a few months in medical with a broken bone and nothing to do but study knowledge

[joseywales]

What do you care about being an honor grad, you aren't even a Marine yet, hell, you may not even make it thru the Crucible.
Instead of all these grandiose plans, just go to boot and do your best.
What do you want after that, brevet major general?????

[Marine3451]

What do you care about being an honor grad, you aren't even a Marine yet, hell, you may not even make it thru the Crucible.
Instead of all these grandiose plans, just go to boot and do your best.
What do you want after that, brevet major general?????

Na, He is going to be the next Commandant by TD-15 in boot camp. He will be given the CMH for completly owning the MCMAP Bayonet course. Heck they will probuly get meritorious SgtMaj in recieving before stepping off the yellow footprints for being a complete bad azz

[robbyj]

Thank you to those who gave me a serious answer.

To those who didn't, so sorry I want to be the best that I can and take my career in the military as far as I can.

[YourPhoneIsMine]

lol don't apologize, nothing wrong with asking questions. either way, worrying about honor grad isn't worth it. mainly because the only time it will matter will be the day you graduate. after that no one gives a flying ****doodle who took honor grad because it has absolutely no bearing on your job performance in the fleet

[PJones64]

No, don't apologize, they were just letting you know what your next logical progression would probably be

[Baker1971]

Youre not gonna believe this but one guy in our platoon made DI out of boot camp. You could try for that.

[Tennessee Top]

Study the knowledge booklet your recruiter gave you.

There are also some knowledge sticky's in the poolee forums here.

If you don't mind spending a few dollars, you can order the "Guidebook for Marines" from grunt.com which has all the essential subjects in it. If it's not in that book, you will not be tested on it. You will have to take the essential subjects written test annually in the fleet anyway so this would be a good investment for the future and something you can use.

Good luck. Report back to us after you earn the title and let us know if you attained your goal. Your odds are certainly better than a recruit with the attitude of only doing enough to get by and that will probably be 80% of your platoon. Another 10% will strive for excellence but just can't shoot, score well on a written test, or run a high PFT/CFT. So, you may be only competing against 10% of the other recruits in your platoon. Remember though, it's just not scores involved. Probably a bigger factor is your leadership ability (as a couple examples above indicated). Just because you can shoot a rifle, take a test, or are in great physical shape, does not mean you can lead other men effectively (I could be wrong about this; they may figure honor grad solely based on scores...platoon guide/squad leader are leadership billets).

Note: I was honor grad coming out of Marine Security Guard school as a Detachment Commander and they only figured my pistol score, PFT, and academic GPA when determining honor grad. As a "reward", they sent me to the hot spot in the battalion at that time...Port au Prince, Haiti!

[Sgt Leprechaun]

And disregard the smartazz commentary. It's not a stupid question by any means. Said responses have been deleted as unhelpful. Said posters also need to read the rules of this forum....they aren't just for the wannabees. Further violations will be dealt with....harshly.

[robbyj]

Study the knowledge booklet your recruiter gave you.


If you don't mind spending a few dollars, you can order the "Guidebook for Marines" from grunt.com which has all the essential subjects in it. If it's not in that book, you will not be tested on it. You will have to take the essential subjects written test annually in the fleet anyway so this would be a good investment for the future and something you can use.

Good luck. Report back to us after you earn the title and let us know if you attained your goal. Your odds are certainly better than a recruit with the attitude of only doing enough to get by and that will probably be 80% of your platoon. Another 10% will strive for excellence but just can't shoot, score well on a written test, or run a high PFT/CFT. So, you may be only competing against 10% of the other recruits in your platoon. Remember though, it's just not scores involved. Probably a bigger factor is your leadership ability (as a couple examples above indicated). Just because you can shoot a rifle, take a test, or are in great physical shape, does not mean you can lead other men effectively (I could be wrong about this; they may figure honor grad solely based on scores...platoon guide/squad leader are leadership billets).

Note: I was honor grad coming out of Marine Security Guard school as a Detachment Commander and they only figured my pistol score, PFT, and academic GPA when determining honor grad. As a "reward", they sent me to the hot spot in the battalion at that time...Port au Prince, Haiti!

I been studying the knowledge from the booklet daily, recorded it onto my phone and I brainwash myself with it LOL.

Thanks for all the into and that part about Haiti is some good moto, unfortunately I won't be able to report back with a title seeing how my boot date is all the way in November, kinda lame but more time to prepare.



Will do Sergeant, don't see why people are getting on me for it, my recruiter told me to hold myself to a higher standard than everyone else and be the best that you can be.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Nothing wrong with setting a goal by any means. Keep at it. JUST...don't work yourself up into a frenzy if you don't get it. In the great scheme of things, it's cool to say, but once you hit the FMF, being 'honorman' won't mean a whole lot. No offense to any honormen of course, but you'll have to prove yourself no matter what.

[KnifeHands]

The quest for honor grad: First, you need to be a platoon guide. I can't speak for all training companies at MCRD, but the one I was in held a Series Guide board. The Chief Drill Instructor and the series' Senior Drill Instructors asked several basic knowledge questions and we did look at PFT/CFT/Rifle scores. We also evaluated the recruits on bearing and military appearance. Once each series guide was determined, we held a Company Honor Man board with the two remaining series guides. One of them won, and he was the company honor man.