I am 27 and seriously considering joining Marines. - Page 2
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  1. #16
    Marine Friend Free Member MarinaEukel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zulu 36 View Post
    Thanks. It's horrible that any child has to go through things like that. I saw the effects of such things on children when I was in Vietnam and as a police officer.

    Age can often have much to do with feeling fear. Fear is mostly a learned reaction. For instance, babies are not naturally afraid of many things, such as bugs, snakes, etc. But when little, if they see people reacting in a fearful fashion to those things, they learn that those things are to be feared.

    As we get older, and are exposed to more experiences, we can start to recognize things on own own that may be dangerous and should be feared (or at least well respected). We might also learn that some of our childhood fears are silly and lose them. However, being among familiar surroundings and people can often reduce that fear, because you feel more protected and comfortable.

    Fear is not a bad thing, in moderation. Uncontrolled fear leads to panic and that can lead quickly to death. Some fear in a dangerous situation means you are alert to the danger, some bodily senses become more acute (usually hearing and eyesight).

    In your case, I would have to guess as a young teen you were not completely aware of what was going on, but being among friends helped to keep you calm. Also, younger people just seem to have the attitude that "It won't happen to me."

    As you said, now you wouldn't do such a thing again. You've learned from experience that a bunch of people shooting at you is dangerous.

    But I have known people who are capable of controlling their fear to such a great extent as to seem fearless. They've done that through much realistic training, similar dangerous exposure (experience), and high self-confidence in their abilities under stress. Many could also mentally separate the dangerous and concentrate on the job they need to do. That mental toughness only comes from preparation.

    I could go on for pages (controlling fear under extreme stress has been one of my major research interests for years). But this should do.

    If you want to go a little deeper in this I suggest you read: The Gift of Fear, by Gavin DeBecker. You can get it on Amazon.com or a reasonably sized bookstore (its in paperback). It is also available on Kindle at Amazon.

    Also, to improve your ASVAB scores, at the same bookstore or at Amazon, there are books with practice ASVAB tests that you can drill yourself on.
    Thank you Zulu for taking your time to respond to me. I will check out the book at some point. Now my days are packed with studding for ASVAB, full time job and working my ... off so I can keep up with 18 years old. I want to go now, but discouraged as I think it will take me a while of preparation for the test. I feel almost to take the test and get any job available. Anyways, off the subject. The feeling of fear will probably be in my got ones I experience war again. I will let you know.


  2. #17
    Marine Friend Free Member MarinaEukel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wildwoman73 View Post
    Hope this helps.
    Thank you wildwoman73, your responds to my questions are useful and practical. You made good point about death. I think as long as I get in I will make it, the physical part worries me the most, the mental part I think I can take it. I just hope I can survive with four hours of sleep and still have strength. Do women must preform as well as men do? Example will be the amount of sit ups, push ups, etc?


  3. #18
    Hell, boot camp is mostly a mental game anyway. If you aren't worried about those and you are fairly fit, you should be good.


  4. #19
    Marine Friend Free Member MarinaEukel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jp2usmc View Post
    Hell, boot camp is mostly a mental game anyway. If you aren't worried about those and you are fairly fit, you should be good.

    Thank you, that sounds promising, nevertheless I herd Marines training got tougher. I am fit, I work out at least 3 times a week, however I am biker not a runner, never have been a runner. I could have out biked even drill instructor probably. However, that will not help me as much as if I have been a runner. Never too late to learn or train.


  5. #20
    Are you working with a recruiter Marina? They can explain the differences between the male and female physical fitness tests.

    Once you take the oath of enlistment, you will be in the delayed entry program until you ship to bootcamp and will attend regular meetings with your recruiters. At the meetings, you will study some of the knowledge you'll need at bootcamp and you'll also do physical training to prepare your body (including running).

    I was just at Parris Island last week and during the commander's brief, he told us the average age of drill instructors is 26 so they are about the same age as you. And yes, they are as tough as nails! Many people we talked to said the female DI's are tougher on their female recruits than the male DI's are on their male recruits. My personal opinion is the female platoons marched and drilled better and sounded off louder than the male platoons we saw. I was extremely impressed with the female recruits at Parris Island.

    As long as you are in excellent health and decent physical condition, I believe you will do fine at bootcamp.

    Good luck to you.


  6. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by MarinaEukel View Post
    Thank you wildwoman73, your responds to my questions are useful and practical. You made good point about death. I think as long as I get in I will make it, the physical part worries me the most, the mental part I think I can take it. I just hope I can survive with four hours of sleep and still have strength. Do women must preform as well as men do? Example will be the amount of sit ups, push ups, etc?

    Don't worry about the sleep deprivation. I think lights out for us was like
    9pm? Revele was 5am. That is a LONG time to sleep. But for the first several weeks it won't feel like it. I remember putting my head on my rack and closing my eyes and feeling like I JUST went to sleep. You sleep hard. You sleep well. The only time it stinks is when you have fire watch. A recruit starts out at lights out and another takes over each hour on the hour. Best bet is to have it very first or very last.

    When the DI's go in their hut, the recruits sneak out of their racks to square away the next days uniforms or whatever they may need to do. I'm not saying every night is like that. There is a general rule and it has been years since I went to boot camp. There are certain training exercises where sleep deprivation is part of it.

    Do not stress over the physical excercise. You'd be suprised the shape some come in. There were girls twice as thin as I was but puked 1/2 mile into a JOG. And I ran faster and further than that to the beer store my first year in college!! So don't let that stress you out. Do your best to feel healthy and energetic now. As far as keeping up or being completely fit prior to boot camp...it's never going to happen. Like I said, their job is to completely break you down and help you build yourself back up. And they will do it. Having some kind of endurance is only going to help. But you will never be in good enough shape to breeze through the physical exercises.

    If you are a smoker...give it up now. If you like sweets...give it up now.

    Men and women. There are quite a few threads on this site with some pretty intense debate. Men as a whole are just stronger than women. We may think better under physical and mental stress than they do, but simply, men are dominant in strength. When I was in, the physical fitness tests were different between men and women. Now, there is not so much difference. There may be in the scoring of physical fitness tests, but as far as daily PT...they will push you to the limits and usually far beyond what your requirements are. Just makes it better for when you are actually being scored. When I was in boot camp, there was very little being around male recruits. Not sure if they still keep it that way.

    As far as performance comparison between men and women...there will always be a handful of women, boot camp or in the fleet that will blow a group of men out of the water. But for the most part, men are just stronger.


  7. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by MarinaEukel View Post
    Thank you for you comment. Humiliation is the least of my concerns. As a 18 year old girl I would have probably talked back and got foot in my rear end for my impulsiveness and arrogance. However, I believe I am at the point of my life where I can control my impulses and emotions as well as take any humiliation and yelling. I know for a fact that drill instructor is certainly stronger and tougher then me, so it would be wise to listen, obey and learn. If my boss at work will be younger then me but way knowledgeable why wouldn't I pay my respect. Anyways, I think I can do that, I rather go and fail then live all my life thinking whether I would have made it.
    Sounds like you have the right attitude. This is what makes a great Marine. The rest will fall into place, and be instilled in you by your drill instructors. Humility (not to be confused with timidity) is important, especially for older recruits.

    You are getting close to the cut off age. Now is the time before the entrance requirements for women get raised again. As of this year most recruiting stations can only accept women who score a 50 or above on the ASVAB.


  8. #23
    1. I am interested how old where you when you enlisted?
    I was 24 when I enlisted and turned 25 during boot camp.

    2. where there women of my age, if yes how are they perceived?
    There were several of us in our mid-twenties. I think it was easier emotionally because we didn't have home sickness issues. We'd been living away from home for many years. You also have enough maturity to realize that the games are games, and you aren't really running back and forth in the squadbay because so and so was too slow.

    The hard part with the age thing is when you get into the fleet. Your peers are all 18 or 19 and you are 27. The people who are your age are SNCO's, and you can't hang with them. It's harder to get close to people. It's like a time warp back to high school in some ways.

    3. what physical shape where you, and how did you make it?
    Pretty good shape, but it gets better at boot. Get in as good of shape as you can, but you as long as you meet the IST standards, you'll go into training. The DI's will take it from there.

    4. How did you deal with your menstrual cycle, hygiene and symptoms wise? Sorry gentlemen if you are reading this, probably unpleasant, but I need to know.
    Didn't get it in boot. If you think you might get it in the first few days or have it when you leave, take stuff to last you a couple days.

    5. What score did you get on ASVAB pretest? mine was humiliatingly low, although I am intellegent person, not academically apparently. In addition, English is my second language, but I can not use this excuse of cause, nevertheless it makes it a bit harder.
    Just take it again. You'll be fine.


  9. #24
    You had better see a recruiter soon as I think you are on the fence with your age.


  10. #25
    Good answers, keep 'em comin all!

    I, too highly advise The Gift of Fear. Great book.


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