My boot camp experience... (Very Long, but everything you need to know!)

[yellowwing]

I only saw 4th BN out training once. They ran by our platoon singing cadence. After months of not seeing any females, it suddenly felt like the Twilight Zone with 70 women singing at the top of their lungs.

[Fubar5812]

MOTO!!!

thank you,an amazing read...very motivating.

[RockSteady85]

I only saw 4th BN out training once. They ran by our platoon singing cadence. After months of not seeing any females, it suddenly felt like the Twilight Zone with 70 women singing at the top of their lungs.

Except Rod Serling wasn't there at the end, infamously smoking his cigarette

[Achped]

That was probably the best and most accurate thing I have ever read about recruit training. You hit it right on the head. You are a very descriptive and good writer. I liked how you described all the smells and everything, it gave me chills just reading it!
That's sad that you didn't get to stand on the yellow footprints though!
Receiving was literally the worst few days of my life. I still believe that. I hated that feeling of confusion and not being in control. When we had to go back to the receiving building the week of graduation to fill out all that paperwork about our orders and all, I remember getting a really unsettling feeling about being there.

And all the advice that you give about just doing what you're told and sounding off is completely true, but sadly most people forget all about that when they're being yelled at. Survival mode tends tends to kick in and people forget about being smart and logical about things.

I don't think that the females are more disciplined when it comes to looking at the males. I was always looking at them to see if I recognized anyone. And everytime I saw one that I did know, I'd just kind of glane and acknowledge him. They were all stupid and for some reason though it was ok to wave at me and say "Hey Vickie!" I don't know what their DIs told them was acceptable, but they'd get mad at me for not smiling and waving at them. I knew I'd get killed if I did, but for some reason they seemed to think it was ok.
I do remember a lot of male recruits getting yelled at at the chow hall at the range though.

That's what I mean! Male recruits are either stupid or undisciplined, you guys NEVER even payed us a glance from what I could see. But we were always oogling and drooling when you guys would walk by. Yumm....

As for the smells, do you know what I'm talking about? In the receiving building? Tell me that place wasn't a smell in its own. Just an erie feeling like, I've never smelled this before...wtf is it?

Garrison please, you spent 50% of your time at medical. I seen your ass everytime I went for med refills! =D

Hahaha, whats up man? Whats your MOS? What are you doing? Haven't talked to you since boot!

Yeah, you know me. I bought out all my DIs so I'd graduate squad leader.

[yellowwing]

As for the smells, do you know what I'm talking about? In the receiving building? Tell me that place wasn't a smell in its own. Just an erie feeling like, I've never smelled this before...wtf is it?

A giant room full of new leather and new wool. They must treat them with some chemical reservative.

Even today when I smell new wool, I get a twinge of anxiety.

[BR34]

No, no, no...it smells like a library with freshly scuzzed floors!

[AMW]

To be honest, females aren't the ones that seem to have the problem, they're way more disciplined than the males when it comes to that. They can go all day without giving us a glance, but we can freaking smell you guys marching down the road (NO JOKE. Your shampoo or whatever you guys wear, we can smell that stuff haha)

Haha well after you're around a bunch of guys for that long of time I think ANYTHING would smell better than that. That's funny you say the female recruits are more disciplined, a Marine from my RSS just got back after 14 weeks on the island (unked on the rifle range) and she said the only time she was ever afraid for her life was on the rifle range, there were so many males to look at she was terrified she was gonna inadvertently smile at one of them, and those ever present DI's would catch her. She swore up and down they had magic mirrors they could see behind themselves with, because she could NOT figure out how they would see EVERYTHING.

[LeonardLawrence]

We bumped into the 4th Battalion at the range. Our Freaking Motivated DI one day after showers had the entire platoon moon the recruits as they walked by our squad bay. All recruits reported to Port side.

Have not been able to find the commands "Drop, Towels" in the drill manual since, so I think it was a special DI thing. Funny as hell, but to this day I am suprised there was no complaint made...maybe more disciplined and they didn't see us?

[Covey_Rider]

Male Marines noses have an acute sense towards certain things...women, food, and libo (yes, somehow libo has a smell..) I know all you Marines out there perk up every time a women walks buy with freshly sprayed perfume. I still do it, I track it...the hunt is on when it is smelled...like a shark getting the sent of blood. Anyways...yeah.

[KRenee87]

Thanks Achped! This was a very helpful. You did make me laugh when mentioning the female in the lunch room. Heck, I'm still laughing.

[Achped]

Oh, and that's another thing. Never call anything by their civilian names.

Some idiot recruit in like, our eleventh week on the island asked for permission to use the bathroom.

The DI just looked at him blankly and was like "What the hell is a bathroom? You leave my island in two weeks, you'll be a Marine on Saturday, and you're still calling it a mother f******* bathroom? Jesus Christ now I KNOW I'm wasting my life. You pieces of **** are hopeless!"

It was hysterical haha.

Depending on your DIs, 3rd phase will be really, "relaxed"? For example, once we finished our 1st week of 3rd phase our senior and heavy didn't pit or quarterdeck us....at all I don't think. The first week of third phase, BWT, we got killed lol, but the quarterdecking was pretty much over. Our heavy explained to us at this point, we're already Marines without the title. Our habits weren't going to change, getting in a recruits phase at this point didn't have an effect at all, we were all used to it. The only thing I can remember them doing to us was making us do up downs in our charlies and alphas before the inspection and family day. (THAT sucked lol)

Your kill hat though, well, he'll be a crazy insane machine until you leave the island. Once, he actually got in the pit with us, did every exercise faster and harder than all of us did, and ran around Hotel and Golf company's squad bay TWICE and sprinting speed....and THAT MOTHER FREAKER STILL WASNT EVEN OUT OF BREATH! We were in awe.

Then he ran inside, and by the time we got in the squad bay he'd showered and changed over to fresh new cammies and was STILL going nuts.

[MsMaeAlabama]

That is actually the most informative thing I have read so far. Also, a lot more helpul than my dad's "we know you'll do fine, and run" speech or my step dad's "just don't you dare quit" speech. I feel a little bit more prepared, well that's not really the word, I'm pretty sure you can't be completely prepared, but I feel a little bit less anxious about going. Thanks!

[killerinstinct]

well there werent any females on SD you just got to see planes leaving while you are stillt ehre and houses on the hills saying hey look theres outside life but you arent a part of it.

The only female i saw was our company corpsman i ended up seeing her in the fleet but even the corpsman are mean. But in the fleet she was cool

[zackmerc]

You are lucky Achped. On Graduation day, the drill instructor I admired was no where to be found. I was hoping to shake his hand one last time and take a picture with him. Looks like you had no trouble finding yours.

[bgsuwoody]

I'll ditto what ZackMerc had to say. I couldn't find my DI's, but then again after a short look around, I just wanted to get the hell out of there lol. I will get pictures up soon, and I may do something just like this with more helpful advice...actually knowing me I surely will. Nice read though Achped