Rifle UNK meritoriously promoted to Pfc. !

[hussaf]

Man, it sure is easy to become a Marine. Hopefully with the recruiting quota being more than full, they will get a little more stringent on recruit training standards. Guys in my boot platoon got rolled if they failed an event...I don't know of too many guys getting actually dropped from boot though. With the exception of a couple injuries, a head case, and a guy that died during the Crucible (well the march back, actually).

[commdog7]

Every once in a while recruits shoots themselves in the head on the rifle range, I've heard plenty of stories. Most of the time, they just stoot themselves in the foot so they can be sent home.

There was this one recruit I remember hearing about who missed the foot and shot himself in the knee. He had sight alignment and sight picture, but lacked common sense as to where exactly the muzzle was pointing.

[sparkie]

Holy ****, I remember hearing about that. Is this the guy who was the guide and was afraid he was going to UNk, and kept asking the guy "how many rounds you got left" before he grabbed the rifle and stuck it in his mouth?

Didn.t think that stuff happened anymore. Sounds like the old days.

[Quinbo]

Maybe he had his heart set on being an 0331 so went unq on the range

[devilbones]

Holy ****, I remember hearing about that. Is this the guy who was the guide and was afraid he was going to UNk, and kept asking the guy "how many rounds you got left" before he grabbed the rifle and stuck it in his mouth?

I was on the ammo can keeping score and he was asking the guy on the line 'Is your weapon on safe?' and they guy on the line was in the prone because we were at the 500 yard line and he turned to him and was like 'yeah'. Next thing I know he jumps off the can and runs to the line puts the other guys muzzle in his mouth, reaches down and pulls the trigger while its in the other guys hands. I saw the 'Pink Mist' that everyone hears about. I called cease fire and ran to the line to give him CPR but blood was coming out of his ear like a faucet and brain ooozing out the back of his head. Ironically enough the guy who was holding the rifle shot expert.

[thewookie]

Relax, I unked TWICE at bootcamp. I'm sure if I missed it the third time that I was going back. But, BFD, I made it. Then, after getting some eyeballs in the fleet and going to the 1st of two PMI schools I went to, I finished my eight years with 6 straight experts with rifle and 3 with the pistol. Blah, blah, blah.... BFD - some guys take longer to learn and maybe the DI's saw something else.....

[firedog974]

I was on the ammo can keeping score and he was asking the guy on the line 'Is your weapon on safe?' and they guy on the line was in the prone because we were at the 500 yard line and he turned to him and was like 'yeah'. Next thing I know he jumps off the can and runs to the line puts the other guys muzzle in his mouth, reaches down and pulls the trigger while its in the other guys hands. I saw the 'Pink Mist' that everyone hears about. I called cease fire and ran to the line to give him CPR but blood was coming out of his ear like a faucet and brain ooozing out the back of his head. Ironically enough the guy who was holding the rifle shot expert.

Man, that is wild. It was one of those stories I heard while in boot (It supposedly happened while I was going through). I thought it was one of those wild "boot tales" you always hear about. It is crazy that after all these years I find out it is actually true.

[Garyius]

I had the Civil Air Patrol Mitchell award (went to a air force style boot camp/summer camp on an AFB and learned to march) and when I joined the Corps I was an E-2 as soon as I swore in at MEPS. I missed the whole E-1 under 4 months pay thing in bootcamp-- which ended up being a lot of money for an 18 year old.

[Old Marine]

How is,or at least was,it possible for a recruit who was a third phase practest unk and a double rifle unk to be meritoriously promoted to Pfc. upon graduation from boot-camp?

Mainly because Boot Camp is very soft these days. I rest my case.

[thewookie]

Mainly because Boot Camp is very soft these days. I rest my case.

Just to be clear; I don't think the kid should have graduated meritorious anything. But, overall DI's are putting out a pretty good product these days, (considering the world we're living in and the product they're receiving) and grasping and applying of the fundamentals of marksmanship (to USMC levels) isn't uncommon, at the Depots.

I'll gladly take a non-shooter out of bootcamp and fix him; however, if they leave bootcamp as a physical or mental failure -- then those turds cause the Corps reputation far greater harm. IMHO

I think most would agree that over-time they shot better in their careers.

[echo3oscar1833]

Relax, I unked TWICE at bootcamp. I'm sure if I missed it the third time that I was going back. But, BFD, I made it. Then, after getting some eyeballs in the fleet and going to the 1st of two PMI schools I went to, I finished my eight years with 6 straight experts with rifle and 3 with the pistol. Blah, blah, blah.... BFD - some guys take longer to learn and maybe the DI's saw something else.....

Agree, it takes some people longer to learn, its just the nature of the beast. Qual week during boot I shot crappy all week, then on Qual Day I concentrated hard on what I learned, and shot Sharpshooter. I was pretty happy about being able to shoot Sharpshooter. When I was in the fleet about two months or so I had to go to the range to requal. Shot Expert that time, not because I was lucky, but because I applied what I learned in boot, and what I learned during practice during that qual. Then right before I got out in 03 I had to requal agian. I shot pretty good all week, then on Qual Day, I had the flu or something. I was so sick could hardly see straight, but using what I was taught I was able to pull off Marksman. As Wookie said its all about repitition, and practice. That story about the recruit busting his grape open with someone elses rifle while they where holding it is freaking crazy stuff. Semper!!

[echo3oscar1833]

Mainly because Boot Camp is very soft these days. I rest my case.

I agree with your point that Boot Camp is softer than what it was in your day Gunny. However on that note, I think the Marines that are comming out of Boot Camp, are just as good as in the past. Its evident in the wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan. We may not do it like the Old Corps, but we accomplish the mission that we are tasked to complete. Just a different time Gunny, nothing more nothing less.

[Wyoming]

Unks happen.

A lot depends on needs of the Corps.

Unks did not wash out in the mid 60's.

The little conflict in SE Asia was going on, and bodies were needed.

[commdog7]

Mainly because Boot Camp is very soft these days. I rest my case.

Boot camp was harder during your generation and even thougher in the previous generation, this argument has been going on since the days of Tun Tavern. But you know what, we always get the job done no matter what generation we were in. We win wars, and that has been and always will be the nature of the Corps.

[sgthebert]

hate to say it this way....however back in my day '74 he would have been set back and not allowed to graduate until he qualified!