On Drill Weekend
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  1. #1
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    On Drill Weekend

    I don't know if the Marine Corps calls it "drill" like the Army does, but what is a typical weekend during the Marine Corps "Drill" weekend? Obviously this depends on your MOS, so for the sake of this discussion, Infantry...
    Battle Drills? Weapons Qual?


  2. #2
    Are you asking about a Marine Reserve unit?


  3. #3
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    Wow, I fail.

    Yes, I am referring to a Reserve unit. How dumb could I be to not specifically address that?


  4. #4
    You do wicked sweet Marine stuff.


  5. #5
    Depends on the MOS. Typically, I'll go in way too early, clean weapons, get med crap done, take some stupid tests and starve all day. After that, do more stupid things and then go home. Get back up and repeat.


  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by polizei View Post
    Depends on the MOS. Typically, I'll go in way too early, clean weapons, get med crap done, take some stupid tests and starve all day. After that, do more stupid things and then go home. Get back up and repeat.
    Are you serious? So on those weekends all you guys really do is basically administrative/records keeping bs?


  7. #7
    For infantry, we mostly clean our weapons, and sit around. They'll give you a class or two on a variety of topics, ranging from how to set up vehicle check points, all the way to stuff about how to prevent identity fraud and suicide prevention. After that, you go out into the field, and practice what you learn. You come back from the field, clean your weapons some more, then go home.
    They're are also some drills where you'll do PFT/CFT or gas mask or any other quals you need to do for the year.


  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by BR34 View Post
    Are you serious? So on those weekends all you guys really do is basically administrative/records keeping bs?
    Well, to be fair, those are in-house drills. I have yet to do AT, or rifle qual, etc. But basically yes...I really wish I would have just gone active. I would honestly rather be out of the Corps than deal with the reserves.


  9. #9
    josephd
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    Our drills are mostly home drills. Administration, Medical, classes, and a lot of downtime. Every few months we have a field drill somewhere doing convoy security, defensive positions, patrolling, etc. Even the field drill have quite a bit of downtime.

    Being a reservist is nice for the fact that I get to live at home and live a semi-normal civilian lifestyle but for the most part being a reservist is tough. We have all the same standards and have to meet all the same qualifications as the active side but we do it in much less time each year. (ex. our rifle qual is done in one weekend vs. the 2 weeks active duty gets) And we also don't have any fire team leaders, squad leaders, platoon Sgt.'s, pushing us everyday week in week out to stay in check. Its all on our own time.


  10. #10
    Man being a reservist dosn't sound like fun


  11. #11
    well im in engineer and we have gone to Peru Honduras for at done projects for the local bases but yes there is alot bs


  12. #12
    Lol Echo, it really isn't. Not to mention the lack of a paycheck and unemployment because of the horrible economy. Man I was rich when I was training. LOL! Now I'm broke!


  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by polizei View Post
    Depends on the MOS. Typically, I'll go in way too early, clean weapons, get med crap done, take some stupid tests and starve all day. After that, do more stupid things and then go home. Get back up and repeat.
    That sounds like a great time.


  14. #14
    Being a reservist isn’t a bad thing guys. Now depending on how the battalion and company are run, it can be very good training. It is however typically long and sometimes over done, but you can get a good deal of things out of it. I would never have gotten the chances I have in the corps if I had started out on active duty. I was however a reservist (officially) who was on active duty for 5 or the 6 yrs in my contract. I was able to go to a TON of schools and whenever you want to you can volunteer to augment with another unit to deploy. You have a plethora of things at your disposal, you just have to figure out how to use them and how to get things out of it you want. Being able to go to the schools is the biggest thing. Not very many active duty marines get the chances as the reservist to because of their op tempo. Check into some things with your training NCO and with the I&I staff and you will find there is a lot more to offer than you think. Semper


  15. #15
    As much as I LOVE to *****, and do I mean LOVE to ***** about drill when I am there, and sometimes with reason, it really isn't that bad. I guess it depends who you are with though. My unit has a good reputation for being squared away, and some guys from other units which will remain nameless said it reflected very well during our summer annual training with them.

    Yea, there are definitely the in house drills which suck. These usually take place in the winter. And yea, when you concentrate the stupid stuff that needs to get done all for the whole year all in one place, hey, it sucks. This is not to say we never do good training. In the little over a year I've been with my unit, I've done 240 shoots, Mark shoots, a couple 50 cal shoots, fired live AT4s and SMAWs, yes real rockets. We are mounted so additionally we have done MOUT using vehicles which is pretty cool. Oh, and I am taking the drivers course as well.

    Our last summer AT "sucked" according to everyone, but that is just because we were in the field for two weeks straight. I still think we covered some pretty cool scenarios, but maybe it is because I am/was new.

    In terms of schools and stuff, a ton of guys have done combat lifesavers (like EMT). A few guys did a course where they had to keep pigs alive after they suffered "combat wounds," etc. This summer we are all going to mountain warfare school.

    It really does vary unit by unit based off people I talked to, and just like anywhere in the Marine Corps you will have your stupid crap, but I wouldn't discount it all together if you are looking to be doing something at the same time (school, good job, new family, etc). If you don't have anything else planned I would definitely say go active.

    About what SilentWarrior was saying, we have NCOs in my unit who have deployed more than active guys ever could have in the same time frame from hopping on every deployment that came around. Your ability to do that will depend on the op-cycle, but it is doable.

    Mike


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