Things are finally coming together

[Wockwock-impmh]

Enlisting has not been easy.

I started at in late 2011 with a recruiter in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was in town living with a sister and trying to get a job. I finally got the balls to call a Marine recruiter. a certain Sgt Tyrone Griffin. Sgt Griffin was very helpful and encouraging, and let me do PT with his Poolees, and even attend a Pool Function. I think was more to see if I would follow through after I realized that it wasn't all fun and games.

Well, first thing I did was the Combat Fitness Test, which kicked my sorry ass. I was 6'4'' and 234lbs, and the most nasty piece of civilian scum ever to darken his doorway.

It was mostly the run. Yeah, definitely the run. 880 yards of torture. Ended up walking the last 100 yards because I was such a puss-cake. Can you believe that? Couldn't even finish like a man.

Anyway, I worked out at my sister's apartment every day, and went to every other PT session. Over the course of 3 months, I lost 64lbs, stopping dead on 170lbs.

The recruitment wasn't really going anywhere on paper. I had a few medical issues as a kid. Tubes in my ears, a hernia operation, and possibly asthma. All of those papers were 200 miles away, and coordinating getting them back would be near-impossible. I had to leave Cincinnati anyway because I hadn't been able to get a job, or even an interview. Psh.

So I came back to southern KY. Twiddled my thumbs and wondered what to do next. I talked with an Army recruiter with little enthusiasm. It seemed like the Marine guy was always out, and I didn't have a cell or home phone. After a year of screwing around I got motivated to move in with another sister, also 200 miles away, and go to college.

I go, I apply, I do the testing, yadda dee da. Everything is looking good. She ends up kicking me out because her husband preferred to hang out with me than be nagged by her. Who figured?

So, back to live with pops. Soon after, I stopped by the Armed Forces Career Center to see the Marine recruiter. Turns out there's a new guy working there, Sgt Christopher Lyons.

Aside from some communication problems, we slowly get what he needs. Homeschool transcripts were a biggie. I helped dad scrape together $100 for a Pulmonary Function Test, which went well. They said that it looked like I had asthma as a kid, but didn't have it anymore.

An IST with Sgt Lyons went better than I expected. I did 0 pullups, and ran 1.5 miles in 15 minutes. Did 51 crunches.

Sgt Lyons suggested loads of stuff for beginning to do pullups. I got a doorframe pullup bar and can do 1 pullup now.

I've managed to shave my run time down to a 9-minute rather than 10-minute mile. I've gotten better at pacing myself, and being able to run a mile and a half at all is a recent achievement. I haven't being doing many crunches, but will focus on them after I do 5 pullups, which is my biggest deficiency.

I've gained some weight back, and am holding steady at 190lbs. Sgt Lyons submitted my papers to MEPS a few weeks ago and we're awaiting a response from MEPS. I'm hitting the books again in order to have it fresh in my mind when I do go to MEPS. I got a 64 on the practice ASVAB, and think I can do better.

All in all, progress. I don't think I'll ever reach a point where I stop and say I'm 'good enough'. Do better. Do better! C'mon puss, do better!

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[Baker1971]

Your still around ?

Good for you. How old are you now, 30 ?

[FoxtrotOscar]

He hasn't quit...

That in itself is a "Positive"..

There is always room for improvement...!!!

Go for it Wock-Wock... Let us know your progress...

[Wockwock-impmh]

I'm not 30 lol. I just turned 21 this May.

Nice to see you again, FoxtrotOscar. It has been far too long!

All in all, my biggest weakness isn't physical. That's just a symptom of having low motivation. Being in the middle of nowhere with no friends, almost never hearing from my recruiter can be disheartening.

But now I'm back online, so I'll have all of you to answer to. Semper Honorabilis, and thanks for the support!

~Friedrich

[chulaivet1966]

Enlisting has not been easy.All in all, progress. I don't think I'll ever reach a point where I stop and say I'm 'good enough'. Do better. Do better! C'mon puss, do better!

Don't ever lose sight of the above.

To become a Marine you will need true heart.
Many of gone before you and you'll be training with a new platoon of wannabe's just like yourself.
You are now in pursuit of something no one can take from you....earning the title of U.S. Marine.

That's it.....good luck.

Carry on....

[Baker1971]

Only 21 ? Go for it. You been this far already. I thought you were older than that for some reason.

Best of luck to you.

[Kegler300]

This is the kind of drive and commitment the Marine Corps is looking for.

[Baker1971]

[Wockwock-impmh]

Just an update, I've been having trouble getting in touch with Sgt Lyons. The last I heard, he had submitted my papers to MEPS and was waiting for a reply.

I haven't been able to go to Somerset for a while because of intermittent car trouble, and I can't seem to get him to call me. I know he has a lot of recruits going through his office, but I'm really wondering why nothing is happening.

As far as fitness, I haven't run much faster than a 9-minute mile. I bought a new pair of shoes just for running, and I'm glad to report that they are now almost completely bald on the bottom. Pullups are still my bane. Flailing at the bar in a rather pathetic attempt to get my chin over doesn't seem to do much for my upper body strength. My Uncle Pat, a Marine for something like 8 years now, recommended a barbell which I'm scraping money together for. Probably won't be able to get one until after Christmas.

On the plus side, I'm now at 60 crunches.

I've never really talked it over with him, but the question of what I'll do in the Corps is lingering in my mind. It seems like so many recruits want to be infantry, even if they won't particularly like it. I want to do what I'm good at, and I don't know what that is exactly.

The truth is that I've been wondering if I'm cut out for this. Not being able to even hit the 3 pullup mark has really discouraged me. I do my best thinking just before falling asleep, and have been doing a self-analysis.

I don't have a herculean master physique. I'm on the weak side. I've got decent endurance, and walking a few miles for groceries has happened enough times. A 10-mile walk to the library has happened, as has a 12-mile hump through the rocky hills around the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River during a thunderstorm. Enjoyable, even, in their own footsore way.

My family all say I'm smart, but that's often just in comparison to them. I really suck at math, honestly. Science is usually wasted on me. What do I know that would be useful to the Corps? Good grammar? Pfah. It doesn't seem like the Marines need a warehouse of solved Rubik's cubes. Unless they're used as training grenades. Is that funny? Not really. I make a lot of stupid jokes.

I've got firm reasoning skills and a good intuition. What I don't know for a fact can usually be guessed with the combination of both. I'm a great judge of character and integrity. I don't have many close friends, and I'm fine with that.

Am I a leader? Not particularly. The real question would be if I'm a good leader or not. I don't think I've shown a natural ability to lead. I've bungled things before, and I despise screwups. If there's nobody more qualified I'll take the reins, and give 100% effort to the task at hand.

I've done enough dirty jobs not to mind muck. If I take issue with a job, I don't show it except in private talk with the person giving it to me. I do my best to stay in my own lane.

I adapt to new circumstances quickly and easily. I went camping recently. It started as a disaster. Cloudy, 40°F, miserably damp. The place that sold firewood was closed for the weekend. Got a party and scavenged wood from the brush, got it going and drying out. Cooked some awesome metts. Off to sleep, which was chilly but invigorating. Cheesy eggs and a 5-mile hike the next morning. Diddly dum. Citygoers humbug.

Sooo, I dunno. I'm used to hard living. Going without. I live in a big meth area. Lots of break-ins, and the occasional murder. One guy in the trailer park across from where I live stomped his wife to death. The feud era is still around here. If someone thinks you've wronged them, they wrong you. Refused to let a stranger use the phone, and someone tried to burn the house down. Slashed tires, stolen gas, murdered pets.

I don't think it's a question of whether I could earn the title or not. I know I can. It's whether or not I'll even get the chance to try, or should. Ultimately, I'd rather go to boot camp, have a miserable time, and show a definite improvement, than stay where I am, be miserable, and fail to show results.

I don't imagine it's as terrible as a lot of people say. Sure, it's hard, but not to the point where you have to be a demigod to graduate. A lot of the things instilled in recruits have already been drilled into me by my stepdad. Respect for authority. Obedience. Quick efficiency. Solving problems. Listening.

I dunno. Big question marks rattling around. I guess I don't want to just get by. I want to excel.

[chulaivet1966]

Pull-ups....
The way to get good at pull-ups is to keep working on doing pull-ups.
They are a back exercise and not to be confused with chin-ups which are more of a bicep movement.
Pull-ups palms facing out with comfortable grip spacing.

Suggestion...which works for some.
When doing them get your chin above the bar and let yourself down as slowly as possible.
The back is a large muscle group and that's your weak point.
Keep working it, eat healthy with sufficient protein intake.
Without protein the muscles won't repair themselves or grow.
After working get a good meal in you.

Get a pull-up bar for home use and do a regular routine and you will see improvement that is necessary.
You just need to keep working on it consistently with disciplined intensity.
If you're not seeing improvement your are remiss on the above suggestions.

Hope that helps a bit....and good luck on your quest.

Carry on....

[USMC 2571]

A suggestion---go see the recruiter in person and ask for an update. A busy recruiter, or even a not so busy one, can sometimes let potential recruits slip through his fingers just because they were not persistent or persistent enough to bug him without overstepping the bugging thing into pain in the butt annoyance.

Go see him in person and follow this up. Don't wait for him to take the initiative. You've come this far. Keep going.

[Phantom Blooper]

Am I a leader? Not particularly. The real question would be if I'm a good leader or not. I don't think I've shown a natural ability to lead. I've bungled things before, and I despise screwups. If there's nobody more qualified I'll take the reins, and give 100% effort to the task at hand.

Not all Marines are leaders..the Marine Corps needs followers...YOU will know if you can lead.....when you least expect it.......the old adage is," Lead,follow or get out of the way." Motivation is the key element......Good luck!

[SGT7477]

A pushup bar can easily build you to do more pullups, Semper Fidelis.

[Wockwock-impmh]

Howdy all. Here's my update.


I've been in touch with Sgt Lyons. Apparently the med papers he submitted to MEPS weren't enough. They want more, only there aren't any more. There are references to childhood asthma without actual proof that I was diagnosed with it. Like they had just assumed it so they could hand me an albeuterol and shove me out the door.


Anyway, there's been progress. Now that the weather is returning to sanity, I'm working out with a friend of mine at Winfield Park, a few miles south of here. He's interested in enlisting too, but had a bad experience with an Army recruiter.


When he was a teenager some dude was picking on him all the time, and my friend threatened to kill him or something. The police got involved, and he was in trouble with his school. The ended up prescribing anti-depressants for him for a month or two, and then he stopped taking them.


Well, anyway, the Army recruiter was making a big deal of the anti-depressants and his juvie record, but he made it to MEPS where he was disqualified for a rash. He gave up on the Army and got a job locally. He now works for law enforcement transporting prisoners around places. Anyway, I'm trying to see if he'd be interested in the Marines, since he still wants to enlist. I don't see why his record should apply anymore, since he's a member of law enforcement.


We've got pt together thursday or friday. I'll let you know how it goes.


Oh, and here's a picture of my recruiter and his PT group. Dakota Meyer popped in to join them, which I thought was pretty awesome.

[Wockwock-impmh]

Also forgot to mention; I've started learning Norwegian (Bokmål).