I enlisted: My short story
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  1. #1

    I enlisted: My short story

    I've been putting off posting this because, frankly, I'm ashamed at how things turned out.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;First off, I spent over three years trying to enlist in the Marine Corps until I reached a dead-end. They required medical paperwork that I simply didn't have and couldn't get.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;My Marine recruiter was a great guy, and he took me next door to the Army recruiter and started me off over there. I was more than a little butthurt since I'd wanted to join the Marines since I was about eight.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The Army got me in with no problem at all. I went to MEPS, got a 67 on the AFQT. Took a slot as a 42A Human Resources Specialist in the Reserves. I had planned to use my GI Bill to help me become an ordained minister, at which point I wanted to go back in as a Chaplain.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Anyway, I left for Fort Jackson on December 29, 2015. Reception was horrible. Hurry up and wait, all that good stuff. Like slowly drilling my frontal lobe kind of boring. It was interesting though because we were the first Battalion in Fort Jackson to be issued the new OCP uniforms.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I started Basic Combat Training on January 4, 2016. Day 1 sucked, but not nearly as much as I thought it would. Didn't get yelled at personally once. I actually found it kind of pussified.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I was 20 seconds late to CQ Duty that night and got to do two 1-hr shifts instead of one, but I also got to meet the guy who turned out to be my best friend during the whole thing.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I had two female Drill Sergeants, Radden and Lentine. Lentine was only there a few weeks since she got a SHARP case for telling a female that 'only sluts and lesbians join the Army.'&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;DS Radden handled my sorry-ass platoon, the Hellhounds, all by herself for basically the first three weeks.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Did Victory Tower. Rappelling, cargo net, all that good stuff pretty early on. The 700m Fit-to-Win Endurance Course. Land Nav. We were issued our rifles in the first 3 days. We didn't get M4s, but I was more than satisfied with my M16A2. I called her Cheyenne because just like a woman by that name, I was crazy about her lol.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Fit-to-Win:&lt;br&gt;<img src="http://i65.tinypic.com/htv3ua.png" border="0" alt="">&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Gas chamber was funny. As soon as we stepped out, there was a camera guy right there. I'm the tall guy on the right drooling everywhere:&lt;br&gt;<img src="http://i65.tinypic.com/zn9ez5.png" border="0" alt="">&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I had ingrowing toenails that got infected, shin splints, and basically didn't crap for the first two weeks. Went to the Battalion Aid Station, but they only gave me some Naproxen and a foot-washing sponge. I went back and they finally cut out the damned toenail and gave me some milk of magnesia. I was back to running like normal, and my pipes weren't backed up anymore.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Our Senior Drill Sergeant finally arrived at the start of week 4, and he was like a real-life GI Joe. An infantryman with service in both the 1st ID and the 82nd Airborne.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I had trouble during pre-qual of BRM because of the weather. It was cold, wet, and overcast. I shot 6/40 the first time on pre-qual because I literally could not see the targets pop up. Eyepro were fogged over, and the targets were the same green as the trees behind them.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I had prescription inserts, and am very nearsighted, but I pushed my eyepro down onto my nose and fired with just my regular eyes and managed to qualify 23/40... barely.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Put some anti-fogger on those lenses, and it was much nicer the next day. Shot 35/40, Sharpshooter, and it felt good. I was tied for first place shooter in my platoon. Wish I had gotten another try to qualify higher, but I got put on range duty the rest of the day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Me just before qual:&lt;br&gt;<img src="http://i67.tinypic.com/iqwxvc.png" border="0" alt="">&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Anyway, I'd been having trouble with running, as well as getting in and out of my bunk. Me knees were constantly sore throughout the day, but I didn't notice that as much as my pelvis.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Every time I'd run, and especially when in my bunk, it felt like someone had shoved a hot knife in my asscheek and was scraping it on bone.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I talked with DS Radden about it, and she told me that if I could push through the pain to do so. And I did.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I went through another PT test and failed the 2-mile run by a couple minutes. Didn't do enough pushups, but was improving to the point where I thought I'd been able to pass by the time the final test came.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Then we went on a company run. I started in B Group, the average to slightly slow runners. Being 6'4'', they had me stand in the back, and we were off.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It felt good. I was keeping up, not falling out. Even passed a few people just to do it. Then we started running uphill. By the time I got to the top of that hill, I couldn't run anymore. Know that feeling when your leg falls asleep? From the hip down it was numb and stiff, and felt like a knife jabbed in my cheek.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;B Group slowly faded away, and C Group caught up. Those were the runners who really needed improvement. My battle from Puerto Rico ran with me for a while until I couldn't keep up with him, and then it was just me, a DS from another platoon, and a female private.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I finished second to last in my entire company. He told me that if I was really in that much pain that I must have something wrong with me.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;So I had a lot to think about. That was a Saturday, and there was no sick call until Monday. All of Sunday, I didn't know what I was going to do. I couldn't run. Some parts of morning PT were impossible, like leg lifts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Monday came, and I got up early to see if I had miraculously been healed. Maybe I had just pulled a muscle, or was sore?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I did a few laps in my bay. Felt good. Hallelujah! Then I climbed into my bunk and felt it, worse than before.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;F*** it, went to sick call. I still had two more visits after that before I'd get chaptered, should be fine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;So I went, then they threw my ass on crutches and sent me for a bone scan. They told me I'd need two follow-ups. Uh-oh.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Went next day for some other type of scan. I watched it in real-time as it did some kind of 3-d scan of my lower body.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;They told me then that something was wrong. Because it was later in the day, they couldn't get me my results that day.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Went the next day, knowing I was screwed. Was notified that the bone structure and soft tissue in my feet were damaged, and that I had stress fractures to both tibia (no surprise), both knees, and my left ischial tuberosity, or sit bone on my pelvis. They recommended me for medical discharge based on that.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Get back to company, am notified by Senior that I'm discharged for missing 5 days of Physical Readiness Training.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;In short, spent 5 weeks as a non-trainer feeling like doo-doo and doing **** that made everything hurt worse and feeling useless. Some of the Drill Sergeants were cool towards non-trainers, some surprisingly so, and the rest just hated us.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I hated being lumped together with those people. I did get to go on the last Field Training Exercise. It was miserable, but not as miserable as it was for trainers.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;At one point late at night, my buddy whispered "You know Schueler, I'm going to miss falling asleep to the sound of distant gunfire."&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I couldn't say anything but "Me too, dude."&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For all that happened, I don't regret it. I regret costing taxpayers some $80,000 or whatever the liaison said I cost them (as he tried to hit me with a Field Grade Article 15) but I can't regret the experience.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;My feet are still damaged 13 months after discharge. Pelvis hurts occasionally. However, I have an inexhaustible source of energy that I discovered in ****ty Fort Jackson. I still 'pull an Army' and do long shifts on 4 hours of sleep occasionally. It's never as taxing though.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;No matter what happens, at least I'm not getting smoked for 6 hours over contraband. At least I have a newfound appreciation for food, even healthy food. At least I'm not doing a ruck march in the rain or hauling sandbags to build an Infantry Assault Course.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Don't know what to do now though. Live, I guess.

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  2. #2
    Because the OP got f***ed, here's a new one:

    I've been putting off posting this because, frankly, I'm ashamed at how things turned out.

    First off, I spent over three years trying to enlist in the Marine Corps until I reached a dead-end. They required medical paperwork that I simply didn't have and couldn't get.

    My Marine recruiter was a great guy, and he took me next door to the Army recruiter and started me off over there. I was more than a little butthurt since I'd wanted to join the Marines since I was about eight.

    The Army got me in with no problem at all. I went to MEPS, got a 67 on the AFQT. Took a slot as a 42A Human Resources Specialist in the Reserves. I had planned to use my GI Bill to help me become an ordained minister, at which point I wanted to go back in as a Chaplain.

    Anyway, I left for Fort Jackson on December 29, 2015. Reception was horrible. Hurry up and wait, all that good stuff. Like slowly drilling my frontal lobe kind of boring. It was interesting though because we were the first Battalion in Fort Jackson to be issued the new OCP uniforms.

    I started Basic Combat Training on January 4, 2016. Day 1 sucked, but not nearly as much as I thought it would. Didn't get yelled at personally once. I actually found it kind of pussified.

    I was 20 seconds late to CQ Duty that night and got to do two 1-hr shifts instead of one, but I also got to meet the guy who turned out to be my best friend during the whole thing.

    I had two female Drill Sergeants, Radden and Lentine. Lentine was only there a few weeks since she got a SHARP case for telling a female that 'only sluts and lesbians join the Army.'

    DS Radden handled my sorry-ass platoon, the Hellhounds, all by herself for basically the first three weeks.

    Did Victory Tower. Rappelling, cargo net, all that good stuff pretty early on. The 700m Fit-to-Win Endurance Course. Land Nav. We were issued our rifles in the first 3 days. We didn't get M4s, but I was more than satisfied with my M16A2. I called her Cheyenne because just like a woman by that name, I was crazy about her lol.

    Fit-to-Win:

    Gas chamber was funny. As soon as we stepped out, there was a camera guy right there. I'm the tall guy on the right drooling everywhere:


    I had ingrowing toenails that got infected, shin splints, and basically didn't crap for the first two weeks. Went to the Battalion Aid Station, but they only gave me some Naproxen and a foot-washing sponge. I went back and they finally cut out the damned toenail and gave me some milk of magnesia. I was back to running like normal, and my pipes weren't backed up anymore.

    Our Senior Drill Sergeant finally arrived at the start of week 4, and he was like a real-life GI Joe. An infantryman with service in both the 1st ID and the 82nd Airborne.

    I had trouble during pre-qual of BRM because of the weather. It was cold, wet, and overcast. I shot 6/40 the first time on pre-qual because I literally could not see the targets pop up. Eyepro were fogged over, and the targets were the same green as the trees behind them.

    I had prescription inserts, and am very nearsighted, but I pushed my eyepro down onto my nose and fired with just my regular eyes and managed to qualify 23/40... barely.

    Put some anti-fogger on those lenses, and it was much nicer the next day. Shot 35/40, Sharpshooter, and it felt good. I was tied for first place shooter in my platoon. Wish I had gotten another try to qualify higher, but I got put on range duty the rest of the day.

    Me just before qual:


    Anyway, I'd been having trouble with running, as well as getting in and out of my bunk. Me knees were constantly sore throughout the day, but I didn't notice that as much as my pelvis.

    Every time I'd run, and especially when in my bunk, it felt like someone had shoved a hot knife in my asscheek and was scraping it on bone.

    I talked with DS Radden about it, and she told me that if I could push through the pain to do so. And I did.

    I went through another PT test and failed the 2-mile run by a couple minutes. Didn't do enough pushups, but was improving to the point where I thought I'd been able to pass by the time the final test came.

    Then we went on a company run. I started in B Group, the average to slightly slow runners. Being 6'4'', they had me stand in the back, and we were off.

    It felt good. I was keeping up, not falling out. Even passed a few people just to do it. Then we started running uphill. By the time I got to the top of that hill, I couldn't run anymore. Know that feeling when your leg falls asleep? From the hip down it was numb and stiff, and felt like a knife jabbed in my cheek.

    B Group slowly faded away, and C Group caught up. Those were the runners who really needed improvement. My battle from Puerto Rico ran with me for a while until I couldn't keep up with him, and then it was just me, a DS from another platoon, and a female private.

    I finished second to last in my entire company. He told me that if I was really in that much pain that I must have something wrong with me.

    So I had a lot to think about. That was a Saturday, and there was no sick call until Monday. All of Sunday, I didn't know what I was going to do. I couldn't run. Some parts of morning PT were impossible, like leg lifts.

    Monday came, and I got up early to see if I had miraculously been healed. Maybe I had just pulled a muscle, or was sore?

    I did a few laps in my bay. Felt good. Hallelujah! Then I climbed into my bunk and felt it, worse than before.

    F*** it, went to sick call. I still had two more visits after that before I'd get chaptered, should be fine.

    So I went, then they threw my ass on crutches and sent me for a bone scan. They told me I'd need two follow-ups. Uh-oh.

    Went next day for some other type of scan. I watched it in real-time as it did some kind of 3-d scan of my lower body.

    They told me then that something was wrong. Because it was later in the day, they couldn't get me my results that day.

    Went the next day, knowing I was screwed. Was notified that the bone structure and soft tissue in my feet were damaged, and that I had stress fractures to both tibia (no surprise), both knees, and my left ischial tuberosity, or sit bone on my pelvis. They recommended me for medical discharge based on that.

    Get back to company, am notified by Senior that I'm discharged for missing 5 days of Physical Readiness Training.

    In short, spent 5 weeks as a non-trainer feeling like doo-doo and doing **** that made everything hurt worse and feeling useless. Some of the Drill Sergeants were cool towards non-trainers, some surprisingly so, and the rest just hated us.

    I hated being lumped together with those people. I did get to go on the last Field Training Exercise. It was miserable, but not as miserable as it was for trainers.

    At one point late at night, my buddy whispered "You know Schueler, I'm going to miss falling asleep to the sound of distant gunfire.

    I couldn't say anything but "Me too, dude."

    For all that happened, I don't regret it. I regret costing taxpayers some $80,000 or whatever the liaison said I cost them (as he tried to hit me with a Field Grade Article 15) but I can't regret the experience.

    My feet are still damaged 13 months after discharge. Pelvis hurts occasionally. However, I have an inexhaustible source of energy that I discovered in ****ty Fort Jackson. I still 'pull an Army' and do long shifts on 4 hours of sleep occasionally. It's never as taxing though.

    No matter what happens, at least I'm not getting smoked for 6 hours over contraband. At least I have a newfound appreciation for food, even healthy food. At least I'm not doing a ruck march in the rain or hauling sandbags to build an Infantry Assault Course.

    Don't know what to do now though. Live, I guess.


  3. #3
    My question is......what are you trying to say with this moment by moment account of your experience??


  4. #4
    Looks like the Marine recruiter made a good call. Army = Ain't Ready for Marines Yet.


  5. #5
    This worm would not make it out of Receiving Barracks in our Corps.


  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Old Marine View Post
    This worm would not make it out of Receiving Barracks in our Corps.



  7. #7
    Geez long winded, army= aren't really men yet,Semper Fidelis.


  8. #8
    Pretty much. Couldn't do a pullup to save a life.

    And why? Because I had people ask about what happened with trying to enlist in the Corps.

    I had no medical problems while I was trying to go Marine.

    But yeah. Way to show what men you are, knock someone for trying. Hooah.


  9. #9
    Sweetpea....in Combat, trying is not an option........


  10. #10
    After rereading this BS, I can only say sounds like Rocky is back.
    Same goes for the other big story about a Recruiter.


  11. #11
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    Hey, ignore all these idiots.

    No wonder civilians and people of the other branches think Marines are stupid (though there are honorable Marines).

    The Army or the Marine Corps, it's an honor to serve in the armed forces.

    Who knows? you can work hard on PFT and do pull-ups to transfer to the Marine Corps later.

    Good luck with everything.

    -Josh


  12. #12
    Old Marine; I believe you are correct; Josh and Hooknose remind me of Rocky; both idiots, and never served a day in the Corps but know all about it.

    ORDO AD CHAO

  13. #13
    Well Mitch, this is the new Corps.......in a year or two, you will be able to go through bootcamp online.


  14. #14
    Marine Family Free Member Mistybluelady's Avatar
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    holy cow that was the most long winded, un important post ive read thus far... um snowflake the gentlemen on here have seen more, done more and well probably dont care about your ingrown toenail. and to Josh... your a new comer, behave properly and show some respect.. this is a Marine site and you are a guest here... calling these Marines idiots wont serve you well at all.....


  15. #15
    According to the wanna b all you have to do to become a Marine is do so many pushups and pull-ups. What a joke. Back in the day I/we were known as a dumb shiit grunts, and fast forward to today, now everyone wants to be us without paying the price I might add. What a turn around. I guess it's because what be did is the stuff that legends are made of. Long live the Corps.


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