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

[Achped]

I was given so much advice on this forum, by so many different Marines, I would name names, but I'm afraid I'll leave someone out. (Lots of SSgts, Sgts, Cpls, and a feisty female LCpl...)

Anyways, here's my story.

I depped in, 20060713 (I still remember the hispanic Navy Petty Officer telling us how to write the date down) MEPS was weird, I didn't go to a hotel because its only 20 minutes away. I went by myself, although I had 3 other buddies joining with me, they were on a vacation. (2 twins and a friend)

Well, I was in the DEP with them from July till my ship date, 20070611...we pt'd all the time, Me and another guy, on our final IST were at 17 pullups, 100+ crunches, and around a 10:30 run time. The two twins were at about 21 pullups, 100+ crunches, and an 8:30 run time.

At MEPS, Parris Island was the last bus leaving, all the shippers, AF, Army, and Navy left before us, it was about 1400 before they called Parris Island, and I don't know if you know this, but by 1400 MEPS is a ghost town...very erie.

We were escorted to the most rickety tickety bus I've ever seen. It looked straight out of a movie. Something I'd expect Marine Corps recruits to travel in.

Went on the bus drive to Parris Island, listened to horror stories from the bus driver. (Which I found out were ALL lies. Telling us about "STD checks" and how they'd be probing ALL our holes...such a freaking liar lol) he also told us we'd be sent to Levenworth if we had any contraband on us (which he said coins were, that bastard probably made about 20$ in change off of us, not to mention the ciggarettes, lighters, etc (which really are contraband))

We met up with another bus at Jacksonville, Florida, and travelled the rest of the way on that bus (it was alot nicer than ours) it came from the other MEPS in Florida in the panhandle.

Well, our arrival to MCRD PI could not have been more...terrifying. It was pouring, midnight, thundering, lightning. I kept saying to myself "This figures". The bus leaked, it was insane. When we finally got to the depot, we were ordered to put our heads down, and hold our ID's above our heads then MPs came aboard. I never looked up, these guys were mean! (Hahaha...right) They came and checked us out and told us we all smelled, we were nasty, blah blah. You will be terrified when this happens, but trust me, its nothing.

They got off, and we continued, until finally, we stopped. (Tick....tick...tick) I swear we must have been stopped for....an hour. It seemed like an eternity. I kept hearing people get on and off the bus, loud stomps of boots. Im like oh my God. There's gonna be a DI right in my face when I look up. Finally, silence.....then.....on that monday night...staring me right in the face, greener, bigger, and more textured than I'd pictured it, a smokey, on the head of a United States Marine Corps drill instructor. A sergeant with more ribbons than I could count, and a face meaner than a bulldog.

"YOU ARE NOW ABOARD MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT PARRIS ISLAND SOUTH CAROLINA. YOU WILL ADDRESS EVERYONE ABOARD THIS DEPOT AS SIR OR MA'AM. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

We all replied with

YES SIR!

"I DIDNT HEAR YOU!"

"YES SIR!!!"

"GET OFF MY BUS, PROCEED DIRECTLY TO THE TWO SILVER PORTHOLES, GET HEEL TO TOE AND THE TOES OF THE RECRUITS IN FRONT WILL TOUCH THE FIRST STEP, MOVE!!!"

It was raining, so we didn't get on the footprints, but got in four columns lined up at the base of the steps (it was covered from the rain)

We then were taught about certain articles of the UCMJ, going UA, disrespect, etc.

Then we filed it off inside. We were told to sit in the metal desks with our heads down, we filled out tags and tied them to our shoes, they had our platoon number on them. The way the platoons work, is they go down the rows counting off till they get to a certain number, and they fill the platoon from the last group (either you all will be in the same platoon, or they will fill the old platoon, and half way through you will become the next platoon in the company...with us, a few of us were assigned to plt 2073, the rest started 2074)

That building by the way, has the weirdest smell. It is...weird. Its like the most powerful, but unique air freshener you will ever smell. Its like a rubbery...chemical smell, but there's no rubber. You'll seee.....haha Also, expect alot of "Write your name down, say aye sir" "AYE SIR!" Write down P-L-T 2074, say aye sir". Expect to be told to say Aye sir for the first....month lol. Always scream it. You will never be punished, ONLY REWARDED, for screaming. I know a guy who was made guide in receiving simply because he always yelled.

We then went immediately to hair cuts (OUCH!).

Then we signed in, some PFC did that, weird, calling an 18 year old PFC sir, doing everything he says. (He didn't yell, but when he got ****ed, he called in the DIs) Then we went to a huge room and sat....and sat....and waited until a few more busses came, and our platoon was filled. It must've been a few hours at least, just sitting in this room. Then we got our initial issue (clothing and hygiene gear, trust me, you dont need ANYTHING from home)

After that it was like a blur. I remember hearing platoons marching when we were getting our hygiene gear, so it must have been at least 04 or 0500. I was like wow...its really happening! I'm here! (Its weird, because you have no idea what the outside looks like, you dont know whats going on outside, but you can hear yells and screams...its terrifying)

Again, I'm blanked out until later that day, when we were all exhausted, they made us do the moment of truth. Trust me, that room was like 100 degrees, it was sweltering, we were all passing out, just wanting to go home, yes, all of us were like "Seriously, this isn't for us, lets just make stuff up so we can go home". I hate to admit it, but alot of us were ready to quit, and we'd been there a scant 12 hours. No one did though. The Marine promised us everything, like if we'd killed someone he could get a waiver for it, but he NEEDED TO KNOW. I felt weird, because I knew he was lieing, but at the same time I wanted out of there soooo bad. Every one of those recruits in my platoon that stood up and went with him were never seen again. (For the record, I found out later, the AC works perfectly in that room, they do it on purpose.)

I was made the scribe almost immediately (just for my asvab score, a 95) The rest of that week was spent getting our issued gear (canteens, packs, rifles, etc), I held some of the paperwork our receiving DI had (the coolest DI I'd ever met on the island, he came and saw us throughout training to check on us, he was our firm foundation that led to us winning final drill. He spent all day every day teaching us) that paperwork had our schedule, it said "Bucket issue 0630...chow 1100" it was all cool, I knew what we were doing for the day and I'd tell my buddies, but there were no clocks, so we had no idea what time it was lol.

Bucket Issue, and I'm not going to lie, was probably the most hated day I've ever experienced my entire time on the island. They treated us like crap, not like DIs, DIs yell and scream, but if you do what you're supposed to do, they pretty much go "Hey, ok, lets find some other idiot". These guys were just brutal (it could have been because we'd never really been yelled at till that point, sure, DIs scream and stuff in receiving, but wait till you get your training DIs)

It was just a Sgt, a Cpl, and a Lance, but they were going nuts. It was also, that morning, I experienced for the first time, sand fleas....like the nasty things we were, we slapped, scratched, itched, etc. Which made them play games with us. Like empty our packs out and re-check all of our stuff. (Ironically, on family day I had to go to bucket issue to turn in my big pack, because I hadn't been able to do it with the platoon, and the female LCpl that was working that day was such a sweetheart. Shes like "Hey honey, what are you doing? Why do you have that pack with you in your charlies?" She didn't make me sort everything out, she had two of the recruits on team week empty it out, and she told them to sort it all out, shes like "I trust you, go spend time with your family" and as I was leaving the recruits walked passed me "BY YOUR LEAVE, GOOD AFTERNOON SIR!" It was so awesome haha.)

Anyways, I don't really remember much until Saturday. We did our IST, and came back to the squad bay. We showered, and sat in a school circle in front of the front quarterdeck as our CO came on deck. He read a speech that every CO reads to his new company, as our senior drill instructor was introduced to us. He then introduced his green belts. They recited the DI creed and the CO left, and our senior read his little "My name is SDI Gy Sgt Gresham, as your SDI I will train you after most of you have given up, etc etc"

Our senior then stepped inside the DI house, and I swear to God, once that hatch was shut, the next 12 weeks of my life were the most stressful I'd ever experienced. The DIs took off, going NUTS! Making recruits hold footlockers, I'm not bragging, but I do well under stress, and my stuff is always squared away, so I wasn't messed with AT ALL. My thumbs were on my trouser seams, so our kill hat didn't "remind me" to put it where it belongs. I'm telling you, just do EXACTLY what you're told, you will do fine.

Things were being thrown, racks flipped, recruits were holding footlockers at the portholes going AYE SIR AYE SIR AYE SIR, repeatedly, it was a madhouse. Then our senior came out, said drill instructors get in the house, "Aye senior drill instructor" (You will learn to love this phrase)

Our senior then explained the purpose of the green belts, and his job, and how he could make everything go away if we did what we were told. He also explained if we messed up, he'd go home for the day and let them have a field day with us.

Our senior then saw a recruit scratch, ON FREAKING LINE, and said "...so that's how you want to do it, huh? I try to help you out, but you don't want it.....very well...."

He went in the house, and it started all over again. After about an hour, the heavy asked for the scribe, I said it was this recuit sir, and he's like "Good, you're the guide now."

"AYE SIR!"

I'm sure you don't want to read about every single day, but I'll explain it in phases.

1st Phase: Expect to be tortured at MCMAP haha, its all about muscle memory, you won't remember how to do the uppercut unless you're in the kneeling position (WITH your knee 2" off the deck) for 20 minutes or so. Pugil sticks, confidence and obstacle courses, lots of table PT, and lots and lots and lots of classes. You will love the classes, just don't fall asleep...trust me lol. If your commanding officer has to wake you up...your day will not be good. Every other free second of time you have will be spent drilling. Remember, POP those rifles, don't be lazy. You will be pitted.

Oh, and remember. EVERYONE embarasses the senior drill instructor. Don't think you're the first when some other DI catches you being retarded, and says you're embarassing him. Trust me. It will happen.

2nd Phase: Yeah, so you're in deserts now! Sweet! Get ready to kneel for hours on end while you're aiming at a white barrel dry firing your M16. Your PMI will be cool, won't hardly ever yell at you, but if he/she does...be aware. You will be killed by your DIs...who are right around the corner. The rifle range, firing weak, EASY stuff. Just don't be retarded with the rifle. Squeeze the trigger, focus on the front sight tip. I'm telling you, just DO WHAT THE PMI SAYS! Don't be on your OFP. The s*** works man, I'm serious. And your coach will usually tell you if you need a wind call. Even on qual day. Only do what your coach says. He has more experience than you, why risk it? You get free help!

Oh, in 2nd phase, expect to step it out ALOT. You'll have a daypack, and a rifle and your sleeves will never be rolled. You'll be stepping it out ALOT. I mean, ALOT. We would double time to the chow hall, then double time to the range from the chow hall (and of course we'd get the "Oh, you don't wanna scream? U-turn left! Faster guide!")

3rd phase: Team week is great, A-line, same thing as the range...step it out! The range for A-line is way in the boonies, I mean its WAY THE **** OUT THERE, so you will have a LONG way to go, and, our time at A-line it was green flag and rainy the whole time, so we'd be running and "INCOMING" drills would be...every 10 seconds. Our heavy said "Incoming isn't realistic enough" so he started making whistling noises, and we'd have to hit the deck before he went BOOOOOOM. If we were still standing we'd be "assasinated" (You'll find out...)

BWT SUCKED. What happens in the platoon stays in the platoon, so I won't go into any secrets about those c-huts...but...DAMN lol. Thats where Marines are made! (Oh, and get as close as you can to a hatch as possible, I was a squad leader so they made me sleep at the first rack by the hatch do NOT get a rack in the middle, TRUST me) One day during free time (we only got 1 hour of free time the entire 4 days we were there) we saw the platoon next to us run into the tree line in skivvies and shower shoes only lol. Then their DI would yell "INCOMING"....and...well their showers were pretty useless after that lol.

After BWT we had admin week, basically alot of PT, classes, pretty easy week. I don't remember anything particular difficult that week, OH, actually, the Monday of that week we shot the M249 and the AT-4. Other than that, it was pretty easy. We had a 3 mile form run (our first time our DIs sang cadence other than LEFT FOOT...LEFT FOOT)

After that was our final test, prac app (easy! Don't stress it, you will though, but dont) and our final PFT. Our Final PFT was a wednesday. Thursday at 0200 we humped out to the crucible.

The crucible is NOT that bad, trust me. I did it on a broken foot. If my foot was ok, I would honestly have loved it. It wasn't bad at all, it was kinda fun, but I was a squad leader, and my DI liked me. (This is the first time you will speak to DIs like humans. Our DI let us say "I" and "me" and "his" and "You". Didn't rate to call him SSgt yet though)

You are so motivated on the hump back, you can get through it. My foot was really beat up though. That was Sep 1st, and my foots still not better. Puts it in perspective huh? lol

Then you are finally given your EGA, and you are a Marine. You shake your DIs hand, which is WEIRD AS HELL lol. You feel like he's gonna crush it or something. You then will go back to the squad bay, shower, put on clean cammies (probably deserts) and go to your warriors breakfast. I was at a table in the chow hall with 2 other squad leaders, and OUR FREAKING SDI SAT WITH US. We didn't know what to say. We were just like...uhhh.... good morning SIR!" and hes like shutup with that **** Marines, you're my squad leaders, set the example PFCs!

"Aye Gunnery Sgt!"

He asked us how we liked the food and if they had anything particular he should try. So we told him to get the omelets, he came back with some, and was like "Good choice, I'm loving it."

Gave us some advice, then the rest of the week was spent with some BS classes on money management and stuff, graduation practice (Which SUCKS) and cleaning! Our Bn Commanders inspection was Tuesday, so we had Sunday and monday to spend cleaning our weapons, ironing, and everything.

The weirdest night of all of boot camp though, the night before family day. There were no DIs on our deck from about 2000 till 2300 when a DI from another deck said what are you Marines doing? Go to sleep, he shut the lights off and we passed out everywhere, some Marines slept on the deck in the head on their ironing boards haha. IT was NUTS! When we woke up in the morning, I was in bed rest for my foot, and my DI came up to me before the lights came on and said "why aren't you up yet?"

I said "I'm on bed rest man!" (I didnt know it was a DI) and he said "Very well, stay off the foot! Don't wanna see you get sent to BMP"

I like, jumped up verticly in my rack and said AYE STAFF SGT! I just called a DRILL INSTRUCTOR, ON PARRIS ISLAND "Man!" lol, it was CRAZY! He didnt even care!

Well, that day was family day, its a weird feeling, then the next day was graduation, and then, you're home!

Any questions? I have lots of tips, like "Simple things" you should know, but its late. I'm tired.

Oh what the heck.

When using the head, ALWAYS shave in the shower. Trust me, Its so much easier. In the beginning, you will be scared and your DI will probably be in the shower with you, but by 2nd phase, shave in the shower! Just run in there, find a corner, lather up your face, shave, rinse the razor off on a shower head (but let someone use the shower! You're not showering!) and when you're done with that, soap up as best you can, rinse, and you'll be done shaving and showering before most are done with either. Its the best method, in 3rd phase, my rackmate and I would actually be done washing, so we'd sit in the rain room and just take turns relaxing under the warm water. We were the only ones in the platoon who figured out how to do this, I'm all about helping my brothers, but there's not even time or room for everyone to do it! Sure, we got the "Port sides in the rain room! Get out starboard side!" but we'd explain we're just sitting in the corner, not even under a shower, just shower, forget about us, and they did.

Chow hall, DO NOT LAUGH EVER. DIs stare through the glass bricks, and they can spot your teeth from a mile away. AND NEVER EVER EVER go in the DI chow area. Even if a DI tells you do! This happened to a recruit in our platoon, a DI from another platoon told him to go ask his DI a question or something, as soon as he crossed that threshhold some DI took his tray and threw it all over him, and smacked his cup out of his hand which soaked a recruit about 5 feet away with powerade. The recruit eventually started crying haha. OH, learn to eat FAST. I mean, FAST. I was a squad leader, literally, some days, we got like 2 minutes. EAT, FAST. I don't care if you have to mix lasagna with salad and jello. Do it. EAT FAST. You will be so hungry you won't care what it tastes like. Also, NEVER DRINK MILK. Not even with cereal! Unless its a Sunday, don't drink milk ever. In 3rd phase I started drinking it at night if they had it, and Sunday mornings, but don't EVER drink it before PT.

At the rifle range, you will see females, especially in the chow hall. DO NOT LOOK AT THEM. Those female DIs are the most savage beasts on the planet. I knew a Recruit Achped who happens to enjoy the opposite sex quite a bit, alot of 4th bn can look pretty....not good (think about how gross you are, they're just as bad! They don't get any more time than you do, that hair...lol)

But, alot of them can look pretty good too, especially if you haven't seen females since you got there (I hadn't.)

Well, idiot me gets caught smiling at one, she looked at me, I smiled, she kinda...smiled, but hesitantly faced foreward and started eating again, and her DIs let me have it worse than I'd ever got in my life. I had a ringing in my ears, It was EXACTLY like this video,

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yja_MJazDuc

They took my fork and put it in my drink, and poured my drink on my tray, and told me to eat it and then spit it out, and eat it again. And spit it out. As they yelled how I don't rate to look at their females, and they wouldn't want anything to do with some nasty, oversized, disgusting, small d***ed recruit like myself. I had a female green belt leaning over 2 recruits from my platoon over the entire table, and about half an inch away from my face, not to mention the other green belt and senior I had in each ear. It was BAD. Trust me. Do not ever even THINK about LOOKING at a female. Just pretend they're not even there. In fact, face the bulkhead when they walk by, or your boots, look at the overhead even, NEVER look at them.

Never said "you, me, I, we, they, us, them" anything like that, never say "thank you", its always "RECEIVED SIR GOOD ___________ SIR!" Never let a DI walked past you without saying something. ALWAYS give the proper greeting and scream it. Always remember to salute an officer, even if he's in PT gear, (if it says Ser Cmdr, Co Cmdr, Bn XO, anything except DI or SDI on his PT shirt, salute him after you pass him. Also, if he has alot of hair on his head, you might as well salute. I never saw a DI with any hair at all.)

Don't salute the officer of the day if he's not an officer, only DIs salute him when giving a report lol. (I made this mistake at the rifle range) The officer of the day will be wearing a Senior drill instructor black belt but with a SOFT cover, not a smokey bear.

And something simple, shouldn't even have to say it, SCREAM. Why are so many recruits afraid to yell? Its NOT HARD. You will get your platoon ****ED royally if you don't scream. Really, just SCREAM FOR YOUR LIFE, if they hear your vocal cords vibrating, unless you've really screwed up, they'll leave you alone. But don't be the one "Scream Sanders" "....aye sir...." "I said SCREAM!" "Aye sir!" "Sanders, you're not screaming loud enough...you're about to make the platoon lose their spot in line for chow..." "....aye...sir."

"Very well, u turn left 74! Step it out! Sanders doesn't want to yell. We'll eat chow last."

Anymore questions, just ask.

Just so you can see what DIs look like...

Our Senior, SDI GySgt Gresham, purple heart, grunt, best SDI on the island. He really did us good.
111

Our Kill hat, DI SSgt Zieba, another grunt, combat veteran of Somalia, Iraq, Grenada, everywhere, pretty much the best Marine I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. (Has a black belt because he's carrying a sword)


Sadly, I don't have any pics of me with my other kill hat SSgt Weems or Sgt Robinson (HE is the man who made me a Marine. He was with us EVERY DAY. I can't think of a single day, out of the entire training schedule he wasn't there. He was our heavy, and I would love to shake that mans hand and just say thanks.)

[AMW]

Wow, all i can say is wow. Really informative. I printed it off to read. Although I suppose I could switch it a bit and tell myself not to smile at any of the guys in the chowhall. I know I'm not gonna a pretty sight to look at by then...whooo.

But honestly, thank you for this insight, more informative than any book I have ever read.

[HurricaneRJ]

Nice read Pfc. Damn good reading.

Ahh 37 days left. I'm counting.

[Achped]

Wow, all i can say is wow. Really informative. I printed it off to read. Although I suppose I could switch it a bit and tell myself not to smile at any of the guys in the chowhall. I know I'm not gonna a pretty sight to look at by then...whooo.

But honestly, thank you for this insight, more informative than any book I have ever read.

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)

[marinepooly1361]

Damn Achped....

you make it sound easy


damn...... thats all I can think to say

[Achped]

Oh, and one more thing. My rifle range coach, was probably the coolest Marine I had the pleasure of "meeting" on PI. He was a Cpl, and was very laxed and cool with us. He actually sat down next to me on pre-qual day and started asking me about where I was from and stuff. It was really awkward. He told me I could say "me" and "i" and stuff, although I didn't. (If a DI walked by and heard me say that...wow lol)

The rifle range is one of the most relaxed places on the entire island. Don't stress out, if you need to ask your coach a question, still say sir, don't get me wrong, but don't freaked out and get nervous like "This...recruit uhh...wants to....requests to know...if this recruit can adjust my...his....windage for... awind call sir? Good morning sir!"

Relax, your coaches are regular Marines, not DIs, you haven't met regular Marines yet, but regular Marines are...regular Marines. Just like me, and the other guys on leatherneck.

I saw so many recruits who didn't ask their PMI or coaches questions, because they were still in that "I'm afraid to talk to a DI phase".

I guess I got lucky because I was a squad leader and was talking to the DIs pretty much every night (AYYEEE SIIIRRRR!!! PUSH HARDER AYE SIR!!! lol)

If you go unk on the range, its because you weren't relaxed, or didn't ask the right questions. There's no reason at all you shouldn't qual.

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

Good stuff Achped. I'll just add that of course the rifle range is the most relaxed part of boot camp. They aren't going to treat you that badly when you have a loaded rifle every day. I don't even remember seeing my heavy the entire week- until I had 2-3 shots left at the 500 anyway.

[killerinstinct]

good reading there..

So tell me there PFC? I read you were a scribe. So how many firewatches did you stand?


I know we used to go thru the rotation until one of the scribes from another platoon in our series said they stopped assigning it to them and only did it every once in awhile.

[Achped]

lol, I had firewatch like 10 nights all through boot camp. I had to put up with all the crap from everyone else I gave firewatch to.
It didn't help that I was a squad leader. I could put people on firewatch, and I made the list. Everyone loved me

I always made sure when I stood firewatch, I had it first shift, last shift, or at like 1200-0100 and it was always with one of my buddies.

Actually, I did get screwed one night, I got into a fight with another squad leader at BWT, and our cammies were all muddy and disgusting. Well the guide made me and him stand first firewatch, which SUCKED, because we had JUST showered and had to put our nasty disgusting cammies back on. We were so ****ed. It was hot...mosquitoes...and our shift was 2 hours out of the 6 hours of sleep we had that night. Worst night of recruit training...haha.

[HurricaneRJ]

Well did you at least win the fight?

[BR34]

Nice, Achped, you actually got to eat in the chow hall at the ranges. I was there when they were building it, or remodeling it, or something...straight MREs the entire time we spent at the ranges.

And I can vouch for the feminine smell on P.I. This fat female bus driver smelled like heaven one day when we went to the range...and the women recruits can be smelled from a mile down wind!

[RockSteady85]

Awesome read, thank you for taking the time to write all of that! Definitely very well written, and gives you a bit more insight into the "little things" that I wanted to know

[mass]

Very descriptive Achped!
I loved it.

[PatriotGirl422]

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.

[RuffNight2007]

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