Help
I would have loved to have been more active on my leave, but as it is I haven't found too much time for the internet.Anyway, a couple of you expressed a little interest in what I did, what the Marine Corps is and what I'll be doing, so I finally found a little time to get on here and give a little overview and answer any questions you might have about it all.
First off, it was the best thing I've done with my life so far. It was the hardest and most rewarding journey and something I'd love to do over and recommend to anyone. It's 3 months of hell, essentially, plenty of huge buff guys, and tiny almost midget guys screaming in your face demanding you to push yourself as hard as you can and generally making your life as miserable as they possibly could. It's strange because we spent our 3 months at one of the more beautiful and fun places in California, but the 87 other guys and the 4 Drill Instructors of my platoon made it seem like the worst.
Anyway, we fly in at around 0030 in the morning, get off the plane and head to the USO (Military members lounge for those who don't know) and we awaited a Drill Instructor to take us to the buses to head over to MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot). So we get on the bus, get yelled at to shut the fuck up, and to keep our heads down and no talking. We get driven around for however long it took and we finally arrive. The first thing that happens is the Drill Instructor gets on the bus and starts his welcome brief, so to speak. From that point we're rushed off the bus, told to get on the yellow footprints and screamed at like we're some kind of retarded dog that's being told to sit by his angry, old, drunken owner. Much worse, however. The amount of spit that left their mouths and covered our faces was shitty, but you get used to it after a while lol. We then went through the receiving process, doing paperwork, getting issued some of our gear, hygiene stuff, and just general things we were going to use through boot camp. We didn't sleep for the next two days, going to medical and dental to get checked up, and squared away paperwork wise. The whole week we spent in the receiving barracks, with our single receiving drill instructor. That same friday we got picked up by our permanent Drill Instructors. This day is called Black Friday, one because it's Friday, two because it sucks major ass. We're all on the quarterdeck, the area infront of the duty hut (Drill Instructors house), at the head of the squad bay. Our Senior Drill Instructor (He's like a father figure to the platoon) gave us his speech and then introduced the other Drill Instructors. The J Hat (Teacher figure) and the two Kill Hats (Their sole purpose is to make you hate your life). He left us in their care for the next couple of hours and they proceeded to destroy us, and the squad bay. All our stuff that we had been issued was at our feet when we stood on line (On line being infront of our footlockers, which were infront of our racks[beds]). They went through kicking it, screaming at us, having us make and remake our racks constantly. To the point you just wanted to kill yourself. Running around, sweating, being IT'd (Incentive Training) which basically means in your face, screaming at you making you exercise real fast, real hard for long amounts of time. It was pretty brutal.
From there it was basically a lot of Drill (Marching) and PT (Physical training) every day. We had different events, always had the pressure on us to break past whatever preconceived limitations we had set upon ourselves. First phase was basically where they broke us down and stripped us of everything we used to be.
First phase was 5 weeks long, at the end of which we made our movements up north to Camp Pendleton. This phase was a lot less PT focused, but a lot of IT and a lot of field exercises. This was where they taught us what it was to do what a Marine does in the field, eating MRE's (Meal Ready to Eat), not hygiening, lack of sleep, a lot of humping 80 lbs packs around with our rifles etc etc. We also qualified on the rifle range here, so that was a huge focus. I qualled as a Sharpshooter out of the 3 qualifications (Marksman, Sharpshooter, Expert). It was probably the most enjoyable part of boot camp, shooting was extremely relaxing and it was where we got to experience a little bit of what it was like to be an Infantryman (My MOS[job]). After that we headed back down to MCRD for 4 weeks. These 4 weeks were slow, missing family and not speaking them to so long except through letters took it's toll for me personally. We went through uniform issues, interior guard, knowledge assessment, LOTS of drill and just how to be and conduct yourself as a Marine in general. At the end of these 4 weeks we headed back to Camp Pendleton for the Crucible. It's the culminating event that every Marine has to go through in which to earn the title. It's 3 days without sleep, minimal food and a hell of a lot of physical exertion. Hiking 65 miles over 3 days with 90 lbs packs, doing obstacles and generally having to rely on everyone, and not just yourself to get through it. It's very much team focused, because you can't succeed in the Marine Corps as an individual, everything requires a team effort, which is something that is quite a difficult thing to adjust to and understand when you're not the biggest team work guru lol.
After that, we gained our title, which was pretty emotional, we came back to MCRD for Marine Week, had Battalion Commanders inspection to make sure we were fit to be Marines and understood and knew the knowledge that needed to be known and that same Friday we graduated.
It's a brief overview of how it all went down, there's so much more I could tell you but I really don't know where to start. So feel free to ask questions, it would probably help me a little bit more
Oh yeah, I have some pictures of graduation, if anyone would like to see em I'll put em up.
