Training Day 1....How'd you survive???

[50cal]

Okay, military folks......active or not.....reservists or not....Marine or other.....LOL!!!.....how did you survive recruit training????..........to become the highly efficient killing machine that you are.....whether it be a soldier..........airmen................sailor....or a hard charging Devil Dog......

Give us your story!!!!!

[50cal]

For me, in my immediate family.....I had no one in the military.......I walked off from my job one day, drove around and ended up at an Army recruiters office......I basically got no help whatsoever from this guy, and when he did, just came off as sounding like he wanted nothing to with me...so I walked out and God was standing there...or at least his Messenger....Staff Sergeant Cooper.....he pulled me aside and talked to me and next thign you know I was filling out paperwork and signing my name to God know what....I ended up on the DEP (delayed entry program, because I needed to learn how to swim properly...I could just doggy paddle, LOL!!!!)......so I learned and was shipped to MEPS (military Entry Processing Station) in Phoenix.......I took the oath and recieved my orders to report to MCRD San Diego (hollywood baby!!!!).......I began my journey with a hourlong flight and when we taxied to the terminal, I was told I had to go wait at the USO office across the street....so I waited and waited along with about 200 hundred other recruits......the buses didn't come for us till midnight and proceeded the best time of my life.....Due to my intense upbringing of getting whipped, yelled at and doing forced child labor (now that I think about it, I should sue my parents...*L*)......it was an easy life for me.....the swimming lessons I took helped out so much that I graduated WSQ 2 (water survival qualification)......anyway, my DI's (drill instructors) were 4 Gunny's....(Gunnery Sergeants)...Our Senior DI was GySgt. Jensen (an admin guy), then Gunny Fuller (instructor at School of Infantry), Gunny Haywood (Force Recon Marine) and Gunny Lamar (Marine Embassy Guard, Presidential Guard, Close Combat Instructor and SOI Instructor).....I was in HELL!!!!!.....everything was in a higher stricter enviroment...I remember hearign the white kids and black kids crying on the first night, wondering why did I do this?!!?!?!??!....LOL!!!....I rolled over and slept.....Reveille was about 0430 jsut because the DI woke up hungry....we had to be first in line at the chow hall....which for some reason we never were....probably due to cleaning and being IT'ed (Instructional Training, also known as getting smoked) in the dirt pit......that was no fun.....anyway, we did our usual runs, 1.5 mile at first then we built up to 3 miles......did the "O" (obstacle) course....did Pugle Sticks (which I was undefeated in).....swim qual, close combat instruction and marksmanship training.....and of course what Marines are known for.....PT!!!!!.....and boy did we get loads of it....in the morning, afternoon and at night.....to the point where I woke myself up signing cadence...LOL!!!...I was hooked!!!...I was on my way to becoming a Hard charging devil dog who would rip out his own heart on the battlefield so someone could keep up the fight!!!!......yeah, I was a motivator......I sang cadence in boot camp, I was also the prac ap recruit...meaning sense I had already gone to college, I was supposedly smarter then everyone else.....LOL!!!.....so i taught basic Marine history......yelling at the top of my lungs and having everyone else repeat after me....it paid off, we won trophies in Drill, high point shooter, high scores in knowledge and overall high scores in marksmanship.....Platoon 2045 Echo Comapny was ready to take on the world!!!....LOL!!!............Best time of my life, but I wouldn't want to do it again.....LOL!!!!

[Ndnsoldierboy]

Well, for me, it was just making thru the daze and that was good enuff for me. I didn't make honor grad, nor was it my goal, just make thru and get to my school, and that seemed even tougher than bootcamp!!! Infantry Training Schol was tough, but there I did graduate top 10 in my class, and got promoted as well, and got my orders to report to Camp Margarita, home of the Fifth Marines. I didn't care for gawdayum firewatch, as it seemed like I was always on the list during the weekend...

[Ndnsoldierboy]

When I got to the Army, I didn't have to go to basic as they call it. I did volunteer for it though, I didn't know anything about the Army, other than I was going to the Infantry which I was in the Marine Corps. I had no clue on what night vision gear was (we used parachute flares), had no clue what a M240B was, had to re-learn fireteam, squad, platoon formations the Army used as they were different from the Marines. Had to study the history of the Army as well....

My Army recruiter told me the Army isn't anything like the Marines..and he wasn't kidding...hands in pockets, irish penants, smoking in uniform, long hair, lax discipline, etc...

[SmokeEater]

It all got started something like this...

Mamma told Donnye not to go downtown,
Cuz a Navy recruiter was hangin around.
Donnye didn't listen and went anyways,
wanted to hear what the recruiter had to say.
Recruiter asked Donnye what he wanted to be,
Donnye said, "A Corpsman in the infantry".
Donnye caught a plane to the desert sand
there he fought the Al-Qaeda man.
Many he killed by knife and blade,
God only knows how many Marines he saved.
Well Donnye was bold and Donnye was brave,
Donnye jumped on a hand grenade.
Saved the lives of the men he lead,
but before he died, this is what he said.
"Mamma O mamma please dont you cry,
The Marine Corps motto is Semper Fi!"

[SmokeEater]

Well it wasn't exactly like that... but pretty close. After the 2003 invaison, I felt pretty guilty that I was young, healthy, with no dependents or responsibility, and I wasn't doing my part. I was pretty determined that I wanted to be a Navy Corpsman serving with the Marine Corps (never even entertained the idea of being an Army Medic). Went down to a recruiter and shortly afterward I was off to Great Mistakes, Illinois (Great Lakes).

That first day was pretty long... Paper work, peeing in cups, no sleep, getting yelled at for nothing. Yes Petty officer, no petty officer, etc, etc, etc.

The first night we learned how to shave, and make our ranks for the night. The RDC pushed us to get stuff done quicker so we could sleep before we went to medical. In the end we got 20 minutes of lights out before he came in kicking over every bit of furniture we had. That day we went to medical and sat on the floor for nearly four hours, before we met our real RDC's.

My first meal in the galley, I looked around thinking... "what have I gotten myself into". I probably would have done anything to get out at that point.

But Navy boot camp was cool... Its probably been my only experience with the blue side Navy in my four years... learning how to fold and iron all my clothes... even my skivvies. Singing Anchors Aweigh, which I now refer to as that song before the Marine Corps Hymn, to and from firefighting. The USS Marlinespike, Battlestations, getting up to iron in the middle of the night.

Good times

[Ndnsoldierboy]

wallocker inspections in the Army were too easy as well. I remember my platoon sergeant would enter my room and he would never find anything wrong, everything was folded in neat little squares, all uniforms were pressed, boots polished, etc. afterwhile he would bypass my room cause he knew he was wasting his time inspecting my living quarters.

I didn't even have posters on my wall. When I was in the corps, we weren't allowed to have ANYTHING on the wall except for white paint. Of course that has changed now, as you can have posters and photos in good taste posted on the "Bulkhead".

[SmokeEater]

Field Medical Service School at Camp Lejeune on the other hand is what Boot camp should have been for me...

FMSS for those who don't know is where Navy Corpsmen go to learn how to serve with the Marine Corps. Half of the schooling is combat medicine, and the other half is Marine Corps indoctrination. We learned everything... History, landnav, communications, 4,6,7,8,10 mile humps with full combat loads. Litter and O course. MOUT town... etc.

Well FMSS is ten times harder than Navy boot I think. The weird thing about it, is that its another school, and not boot camp, which means that at the end of the day we can go out in town and get beer.

Anyway, we'd been there roughly a week, and all of that time is spent with processing. Pretty much all the Corpsmen are there either to fulfill requirements for their next duty station or fulfil a prereq for C school. Some were straight from boot and Corps school and some where fleet returnees... Up until our first training day everything was good.

Training day one I was awoken by a trash can crashing into a pillar next to my rack. We all rushed out of our bed and snapped to attention. Each platoon had a Corpsman advisor and a Marine advisor... The first words I heard was... "My name is HM1 Kmetz and I have exactly seven weeks to unf*** what the Navy has done to your lives and your careers".

From that point it was on... The threw us right into the Marine Corps lifestyle... begining with PT (Side straddle hops- didn't know what the hell he was talking about). We got thrashed for a week straight, every single day. Didn't kill me, but it sucked.

But I loved it... Field Med is kind of the boot camp experience I was expecting from Great Lakes. I'd do it all over again... and FMSS is the only place I'd love to be an instructor at.

7 weeks later I graduted with my Caduece, went Greenside, and haven't longed for the Navy every since....

[Kaina1128]

Deleted

[Joe's Dad]

Sheit, I don't even remember basic training...except that they cut off my hair! LOL 1972 was a long time ago. Made it through basic with only getting into 2 fights. One was with a squad leader while we were in formation. How drunk can you get after a 6-hour pass? hahahahaaa AIT was non-significant. Then I got orders to go to Jump School at Ft Benning. Do you still have to run in your boots in Airborne school?

That's about all I remember.

[Ndnsoldierboy]

Yup, they still run, or do the airborne shuffle in boots, @ Fort Benning...I remember when I was @ the Staff NCO Academy, and @ 0400 in the morning you can hear the airborne peeps running by singing cadence, Wake up BNCOC! gawd, I hated that s***...

[chickendad]

Long time ago

I'm sitting here in Baghdad, Camp Liberty, and decided to check in on Pow Wows since I have looked in many a moon. This is the only thread that appealed to me. Mine was Paris Island, 1981. Wasn't that rough on me because I had uncles who served in Veitam, so I knew I would be treated like ****. Those who played sports in high school seemed to fair the best. Some you could see one day one that they weren't going to make it. It was hell, but I walked across that parade deck and earned the title. Infantry school was easier. Got meritoriously promoted both from basic and infantry school. Now in the Army, things are very different. For me, I had a 13 year break in service. If I had stayed in, could have retired 7 years ago. The Army promotes too many, too fast, too young. When I was in the Marines, we had Staff Sergeants who had 10 or more years in, some Veitam vets. Now I'm seeing E-7's with less than 10 years. Their leading and counseling soldiers the same age in a lot of cases. Their too young, don't have enough life experience to counsel these young soldiers. The Army also gives awards out like candy. E-4's who are maxed out for award points in only 3 years. Asked the commander once how does the Army expect to know which soldiers are the best if everyone gets awards for doing their jobs. He didn't have an answer. Now just waiting for ETS again. I don't fit in with this younger military anymore. A few more months in country, and then pray I don't get stopped lost again in the year I'll have left this time. Everyone take it easy and stay low.

[50cal]

Field Medical Service School at Camp Lejeune on the other hand is what Boot camp should have been for me...

FMSS for those who don't know is where Navy Corpsmen go to learn how to serve with the Marine Corps. Half of the schooling is combat medicine, and the other half is Marine Corps indoctrination. We learned everything... History, landnav, communications, 4,6,7,8,10 mile humps with full combat loads. Litter and O course. MOUT town... etc.

Well FMSS is ten times harder than Navy boot I think. The weird thing about it, is that its another school, and not boot camp, which means that at the end of the day we can go out in town and get beer.

Anyway, we'd been there roughly a week, and all of that time is spent with processing. Pretty much all the Corpsmen are there either to fulfill requirements for their next duty station or fulfil a prereq for C school. Some were straight from boot and Corps school and some where fleet returnees... Up until our first training day everything was good.

Training day one I was awoken by a trash can crashing into a pillar next to my rack. We all rushed out of our bed and snapped to attention. Each platoon had a Corpsman advisor and a Marine advisor... The first words I heard was... "My name is HM1 Kmetz and I have exactly seven weeks to unf*** what the Navy has done to your lives and your careers".

From that point it was on... The threw us right into the Marine Corps lifestyle... begining with PT (Side straddle hops- didn't know what the hell he was talking about). We got thrashed for a week straight, every single day. Didn't kill me, but it sucked.

But I loved it... Field Med is kind of the boot camp experience I was expecting from Great Lakes. I'd do it all over again... and FMSS is the only place I'd love to be an instructor at.

7 weeks later I graduted with my Caduece, went Greenside, and haven't longed for the Navy every since....

Makes you want to join the Marines, doesn't it???...LOL!.....we had a butter bar who was prior corpsman........taught us how to give ourselves IV's so we could drink longer......LOL!!!!......on his first week in the platoon too!!!.....LOL!!!....

[50cal]

I'm sitting here in Baghdad, Camp Liberty, and decided to check in on Pow Wows since I have looked in many a moon. This is the only thread that appealed to me. Mine was Paris Island, 1981. Wasn't that rough on me because I had uncles who served in Veitam, so I knew I would be treated like ****. Those who played sports in high school seemed to fair the best. Some you could see one day one that they weren't going to make it. It was hell, but I walked across that parade deck and earned the title. Infantry school was easier. Got meritoriously promoted both from basic and infantry school. Now in the Army, things are very different. For me, I had a 13 year break in service. If I had stayed in, could have retired 7 years ago. The Army promotes too many, too fast, too young. When I was in the Marines, we had Staff Sergeants who had 10 or more years in, some Veitam vets. Now I'm seeing E-7's with less than 10 years. Their leading and counseling soldiers the same age in a lot of cases. Their too young, don't have enough life experience to counsel these young soldiers. The Army also gives awards out like candy. E-4's who are maxed out for award points in only 3 years. Asked the commander once how does the Army expect to know which soldiers are the best if everyone gets awards for doing their jobs. He didn't have an answer. Now just waiting for ETS again. I don't fit in with this younger military anymore. A few more months in country, and then pray I don't get stopped lost again in the year I'll have left this time. Everyone take it easy and stay low.

Welcome in, Soldier.......It's nice to have those in the sandbox come in and give us a sitrep on the going ons out there......so you were part of Green peace, huh???.....(Parris Island Marine).....I think in all honesty, I'm glad I didn't have to endurre the sandfleas like you guys did...LOL!!!....I would have definitely have hated life then......

I see where you're talking about younger people being put in charge....I had a Staff Sergeant who wasn't even out of diapers yet, glad he was rotated out......a complete idiot, didn't really know how to do basic land nav!!!....ah well....Keep your aim true and your head down, doggie and we'll see you back in the land of the big PX.......Semper Fi!

[Kaina1128]

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