All too often young men and woman enlist with unrealistic hope of what to expect.  Sure everyone has heard of all the stories of how hard the physical preparation is, but all too often the emotional aspect is overlooked.  When a person signs the paperwork to become a Marine, they focus too much of their time on being able to run and to jump and do a lot of pull ups.  Sure the physical aspect of basic training is important, but the total package will require each and every recruit to get the nod of approval from their Drill Instructors.  When a person commits to joining the United States Marine Corps, no matter who they are, they will become very involved with the approval of their Drill Instructors.  Those Drill Instructors become the one to place an unimaginable amount of stress and trauma onto the shoulders of their recruits.

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If you are thinking of joining The United States Marine Corps, we hope you are doing all you can to help prepare yourself physically.  The truth of the matter is that even if you are in the best shape possible, the Drill Instructors will wear you down.  Wearing you down physically is what Marine Corps Boot Camp is all about.  Whether you are on board MCRD Parris Island, or MCRD San Diego, the program is the same.  The Drill Instructors will wear your body down to the point of exhaustion.  What most do not realize is that the main goal is not just physical exhaustion, but also emotional exhaustion.

The Drill Instructors that are assigned you when you enter the United States Marine Corps have been trained to inflict a amount of pressure upon you unlike you have ever experienced before in life.  The emotional stress combined with the physical element is what makes Marine Corps Boot Camp so unique in the fundamental training camps of the United States Military today.  The anxiety that Marine recruits experience is actually unequaled in any other branch of the services.  That is why when a individual wants to join the most elite fighting force in the United States today; they end up joining the United States Marine Corps.

The entire idea of this article today is to open up your eyes as you plan to journey to boot camp.  Sure, we know you realize that you have to be in great shape, but what may even prove more important is the fact that you will have to be able to deal with with all of the issues that come up during the busy and hectic days ahead.  The pressure is what knocks so many recruits out of their chance of becoming a Marine.  It is highly suggested that you learn all about the tactics that the Drill Instructors use to bully a recruit.  Learn all about the facts and studies you will be required to remember, before you arrive.

By dealing and preparing as much as you can, before you arrive, your chances of making it through all of the strain will improve greatly.  If you are joining The United States Marine Corps we hope you are not just running and doing pull ups.  It is also hoped that you are studying not only the required history and the required first aid; we hope you are studying how the Drill Instructors will try to weed you out of their Marine Corps.

Click here to learn about the stress of boot camp

MCBCS RESPONSE:
I could write an entire, all ecompassing answer, but all of it has already been published in an awesome EBook, that is can be available for FREE for Amazon.com Prime members.  I could try to answer your question but that answer is really 125 pages long and is too long for a simple reply.  Check out the link below to see the book for yourself.
Take the doubt out and just prepare for Marine Corps boot camp!

The requirements for a person to enter Marine Corps Recruit Training is as follows:

MALE                                                     FEMALE
 2 pull ups                                               Flexed arm hang for 12 seconds
44 crunches (2 minutes)                           44 crunches (2 minutes)
1.5 mile run 13:30                                    1.5  mile run 15:00

These are the MINIMUM physical standards that will be allowed for a person to gain admittance to Marine Corps Boot Camp.  It is referred to as the Marine Corps Initial Strength Test, or IST.  Do not confuse the IST (Initial Strength Test) with the PFT (Physical Fitness Test).  The PFT is the test that ALL Marines take once recruits enter boot camp.  The IST is what allows them to gain admittance to boot camp.  Before a recruit can graduate from recruit training, they must pass the PFT.

Boot Camp is not all exercise, learn what else a person can do to prepare

Before the Marine applicant can ship out and start the status as a recruit they must meet the Retention Weight Standards.  Any recruit applicant that is over the standard requirements can still go to boot camp but MUST be within allowable body fat standards (26%) and achieve a 2nd class PFT score.

The chart below is what are the standards for a female to enter into the delayed entry program without any waivers.  If an applicant exceeds or is under the standards, then waivers will be needed.  The Marine Corps is VERY strict on weight standards before you enter and even after you finish Marine Corps Boot Camp.

Stop and think for a moment, do you ever see a fat Marine?  If you are worried about your weight, you should worry because it could keep you from your dream of becoming a Marine.  Do not let weight stand in your way, but at the same time do not let your weight cloud your focus on the bigger picture.  You know you will be able to get the weight down and make recruit status.  The question you need to be concerned with is all the other stuff you need to prepare for as well.  Are you ready for the Drill Instructors?  Do you even know what courses you will be studying?  There is much more to passing Marine Corps Recruit Training than just just fitness.  You are hereby warned that you need to study the bigger picture and prepare for many, many things and not just PT.

Click Here to learn what else you need to do to prepare.

    WEIGHT CHART FOR FEMALES DEP PROGRAM

Click Here for details on passing boot camp

The next question is whether or not you should tell your recruiter that you smoked pot.  The simple advice here can get twisted, so before you answer the recruiter, put him on hold for a moment or two and lets talk….The key to being a Marine is staying drug free while in The Corps.  If you pass the piss test and never smoke marijuana again, you are home free.  If you tell the recruiter you have smoked pot, you will have to apply for waivers and you will have to yada, yada, yada!  The make or break here is whether or not you have stopped smoking the stuff and if you can answer yes, then the next question is whether you can refrain from smoking the stuff while you are serving in The Corps.

Click Here for HELP to stop smoking pot.

If you can stay off the dope and stay clean, there is no need to tell anyone anything about ever having smoked pot.  Is that the ethical thing to do?  Would that not be telling a lie?  The answer to that is YES!  The alternative to telling this little lie is that you may never get into the Corps.  Never being allowed in The Corps could be a fate worth than death for some people.  So, if you have smoked pot and can pass the piss test and never smoke it again while on active duty, then it is suggested that you say “No” because the drug test will not catch you now, tomorrow or ever.  The military could dig much deeper by doing a more extensive test than a piss test, but they really do not want to know if you smoked a joint two years ago.

Thinks about this…if they wanted to know what you smoked 10 years ago they could pull a hair out, test it and know anything and everything about you.  The drug test you take to enter the Marine Corps is where you piss in a cup and they test it for a “threshold” of THC.  If you have THC, you can still pass as long as the trace amount is below the threshold.  So, they do know people have smoked pot, and yet they still let them join.  By admitting to your recruiter you puffed a toke, you are just setting yourself up for a more difficult rode to travel in becoming a Marine.

NOW STOP FOR A MOMENT!!!!!!

We do not want you to think that drugs are acceptable in The United States Marine Corps, because they are not.  If you are EVER caught failing a piss test, you are in trouble.  The higher the rank, the more severe it will be in the form of punishment.  If you are an E-1, you will get severely reprimanded.  If you are an O-1, you are done.  The point is that if you fail a piss test while in The Marines, you will be promoted to civilian fairly quickly.  You do not want to be discharged from The Corps under those conditions.

The drug test is a piss test, or a urinalysis. You will pee in a cup and then that cup will checked for temperature and then it will be sealed. The THC is what is looked for and the fatter you are, the longer the THC stays in your cells.  If you are worried about taking a test and you smoked in the last 30 days, you should worry.  If you have smoked and now are afraid of the random test, then drink water and plenty of it.  Drink at least one gallon a day, but not all at once.  Get out and exercise, so you sweat. Sweat, drink, drink and sweat some more.  That is what you need top do to get the THC out of those fat cells. If you are overweight you better work twice as hard.

One side note here if you are looking for information on a urine cleaner kit that will help you pass a piss test.  Some say that if you drink vinegar, you will pass the test.  WRONG! WRONG!! WRONG!!!  If you use a kit to hide the fact that you smoked pot, you will be making it easier for them to catch you.  The kits actually make it easier to catch you and they do not work!!!  Doubt us if you want to, but they do not work and that bit of information comes from a very informed source.  Besides, do you really want to risk your chances by HOPING a cleaner kit would work?  Stop kidding yourself, if you want to be a Marine, you have to stay clean and that is that, nothing more can, or should be said.

When your recruiter asks if you smoked dope and you know you can pass a piss test and you know you will stay clean, you are much better off just saying “NO!”  If you think that is not the thing to do, then so be it, because that is just our opinion.  We just know that if it is your goal to be a Marine and stay clean, then a lot worse people than you have served in The Corps.  During Vietnam many men were told either they went to prison or went to Nam, for crimes they committed. Judges gave them the option to serve as a Marine, or go to prison.  These men did a lot worse than smoking dope and they went on to become fine Marines that fought and died for America.  That little fact is never mentioned in the history books is it?

If you want to become a Marine then go for it and let nothing stop you, let nothing get in your way.  If you can stay drug free, The Marine Corps wants you, they just can’t say it out loud.

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