Archive for the ‘MCRD San Diego’ Category
Marine Corps Boot Camp… How can a person describe Marine Corps Boot Camp? Attempting to describe Marine Corps Boot Camp to someone would be like trying to describe what the color red looked like, to a person that never had the gift of having vision. For anyone thinking about joining the Marines, it is virtually impossible to provide you one simple article that will help you breeze through the recruit training program provided by The United States Marine Corps.
Click Here to learn some secrets The Drill Instructors use when training recruits.
One thing a person must understand is that the United States Marine Corps is a fighting force. If you are afraid of getting a bloody nose, do not worry because you are not alone. It is a normal feeling to be afraid of what The United States Marine Corps has to offer. If you think the word fear is too strong, then maybe a better word would be to “respect” what Marine Corps Boot Camp has to offer. Granted, on the outset it needs to be acknowledged that everyone joins the Corps for different reasons. Some join because they seek discipline while others enter because they need a roof over their head. Many seek employment and yet a few may even be seeking closure of some past emotional wound that they feel the Marine Corps will be able to help heal. Whatever the reason you may be looking to complete the training of Marine Corps Boot Camp, you can be sure that it is an experience that you will not find easy and an experience that will challenge every aspect of who you think you are.
You already know that when you are in Marine Corps Boot Camp, you will be challenged physically. You already know that you will have Drill Instructors screaming in your face every day that you manage to survive. What you need to know now are a few things that you have not looked into in depth, that will help you become a graduate of Marine Corps Boot Camp. Check out the bullet point links below and then we will continue. Visit each link for valuable information to help you prepare for Marine Corps Boot Camp.
- The daily training schedule for Marine Corps Boot Camp
- The physical fitness test required by The Marine Corps (PFT)
- Additional information concerning mental preparation for boot camp.
The fact that is not mentioned very often about Marine Corps Boot Camp is that the major portion of recruits that fail is not because the can’t run fast enough or do enough pull-ups. The fact of the matter is that most of the recruits that fail, or “wash out” of Marine Corps Boot Camp is because of the stress that is induced upon them. Granted that a large portion of that stress is related to the physical fitness that is performed, but the total package of Marine Corps Boot Camp is designed to take the weakest of the weak and build their muscles up over the 13 weeks they are in recruit training. If a civilian reports in for Marine Corps Boot Camp and they are in poor shape, they will be exercised daily, and the Drill Instructors will work them to their maximum. If a civilian reports in for Marine Corps Boot Camp and they are in fantastic shape, they will be exercised daily, and the Drill Instructors will work them to their maximum. The key to the entire concept is that the Drill Instructors are there to induce mental stress over all of the recruits. Marine Corps Boot Camp is designed around stress, not around physical abilities because the entire process is designed to stress the individual, while teaching them to become a Marine.
Too many Marine poolee’s (those waiting to ship out to boot camp) tend to focus all of their efforts on the physical aspect of preparing for Marine Corps Boot Camp. We are not saying the physical aspect of boot camp is not important, we are saying that the mental aspect is MORE important. If you were to be the strongest Marine Recruit in the history of the world and could not handle the mental stress, you would become the strongest Marine Recruit in the history of the world to be sent home as just another Marine Corps Boot Camp wash out. You need to understandthat you have to know and study what the recruit training environment will be like mentally. You need to study the classroom training material in the quietness of civilian life before you step off the bus at Marine Corps Boot Camp. By having been exposed to the book knowledge ahead of time you will keep the stress level down lower than those that have not prepared intellectually, as well as emotionally.
In Marine Corps Boot Camp you will need to know the classroom materials such as rank structure, general orders, first aid to name but a few. When you combine all of the classroom materials with the physical fitness portions there is a level of stress that builds up, which is what creates the pressure in the recruits life. That pressure, which is stress induced, is what is at the root cause of the break down of recruits, in general. As you prepare for Marine Corps Boot Camp, you need to prepare for more than just sit-up, pull-ups and running. Not preparing for the mental aspect is the one challenge that is the root cause of failure that runs statistically deep in those that are sent home as civilians.
As you prepare for your time in Marine Corps Boot Camp, it is stressed to you that you must prepare for the mental challenge as hard as you prepare for the physical challenge. You must realize that the body will go nowhere that the mind is not willing to go. If you doubt this then you have not been running enough to get ready for Marine Corps Boot Camp. Once your mind is convinced about how it can, or cannot do something the body will follow like a whipped puppy. Your Drill Instructors are trained to enforce and perpete stress on you for 13 weeks. Are you ready for those 13 weeks?
Click Here to see what you should know BEFORE you go to boot camp.
So, you signed the paperwork and are getting ready to ship off to Marine Corps Boot Camp? Maybe you are going to MCRD Parris Island, or maybe it will be MCRD San Diego? It really does not matter because when your little feet end up standing on those little yellow footprints, you will be really close to meeting a Marine just like the ones you see above. What you see in the photograph above are Drill Instructors.
The relationship with your Drill Instructor will be unlike any relationship you have ever had and unlike any relationship you will ever have. A Drill Instructor is the Marine that will mold you from a civilian and transform you into a Marine. The Drill Instructor is the icon that right now has no personal face, but a day after you begin boot camp, that face will be forever etched into your memory. No matter how many years pass in your life, the face of your Drill Instructor will be a timeless fixation in your mind’s eye.
The bond between a recruit and a Drill Instructor is one that is very difficult to explain to a civilian. That bond is one that is forged through the sweat and effort of trying to graduate from Marine Corps recruit training. The role of the Drill Instructor is one that ultimately is the guardian to the gate of entry for those requesting to join the ranks of all the Marines that have come before. A person must remember that to a Marine, this is the most sacred and hallowed ground. Grounds that were tread by the likes of those that are nameless to the public, civilian population today. The job of the Drill Instructor is to ensure that the new recruits are worthy to wear the same insignia that Marines like John Basilone (Manila John), Oscar P. Horton or Eugene A. Oberegon earned. A United States Marine Corps Drill Instructor is the one to enforce the ultra high standards of entry of The Marine Corps.
When you first step off the bus at a recruit depot and are “asked” to stand on the yellow footprints, you are greeted by a Drill Instructor, but those are not the ones that will push you through the training cycles. These Marines are the ones that work in Receiving Battalion and get all of the civilians processed to be accepted by the actual Drill Instructors that will complete the
My first memory of boot camp, after the officers handed my platoon over to the Drill Instructors, was the entire platoon standing at full attention for about three hours. The Drill Instructors walked up and down, back and forth and pounced on any recruit that moved or looked anywhere but straight ahead. It was like going from zero to recruit in seconds. The impact of not being able to even move my eyes without permission, was a major change in personal reality.
Click here to reveal what Drill Instructors are trained to do
The interesting thing about the relationship that is forged between recruit and Drill Instructor is that despite all of the emotions that bubble to the surface, hatred is never present for those that earn the priviledge of wearing the Marine uniform as a warrior. Despite the hours, days and months of the constant screaming and stress, when you meet your Drill Instructor later on in the FMF, (Fleet Marine Force) you only want to shake their hand and buy them a drink. Once you have graduated and earned the title of united States Marine, your respect for what that Drill Instructor accomplished has made you nothing but grateful.
There is a certain technique that all Drill Instructors use to stress out the recruits. The techniques and training strategy used is not some random idea that each Instructor individually devises. The way things are done in Marine Boot Camp are what has been learned down through the years. The art of recruit training is one that has been handed down through the decades and that art has been taught to the Drill Instructors. Somewhere along the way that “art” is absorbed by the recruits when they learn the meaning of Honor, tradition and Semper Fi. Somewhere along the way that raw civilian is transformed from a civilian puke into a Marine that is ready and willing to move onto further training. The specialized training that follows boot camp only happens after you get past your Drill Instructor.
Marines do not fight and die merely for their country, they also do it for the Marine that stands next to them. They bleed for the Marine that is over the next ridge. The Marine pilot flies into danger because that is a Marine calling for help. The Marine cook has the ability to pick up a weapon and is trained enough to shoot straight, because the enemy is near and all Marines are warriors. The Marine that is nearby could have been trained in any job, but first and foremost they have been trained as a Marine, and that training was accomplished in Marine Corps basic training. That basic recruit training was accomplished and completed and guided by none-other than a Drill Instructor.
Do not expect your Drill Instructor to be your friend. Do not expect your Drill Instructor to be your enemy. Do not expect your Drill Instructor to be anything but the guardian to the gate of The United States Marine Corps. They are more than willing to help you become and earn the title of Marine, but they are even more than willing to send you home packing as a failure. Expect nothing more from your Drill Instructor other than someone placed in your path to ensure that if you enter the FMF, that you earned the right and privilege to be there.
If you are getting ready to report into MCRD San Diego, California, you are soon to begin an experience that will be etched into your memory for life. As your date looms ever closer your nerves start to get a little rattled and the reality of the life altering experience weighs ever heavier on your mind.
Most future recruits think that boot camp at MCRD San Diego is all about being in great physical shape and do not realize that your physical skills are really only a small portion of being prepared for boot camp life. Granted it will be to your benefit to be in great shape, but if your mind is not prepared you too may become just another wash out.
It is the job of the Drill Instructors to apply an amount of pressure that you will only experienced again if you are ever in a combat situation. It has been proven that even the largest of men and woman all have an equal chance of cracking under the pressure of war. It is the job of the Drill Instructor to get the ones to crack before they are ever in combat and hunkered down in a fighting hole. (Fox hole for you civilians)
Can you make it in Boot Camp? Find out here!
If a Drill Instructor can exert enough emotional pressure on a recruit that causes him to collapse and quit, it can save the life of a Marine in combat. When in boot camp a recruit should never take it personal because once the Drill Instructors see a crack, they will pick and tear at the wound until they weed you out of their Corps and off MCRD San Diego.
If you are thinking of joining the United States Marine Corps, then it is suggested you get in the best physical shape you can and also work on any emotional issues that you have going on inside your brain housing group. (That is your brain, for you civilians) If you are not sure how to work out your emotional issues it is suggested you seek all the help you can. It is a sure bet your Drill Instructors will find your weakness and send you home with a shaved head and without the title of Marine.
Educate yourself as to the tactics the Drill Instructors use and for your sake do not call them a D.I. That is because you would be calling them a Dumb Idiot. Also, do not EVER call them a Drill Sergeant because you just made them equal with an Army Sergeant and that would be a really bad thing to do. If you want to stay on MCRD San Diego until you graduate, the little things like mentioned above will be huge in your experience while on the recruit depot.
Prepare for bootcamp now so you can graduate from boot camp later.