Prepare For Boot Camp

At this very moment there are many young men and woman, stretched across the land, waiting for Marine Corps boot camp to start.  Some may have a specific date, while others just know that it is lurking out on some distant date.  It is almost as if the date is a mark in time that will seems to ebb back and forth with hope, excitement, fear and the dreaded fear of the Drill Instructors.  It is almost as if that date is hovering like humidity on a hot day.

While waiting for Marine Corps boot camp to start the parents cringe, combat veterans have inner sorrow and the Marine Poolee outwardly smiles while inner doubts linger.  The reality of waiting to start Marine Corps boot camp is that it is a time of existing in sort of an unknown vapor that just gets denser as the date gets closer.  As the Poolee is waiting for Marine Corps boot camp to start there is always the thought of having to be in top physical condition, and a personal emphasis is placed on being able to run, do pull-ups and of course…crunches.  Being able to perform physically is expected and never should be overlooked, but being in shape is really such a small part of the equation of getting ready to meet the machine known as Marine Corps boot camp.

Leave no doubt in your mind what-so-ever….Marine Corps boot camp is a machine that is always grinding….always happening and is relentless in the mission of making Marines.  If a person is not ready, or able to be a Marine, the machine will simply spit them out along the way and leave them on the side of the road without even so much as a kiss.  Not to be cliche but. when a person fails Marine Corps boot camp…it is nothing personal, it is strictly business.  Not everyone is cut out to be a Marine, and the machine known as Marine Corps boot camp leaves failures stretched all along the road like rotten fruit falling from a tree.

When a young American joins The Corps they are not sure of the impact a failed experience of Marine Corps boot camp will hold on their future existence.  If a recruit is sent home, as a failure, the stigma of being a failure will linger for the rest of their life, like the smell of having shit in their emotional underwear.  The smell of failure will be sharp, at first, as all the friends and family are met.  The excuses are provided, but as time goes on the failure will always be internally present.  If a person does not achieve the title of being a Marine, the process of that failure settles into a “story” that is told so often that as the time goes by…the fiction becomes truth, and the line of failure becomes muddied by the excuse.  The reality of the entire situation is that if a person is not ready for Marine Corps boot camp they are a failure, and for the rest of life it will hang in their emotional air of existence.  Every time a Marine is seen in a movie, every time a commercial is heard,  a poster is seen……..the reality of being sent home a failure is there and NEVER goes away.  Just like the shit in their underwear.

If you are waiting for Marine Corps boot camp, I strongly suggest you look beyond the reality of being in top physical shape.  There is so much more to becoming a Marine than being able to run, or do 20 pullu-ups.  The reality of being a Marine is that you will become one of a few.  You will meet people that may literally be the very same ones that could save your life one day.  The recruit that stands to your left could be the one that kills the man sneaking up on you, while the one on your right could be the one that jumps on a grenade to save your life.  The truth is that the experience of Marine Corps boot camp is coming your way and to prepare for it is like trying to thread a needle in the dark, while standing in the middle of a tornado.

The advice I can give you is to get yourself ready for Marine Corps boot camp is two-fold.  The physical preparation is a given.  You know you have to be in shape so just need to get it done.  If you do not like to run, get over it and get your ass out there everyday and run.  Although speed is eventually important, speed is not as important as stamina.  Drill Instructors use the fast recruits as trophies, and if you are not fast then you better just make sure you can complete the run in the time allotted.

If you are asking yourself “what is the time allotted?” you are not ready for boot camp because that is a basic question and if you do not know the answer, you are really lacking in knowledge and that lack of knowledge leads to hesitation and doubt.  Hesitation and doubt are what leads to failure in boot camp.  The cause of that hesitation and doubt is often the lack of practical knowledge of what the overall Marine Corps boot camp experience is all about.  If you do not have a clear understanding of the training cycles, and the methods used, you leave open the door to the unknown and that door is where all recruits that fail start their Marine Corps journey.

The part that so many overlook is that while they are waiting to start Marine Corps boot camp they should be gathering as much knowledge as possible.  The knowledge that I am writing about is not simply memorizing the General Orders, or the operation of the M16.  What I am talking about is understand the very nature of what is going on all around them while a recruit.

What is happening to me and why is it happening?

How are the Drill Instructors trained to train a recruit?

How long is receiving?

How long is boot camp?

What is the rifle range like?

What are the rights of a recruit?

Does a recruit even have any rights?

Why do they ALWAYS start Marine Corps boot camp at night?

How long is chow?  What is the confidence course?

What if I am afraid of heights?

What if I am not a good swimmer?

Can I have a tattoo?

If a Poolee is waiting for Marine Corps boot camp to start and does not know the answers to the above questions…there is a serious waste of time happening.

If you are waiting for Marine Corps boot camp to start this is the only chance you will have to get ready, so don’t blow it!   This is the time you need to gather as much information as you can get because there will be no do-overs!  There will be no trophy days simply because you showed up.  Marine Corps boot camp is not like any experience you have ever endured.  The machine will either churn out a newly minted, basically trained Marine ready to move forward for more specialty infantry training, or it will simply spit out another failure.

Spend the time you have left waiting immersing yourself in all things Corps.  Study all the course material you can get your hands on and do not stop reading, learning and absorbing as much as you can about the EXPERIENCE of boot camp.  By understanding the overall training evolution you will be light years ahead of those that simply stumble off the bus.  By reading up on all the events that are going to happen, you remove the fear of the unknown.  Removing that fear is what can set you up for success.  Replacing the fear of the unknown with knowledge is what can propel you into the dress blues on graduation day.  Removing the fear of the unknown is what keeps the Drill Instructors from having to spend much time working with you, which means you are not a problem.  Not being part of the problem keeps the machinery humming and you off the radar.  Staying off the radar is essential to having a better experience in Marine Corps boot camp.

You stay off the radar by knowing what the hell is going on around you at all times and in all situations.  Knowledge is power!

How you do in boot camp is entirely up to you!  You have the time to prepare while waiting for Marine Corps boot camp….why not use it wisely?  Remove the fear of the unknown and replace it with knowledge and ultimately confidence!

Click here to learn how to prepare your mind for boot camp

USMC DEP stands for the Delayed Entry Program for The United States Marines.  Essentially what it is all about is that a person has done all of the paperwork, has been accepted into The Corps and is merely awaiting the date they are supposed to report into the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot.  A person in the DEP Program is referred to as a “poolee”.  Today some waits are almost one year long, depending on the MOS (Military Occupational Speciality, or job).  Right from the start the poolee has the date they are too report in and they then make the one big mistake that so many “poolees” have done before.

Click Here To Learn How To Prepare For Boot Camp

What a poolee must understand is that the date they are given is rarely the date that they actually report into boot camp.  All too often the poolee sees the date so far away on the calendar and they make a mental note of how much time they have and then begin the procrastination.  The poolee will exercise “soon”  they will do some pull-ups next week.  What EVERY DEP / POOLEE must drill into their head is that they will be given the chance to go sooner because an earlier time slot will more than likely become available.

If you are a Poolee and you have a date and you have not been getting ready each and every day, then you need to get your priorities straight.  You really need to get your head screwed on straight.  You need to be studying NOW.  You need to be exercising NOW.  You need to be running NOW.  You should not be waiting, because the date will arrive sooner than you think and you do not want to enter Marine Corps Boot Camp and NOT be ready.

Also. you need to know that the weight standards are more stringent to start boot camp then it is to start the DEP Program.  You also need to know that the PFT score at boot camp will more more demanding than while in The DEP program.  What you need to do is prepare, prepare and then prepare some more.

When you arrive at boot camp your entire world will be The Marine Corps.  You will literally eat, sleep and breathe The United States Marine Corps for about 12 to 13 weeks.  Would it not make sense to put an hour or two in every day to prepare?  If you have some excuse as to why you can’t get ready now, then you must understand…it is just an excuse.

Sure that may sound tough, but GET OVER IT!  If you are serious about becoming a Marine then just get up and get it done.  If you HAVE to work a job, then get up to run before work.  If you are too poor to join a gym, then do something else, just get it done and get started now.  When you show up at boot camp your Drill Instructor will not accept any excuses, so why offer them?

If you need the study material or you need help with how to prepare for Marine Corps Boot Camp, then check out the link below, as it will help you survive what you have ahead, by giving you the advantage of knowing what needs to be done to excel.  The course was written by a retired Drill Instructor and will also give you the insight of the head games you will be subjected to, while in Marine Corps Boot Camp.

Click Here For Info. On How To Prepare For Marine Corps Boot Camp

I just recently watched Ears Open Eyeballs Click and I have mixed emotions as to what I think of the movie.  Overall I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, but if you were never in the Corps, or are not getting ready to ship off to Marine Corps boot camp, there is a good chance it would not interest you very much.  I think I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I did because it was not until I was done watching the movie that I realized the movie had no central characters, and there was no real dialogue.  In short, the movie began, went full throttle, and ended where it began to show the endless cycle of recruits undergoing training.

Since this website is dedicated to helping young Marine Corps Poolees achieve their goals of becoming a Marine, I had a deep and special interest of reviewing this production.  Ears Open, Eyeballs Click was filmed entirely on location, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California.  The movie essentially follows a recruit platoon from the start, all the way through to graduation.  It is very easy to see and feel the pressure the Drill Instructors breath down onto the recruits day in and day out.  This is not a movie.  This is not a documentary.  This is real life reality of what Marine Corps boot camp is all about.

Below I would like to quickly review some of the bullet points of the pros and cons of the movie

 Below is a quick review of the movie.

Ears open, Eyeballs Click Pros and Cons

Pros

• Does provide some insight as to the intensity of what Drill Instructors do to recruits, while teaching them how to become basically trained Marines.
• Does provide a small glimpse into the different training evolutions that take place, while in boot camp.
• Does dispels fiction that is seen in other movies, like Full Metal Jacket.
• Does show real footage of actual training that is very, very accurate, as to what is going on in Marine Corps boot camp.
• Does provide the best footage available for a person waiting to attend Marine Corps boot camp who wants a “taste” of what is coming.
• Does provide the knowledge of EXPERIENCE for anyone preparing for Marine Corps boot camp.
• Does provide a glimpse of the emotions a person will feel when in boot camp, which helps a person get emotionally ready for Marine Corps boot camp.

Cons

• Does not help increase the knowledge level of anyone getting ready to attend Marine Corps boot camp.  Virtually NO book (practical) knowledge gained while watching.
• Does not show much actual training.  Fragmented too much and did not include, or show importance of various training evolutions.  Rifle range barely touched upon and graduation ceremony was totally under stated.
• If a person has no past or future rooted in The United States Marine Corps, (minimally U.S. Military) this movie will not hold their interest and my even be boring.

This movie is fairly expensive and the real value will be proven by the reason for the person watching.  The only people that will enjoy this movie will be either someone who was a Marine, someone who will be a Marine or someone who loves a Marine and wants to experience what “their” Marine is experiencing while in Marine Corps boot camp.

If you were a Marine you will see the common thread that has woven from your time in boot camp, to the present.  For some, facilities might be different, and for all the equipment will be new.  For those that love a Marine currently in boot camp, this movie will provide a glimpse into the locked away world of a Marine Corps Recruit Depot.  For those that are waiting to go to boot camp this video will provide visible insight into what is coming your way.  Ears Open, Eyeballs Click is an awesome movie to help a Marine Corps Poolee get the blood pumping about what boot camp is like, but it will fall short on providing any practical knowledge.

Although practical knowledge is very valuable, this movie helps round out anyone getting ready for Marine Corps boot camp, by providing the visible insight of the events that are coming.  The major problem of this movie is that for it to have been better, it would have had to been recorded on at least 100 DVDs, to capture the full intensity of the training.  Although the movie falls short on how much time was spent on different areas of training, there is no practical way to actually fit Marine Corps boot camp into a set of DVDs.

The only better way to experience the excitement of Marine Corps boot camp would to be by joining The Corps, and experiencing it yourself firsthand.

OOH RAH!! SEMPER FI!!!

More Information: Ears Open Eyeballs Click

 More Information: Ears Open Eyeballs Click

Not available on NetFlix or RedBox, but it is available at Amazon.com