Making Marines – Get Ready For Marine Boot Camp

By codyusmc1983 on Sep 6, 2008 | Reply

Well… I have this one story. When you wake up in the morning you have to stand on the line. so me and my rackmate would stand on the yellow line every morning. Now from the night before when you hit the rack they will make you pound water so that you are hydrated. So every morning they would line us up as they talked to us and my rackmate wouldn’t be able to hold it any longer and he would pee on the floor. And they would make yours truly clean it up every morning. He was so embarrassed but I didnt care. He was my rackmate and we helped each other out. While he would be getting his chewed I was cleaning him up. We all helped eah other. So after we get off of the line we had to make our racks and scuzz the deck. Me and some buddies would all request to go to the bathroom together. So… we would sit in there. Stalls running along both sides of the wall but the doors were ripped off the stalls. So while we sat there taking a crap. We could actually talk and joke around. So little by little we started abusing the priveledge and we got gaught. Our Drill Instructor took all of our toilet paper and he said ” I will issue you one square of paper each.” and when he handed it to us we would have to say “Recruit so and so received his square sir” and you can only imagine how many times you had to fold one square of toilet paper to get the job done. Needless to say we were all runnning around Parris Island with swamp all day. but looking back on it. It cracks me up. You will love it bro. They dont put Parris in Parris island for nothing. You will be lying around all day suntanning drinking mai-tai’s on the beach. Write me back and let me know how it goes.

Ok dont even listen to Sgt. big Red. This guys is two days older than baseball. He is one of the guys who alwasy talks about the “Old Corps” He doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. And kudos for Sgt. Red… you dont actually drink Mai Tai’s on Parris Island so we all think Sgt. Red should be promoted to Cpt. Obvious.

By sureshot649 on Sep 8, 2008 | Reply

Remember never to say I, Me, or You. An SDI/DI is NEVER to be corrected. Watch where you’re going so you don’t run into them, or touch them in any way. Your answers should almost always be “Yes/No/Aye/No Excuse, Sir”. Remember the greeting of the day (morning, afternoon, evening). Don’t sleep under your blankets unless your SDI tells you to, which he will the night before laundry day. Have the hash browns at breakfast chow, they’re the warmest things and warm is GOOD. You’ll want to have dessert very badly, but try to avoid it if you can since it’s nutritionally empty. Make sure your family doesn’t try to send you any kind of care packages or musical cards. After the first week or so, ask your SDI if he’ll allow your family to send enough powerbars for the whole platoon. Some SDI’s will allow it, since it’s not junk-food, and if there’s enough for the platoon. Get used to not scratching anything. If they catch you scratching, you’re in trouble, since it’s the best way to get cellulitis. KEEP YOUR NASTY MOUTH SHUT!!! The #1 way to get the platoon in trouble is to get caught whispering to the guy next to you in the squad bay or formation: “Oh, Rct. X wants to open his fat mouth, OK, to the quarterdeck we go!” And SOUND OFF! Your throat is going to be raw after the first day or so, but always sound like you’re making an effort and you won’t attract negative attention. I wouldn’t volunteer for anything either. It’s actually not that bad to volunteer, but since it’s potentially another way to screw something up and get in trouble, i’d advise against it. And don’t be afraid of the quarterdeck. If you make a conscious effort to avoid the quarterdeck, they’ll make sure you end up there more. If you just see it as a way to build your speed and stamina, it’ll pass easier. Don’t be TOO enthusiastic, or else you’ll end up as a squad leader, and nothing sucks more than to be a guide or a squad leader. It just means you get QD’ed WAY more than anyone else, usually for nothing. Try to save your letter-writing for sunday, when you got tons of time for it. That way, you’ll be able to spend the weekday free-times (if you get them, lol) squaring away your gear (which is IMPORTANT). ALWAYS KNOW WHERE YOUR SHIT IS!!! When a DI calls out for you to go get your (insert item name), and starts counting down fast from 20 seconds, it would behoove you to know EXACTLY where it is, and be able to reach it quickly.
And last of all, if you feel like it isn’t for you, just quit. They can’t force you to train, and despite what they’ll tell you, if you quit, they’re just going to send you home with a minor slap on the wrist. Just don’t go back on quitting if you do…

By onegater on Sep 9, 2008 | Reply

It was a very pleasant experience from what I remember.

My scuzz brush was worn down to the handle with no bristles left.

Good times.
———————————————
Er, Sgt Big Red, it is called sarcasm.

By Sgt Big Red on Sep 9, 2008 | Reply

Well unless the Marine Corps has gone really soft or changed a hell of a lot, the two previous answers are surely not from experience (wannabes).

Bot stories are so full of holes.
bathroom is called “the head”
no-body pees on the floor!
The “head” has no stalls (at least not before)
No one was allowed “care packages from home”!
You only made a “head call” when the DI ordered it, and you could not sit around and bullshit!
There are no Mai-tais either

The most important is remember keep your crap together, take care of it, don’t loose it. Listen close, shut up unless asked. Keep your shit and your stuff squared away at all times. Learn your “General Orders” and “My rifle creed”, you will be asked about these all the time.
Never drop out, never give up, never give in!

Hope this helps you out,

By The Great Gate on Sep 12, 2008 | Reply

I went to a boot camp for criminals. I was the youngest in there at the time (18). We took pisses 2 people per toilet and occasionally, but not as often, 3 people pissing at one toilet at the same time. A guy was eating when he wasn’t suppose to and he had to carry around an exercise bike for 2 days everywhere he went, when we weren’t moving, he placed it on the ground and had to ride the exercise bike. 1 of the most painful punishments I received was being left in the bay for about 30 minutes, D.I. made me do push-ups with my feet at the top of the bunk bed so it was killing my back because I was basically vertical. Couple guys fell asleep and had to carry their mattress’ above their head for a couple days. One of the guys was a little stupid, he was walking around outside of the bathroom brushing his teeth like he was at home, the drill instructors took a gigantic log (like a mini telephone pole), maybe 11 feet long. They spray painted MY TOOTHBRUSH and taped a scrub brush at the end of the pole so it looked like a gigantic toothbrush. He had to carry it around for a day or two and it was really funny. No matter what challenge you were given, they would find somehow, even if it is the slightest mistake, a way to make you feel like you were a failure, and the punishment would mostly be push-ups for a long time. I forget what one guy did, but he had to carry around a bucket full of dirt for a couple days. If you have a disciplinary item, not only do you have to carry the incredibly heavy thing they give you, you will also have to stand up when you eat (eating was the only time we got to sit down). We had to read the boot camp creed every single night before we went to bed. In the beginning of the program, when we didn’t have it memorized, one of the D.I.’s who was a little psychotic had us repeat the boot camp creed at least 25 times. Keep in mind we screamed the creed at the top of our lungs and we had no idea when he was going to let us go to bed and that after the fourth time saying it we were all flabbergasted at how ridiculous it was. It took about 90 seconds to say the creed one time. We needed to be completely shaved in our faces at all times, and back then, I really didn’t need to shave, maybe I would have a whisker here or there every 10 days. The same D.I. I just mentioned was walking around our table at lunch time, he pulled about 5 of us out of our seats and we stood up, he said that for the next day, he was considering whether or not to make us shave non stop all morning, like while everyone else is doing whatever they were doing we would all be in the bathroom shaving for many hours straight. I pictured it in my head and thought that it was a hilarious punishment / thing to say. It was winter when I was there and we would bare crawl outside when we were bad from where we stayed to the chow hall, which was about a quarter mile. You do a heck of a lot of cleaning. Folding clothes. The worst part besides the physical pain of push-ups and other exercises (which you get used to very fast) is not being able to go to the bathroom when you want to and not being able to sit down when you want to (you rarely sit down). There is a lot more funny stuff but I just can’t think of it. And it makes it entertaining when other people mess up because they get punished in embarrassing, humiliating ways. A guy was heard laughing so he had to do lunges around the perimeter of the gym saying out loud “ha ha, that was so funny”, “ha ha, that was so funny”. At times it was pretty scary and I cried a couple times (about 75% of the people cried at least one time). My platoon was a group of about 30 people, 27 of which were felons, I was a misdemeanor, and only 22 people graduated. During boot camp it really was terrible but looking back I absolutely loved it because it was such a drastically different lifestyle and it gave me a lot of discipline.

By tyler m on Sep 13, 2008 | Reply

Not a question, but I leave in May too, May 19 to San Diego..yourself?