Bootcamp Memories

[Batgirl]

What were the high points and lows for you during your training days? Were there any specific aspects or lessons learned that stand out more than others? Which of your instructors inspired you most?

[USMC Chuter]

The high points for me were chow, mail call, and lights out. I remember thinking "I just have to suffer until noon chow.." followed by "I just have to suffer until evening chow" followed by "I just have to put up with this until mail call", etc.. As for the training itself, I didn't mind the classroom stuff if I could stay awake and not get slapped on the back of the head for falling asleep..lol Combat boxing and line training (pre MCMAP) training was relatively fun, as were pugil sticks.. Drill was ok at times if they didn't keep you on the grinder forever. Unfortunately they usually did.

Low points.. I hated reveille! I hated getting the shit thrashed out of me on the quarterdeck or in the sand pit, which happened often. I hated my feet going numb on the parade deck during drill.. I hated "deck towelling" the deck (wet towel, push up position, bear crawl) rather than using a swab. I hated having my stuff thrown into a pile with everyone else's in the middle of the squad bay, only to play silly little games trying to recover it in an unreasonable time.. I remember how disoriented and, yes, scared I was when I first got there-barely 18 and thoroughly clueless. Ah, the memories.

The lesson that stands out the most is that you can suffer through just about anything if you know that the guy next to you is just as miserable as you are. Misery indeed loves company. I learned that the only way to relieve that kind of misery is to work as a team. Individualism causes more pain.

The instructor who I found to be most inspiring was Drill Instructor SSgt McCall. He was an ornery little black dude, the junior hat of the team. His job was simply to enforce discipline. He was absolutely uncompromising and humorless and was single-handedly responsible for more sweat and tears in that platoon than any other DI. He never cracked once. He was THE epitome of Marine to me. I ran into him a year or two later on Okinawa, in civvies, standing in line with his wife and kid at the ATM machine. He remembered me and was extremely cordial and encouraging. He left a lasting impression through example.

[SGRock]

The high points for me were anything to do with combat training. I loved it. Pugil sticks, confidence course, obstacle course and of course PT. I loved book training and wanted to learn as much as I could about everything. I HATED drill. I know that we all have to become one sound, snap and pop and I loved it when we got to that point. I loved that we could do inspection...ARMS! And sound like one person with one rifle. The pit sucked, especially when we had to "make it rain".
Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant Lemmon. He NEVER, EVER yelled at anyone. He was Force Recon in Nam and I respected the hell out of him. I saw him in Okinawa 3 years later and found out he was in my Bn. He remembered me right away. His encouragement keeps me going even now.

[Rusty24]

For me basic was pretty easy and I knew most of what was already being taught due to the fact that I was in Civil Air Patrol.

My eye opener came when I went to my tech school at Hurlburt Field Fl. They take and break you down and build you up to the point that what you thought were your limits, wasnt even close. Determination and Perseverance were two big words that were engrained into me. Plus alot of push-ups

[SGRock]

Forgot one interesting thing. I was looking at a recent issue of Leatherneck and saw one of my Drill Instructors. He is the Sgt Maj of MCB K Bay Hawaii. He still looks like Satan.

[Batgirl]

I'm two-thirds through my training and loving all aspects of both the practical field training exercises and academic studies. Command tasks, land navigation, marksmanship, tactics, small unit leadership are some of my favourites and unlike many of my fellow cadets, I also look forward to PT and drill! Least favourite is Administration and Media Relations but overall it's all good. The only real low point I experienced was during the first week of the physical training phase when we returned from an overnight exercise tired, hungry and wet, to find that the contents of my room had been dumped onto the parade square. Unknown to us at the time, it's a common practice that every cadet is subject to in some form during the first term and I happened to be the first in my platoon to experience it. The worst part was having this ferocious looking SNCO screaming in my face about my rubbish messing up his parade square and to move it out in 10. It was bucketing down with rain and everyone in the platoon grabbed what we could as we ran for the old college before copping anymore from the CSM. After squaring away my kit and room, I just sat there feeling very sorry for myself! That didn't last long though as I discovered I wasn't the only one feeling miserable and a little homesick during those initial adjustment weeks. Key lessons I've learned so far is that it's not about me and what I want and also how important the SNCOs are in order to succeed. All of the instructing staff here are of the highest quality but the instructor who's had the biggest influence on me to date is Colour Sergeant Banham. He embodies everything that's great about the British Army in my eyes and is a natural leader and teacher. He's hard on us but his methods yield results. When I think back to last May, we were 30 uncoordinated individuals in our platoon who didn't have a clue but he's turned us into Soldiers and I'll always be grateful to that man.

[66MP1]

Basic Training was really good for me. Of course there were days when I hated it, like those forced marches through the beautiful woods at Ft. Bragg on those wonderful summer North Carolina days in that lovely Tarheel sand. Summers are hot in that part of the state. The constant cleaning and waxing and polishing floors with a blanket and Johnson's Paste Wax.

The fun parts were of course on the firing range, pugil sticks, obstacle course and that. I really like most of the training.

I had 2 DI's, SSG Pietrolaj and SGT Dodd. They were both very good. Dodd lived in the barracks with us and had to wear sunglass all the time because a grenade blew up near his face in Nam and messed up his vision. Pietrolaj loved to run and always wanted our platoon to be first on first marches. Both of them really took time with us and were really not screamers. They had the respect of our entire platoon.

When I got to MP School at Ft. Gordon, it changed somewhat. There it was nothing but spit and polish and really breaking you down and then building you back up. We got much more harrassment than in Basic. They kept driving it in our heads that we were the best the Army had. The training there was the best I ever had in my Law Enforcement career. I used things I learned all through my civilian career.

[crazy bay]

screw sand hill dude. That place sucked. Especially in July and August.

[Covertness]

Bunch of Sand Hilton pussies....

Boot Camp/Basic Training memories;

Without trying to brag, after Fork Union Military Academy starting at the age of 10, when I went to Harmony Church I kept waiting on the challenge that never came. Thought military school was nothing like basic training, aside from learning how to shoot, move, and communicate in the field, nothing about basic was surprising. I do remember the first speach while sitting on the bus. "Good morning gentlemen. My name is Staff Sergeant Kelly. On behalf of the US Army, the 2nd Inf Training Bat, and the training cadre, I'd like to welcome you to basic training. NOW YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS TO GET OFF THIS BUSS AND TWENTY OF THEM ARE GONE!

I followed my D-Bag out the window of the bus and was the first in formation. Aside from PT, the first week or so is basically Drill and Ceremonies FM-22-5 shit. Having lived in that kind of envoronment since 10 yrs old, I quickly found myself besides my Drills teaching my peers. They made me a guidon bearer since I already knew how to properly carry the guidon and I was proud to be the only person to hold their "position" (guidon bearer, squad leader, etc) throughout the entire OSUT.

Running has always kicked my ass. Too much pot and cigarettes as a high school hoodlum I guess. However, I remember running at the head of my platoon spinning my guidon around my body and over my head while passing other platoons. (I spun a rifle on the drill team at military school. And I will brag with the knowledge that my 7th grader soloist rifle drill beat my opposite from VMI at the Dogwood Festival Parade.) My Platoon was motivated as hell. Me, two of my future Ranger Buddies and two aspiring SF guys challenged and encouraged the rest of our platoon to keep up with us. We kicked the other platoons ass in every thing we did.

....except for Branch. He was a disgusting fat body who literally couldn't do one proper push-up. We got fucking tired of dragging his lame ass around so I convinced my buddies to tie him to his mattress while he was sleeping and throw him down the stairs. Maybe now he'd quit or get hurt and get re-cycled. [Grunt life, deal with it.] Everybody in that barracks did PT at 0200 hrs for an hour or so. Branch didn't quit and he didn't get hurt. THEY PASSED HIM! A more unbelievable travesty I have yet to witness in life.

We had two Vietnam Veterans coming back into the Army with us. Both sporting 173rd combat patch and jump wings (no CIB, not that that mattered). Two or three times a week one of them would wake us all up in the middle of the night screaming his fool head off. Bad dreams. Nobody ever talked about it and I kind of felt sorry for the guy but admired him for coming back in and facing his demons. Fear is, in reality, the only one true enemy.

I have a cool Jump School story too but that's all ya'll get for $5

[Batgirl]

I have a cool Jump School story too but that's all ya'll get for $5

Don't be stingy Covert! We want details...

[RetArmyMedic]

Oh goodness. I think my highest "high point" was graduation day. Not for the reason you might be thinking either lol On the last Bn run, I was called out of the entire formation by the Bn commander and informed that I would run with him (apparently my drill sgts had told him that I was doing my best, but having a hard time with the run...thanks lol). So while it was really hard for me (Im a really good sprinter, but never really that good at distances, coupled with a fairly serious back injury toward the last part of training), I kept up with him the entire run. On graduation day, he pulled me to the side and presented me with a Bn coin (usually only honor grad gets a coin). I still have that coin too! So thats my high point...as far as the low point...probably the back injury I mentioned. We had done the O course the day before and apparently I had strained my back, but had blown it off as just being sore. However, during KP the next day, I irritated it so badly that by the end of lunch I was basically ordered to stop working and by the end of the day (I was never one to leave the work to others...or to listen for that matter) my back muscles were spasmed so