Back in the Old Corps

[SpongeJuan]

Alright, i've been thinking about this a lot. I always hear from NCOs constantly, "Back when I was in school........Back when I was in bootcamp............Back when I lived in the barracks.............etc." The thing that I was wondering was, Did you all hear the same shit when you were a new Marine? Has this been a thing that happens to every generation? Will I be telling new PFCs and LCpls the same shit when I'm older? Every older Marine says that when they were in bootcamp it was harder than now. But I also heard from a former DI in the 80s that a DI was never allowed to hit recruits, but it happened. Back when I was in boot I was choked, thrown, and almost had my finger broken at attention because my DI saw me touch the trigger when I was doing inspection arms. So what is it that made it hard back then if the rules have remained the same? Or is it that now you hear more about it because of the media?

[Grimmy]

Well, back when I went thru all that it was much harder than it is now, basically because it was happening to me! lol.

Probable changes:
Most barracks's were still open squadbays. Some of the nicer ones had partition walls on two sides with open to the center. The "hotel/motel" barracks's were in existance in places but mostly "main side" areas.

Winters were much colder and summers much hotter.

Water wasnt quite as thirst quenching and was much wetter when it rained.

By that I mean, we almost alwase had worn out gear. Rain gear was called "bounty gear" cause it tended to soak up at least twice its weight in water. Field jacket and poncho liners were as rare as hen's teeth. The only pair of cold weather "mickey mouse" boots I was ever issued had plugged up air pressure vent valves and exploded on the helo ride to the deep snow. We had a 2 canteens on the hips rig and not these new fancy "hydration systems".

[USMCRET6391]

Back when I was a young Marine......the stories were from my Father In Law, who was one of the Chosin Frozen and had already done is his first tour in Nam before I married his daughter...

As for me: Back when I was young Marine you couldnt go off the base in any pair of pants that had "patch pockets" or were made out of denim...can you say no Levi's or Wranglers?

[SGRock]

Back when I was a new Marine. We were told to take our field jackets with us to Norway in the fall cause "it might get cold". My first field jacket was OD Green and had my unit stenciled on the back.
Yes you will be telling the new Marines that you had it harder; just like we do with you.

[ArchAngel]

What's one of the "Chosen Frozen"?

[Vulture6]

What's one of the "Chosen Frozen"?

Okay, freeze.... I SAID FREEZE!

Any Marine wannabe has to know the story of the Chosin Reservoir. If you've read Burke Davis' book MARINE! about Chesty Puller, you know the story. "The Chosin Few" are the survivors of the campaign -- the greatest military withdrawal in history.

For a little bit more on the campaign, go here: The Chosin Campaign Get educated now.

[Vulture6]

Getting back to the purpose of this post, hell spongejuan, when I first came on active duty it was so much harder than now...

Seriously, haven't you seen the poster out there that has a suit of armor on it with the title "If Your 782 Gear Doesn't Look Like This, Don't Talk To Me About Being Old Corps!"

I'm sure that in a couple of years (months) you'll be saying the same thing (Hell, the rifle range course I had to qualify on in early 2005...)

[ArchAngel]

Ah, yeah I've heard of that campaign, just not really studied it. Thanks for the link I'm reading it right now!

[SGRock]

Originally Posted by ArchAngel

What's one of the "Chosen Frozen"?

OH, JUST BEGIN! START DIGGING AND DON'T QUIT TILL YOU END UP IN CHINA, RECRUIT!!!!

[USMC Chuter]

I agree with all of the above. To many young Marines, I am considered "old corps", which cracks me up... I've been in a mere 12 years and change. As I came up as a Private, PFC, and LCpl, senior Marines enthralled me with tales of their saltiness. I do the same, no doubt. The Marine Corps is an evolving organization, always has been. The rules about laying hands on recruits has been in effect on paper since the days of the ribbon creek incident in the 50's. It has been adhered to more closely in the last 15-20 years than it has in the past, although "things happen"... Boot camp is boot camp. An old Marine vet friend of mine said it best when he said, "The 'Old Corps' graduated last week." In other words, the tradition remains the same; the actual brutality of the training (respectively) is measured by years. I don't doubt for an instant that my boot camp experience was "rougher" than those going through today, but I also acknowledge that today's Marines are just as tough as any that have gone before them. I recently served with "today's" young Marines in combat, and I know that they are hard.

[SpongeJuan]

I guess the only way they would make bootcamp easier is if they shortened it up. My roomate told me a story of when he was in bootcamp. He told me that when they were taking a class their instructor told them that they were cutting their bootcamp short because the US was in need of troops because we lost a lot of troops that week in Iraq. So he said they were going to go through everything quick and get them off into war. He also said that they might change most of the recruits MOSs to 03s. Then he told them he was just kidding at the end of class. All the recruits that started to cry or look bumbed out got killed for being a pussy. That was some cruel shit, but I thought it was funny.

[USMCRET6391]

Originally Posted by ArchAngel

What's one of the "Chosen Frozen"?

The Chosin (it's a reservoir near the Chinese border with North Korea) Frozen is a Military Organization made of Marines (and others) who made the with drawl from that area after the Chinese swept over the border.