Boot Camp

[futuremarine1]

Hi I am Mike Glenn and am currently sophomore in high school and was wondering what Marine Corps boot camp is like. Thanks for your time.

[ilyjulizay]

I'm not a Marine ... yet at least. But my older brother has recently graduated from bootcamp in MCRD on October '09 and he told me that it's hard. Alot of training and it's really tiring. And a lot of times when the Drill Instructors are yelling at your face. They try to play games with your mind. He told me that he cried almost every night because he wanted to give up and all that, but he didn't because I wrote to him everyday and I motivated him. You get individual training if you do something wrong even if it's something really small. And the food isn't close to being great. He said that the spaghetti they ate their was really really wet. And that it didn't look like "sauce" but more like red water. Haha. And he mostly ate cottage cheese for protein and fruits too. Haha. But that's all I know. I haven't asked anyone else about it. But, you should watch some videos on youtube about it. Or go to Marine.com and watch videos of the point of view of the recruits and the Drill Instructors.

[GRS4870]

Hi I am Mike Glenn and am currently sophomore in high school and was wondering what Marine Corps boot camp is like. Thanks for your time.

I'm not a Marine ... yet at least. But my older brother has recently graduated from boot camp in MCRD on October '09 and he told me that it's hard. Alot of training and it's really tiring. And a lot of times when the Drill Instructors are yelling at your face. They try to play games with your mind. He told me that he cried almost every night because he wanted to give up and all that, but he didn't because I wrote to him everyday and I motivated him. You get individual training if you do something wrong even if it's something really small. And the food isn't close to being great. He said that the spaghetti they ate their was really really wet. And that it didn't look like "sauce" but more like red water. Haha. And he mostly ate cottage cheese for protein and fruits too. Haha. But that's all I know. I haven't asked anyone else about it. But, you should watch some videos on youtube about it. Or go to Marine.com and watch videos of the point of view of the recruits and the Drill Instructors.

Ok Mike and ilyjulizay. I see no one has answered your posts about recruit training. The training for almost all recruits is very physical and stressful. The food may not be like moms, but it will be healthy and the DI will insist that you eat all on your tray. It is the duty of the DI to make Marines out of you that can obey orders without hesitation, consequently a lot of close order drill. Your days will be long and stressful as you are bonded into a team. Things have changed a lot since my active duty, (I retired in 1970), but the Marines of today are still the best fighting force in the world, are physically fit, and very intelligent. The Marine Corps need people that are smart to operate the equipment that are part of the service.

ilyjulzay, I do not know how many WM we have here in Marine Chat to answer your question, but what I saw in my time the training is very similar except you are trained and barracked separate; however, you have many more choices for specialities now. Once you earn the EGA, (Eagle, Globe and Anchor), you are a Marine the same as male Marines.

My advise to you both if you intend to enlist, is to stay in school, get in great physical shape and take as much math and science courses you can. You could even be more valuable to your country if you continued your education to incluse at least a BA. If your parents will approve, I would also suggest you inquire about joining the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve while still in HS. You would not be sent to active duty until after graduation, but it would give you a jump on the people that wait until after graduation. If you go to college I would suggest also that you look into an ROTC or PLC, (Platoon Leaders Class).

I do hope that someone more knowledgeable will post a reply concerning today's recruit training.

Good luck on your decisions.