What is it like to become a Marine?

Question

I met someone who just went to bootcamp and I'm very curious about this... so please answer especially if you have some experience or know someone who has gone through it.

I met someone who just went to bootcamp and I'm very curious about this... so please answer especially if you have some experience or know someone who has gone through it.

*Edit: What about contacting family or friends? (Like is it allowed, etc)

Answer 1

I went through Marine Corps Boot Camp at MCRD San Diego back in 1995, Hotel Company, platoon 2113.

Becoming a Marine, is a very personal experience. They literally break you down from what you were. They strip away all of your ill-concieved notions about everything, and then they mold you into the man or woman that the Marine Corps wants you to be.

The first month, the recruit goes through rigorous training, drilling and exercise. Hell, the first few days, they get barely a few hours of sleep.

The second month is spent almost entirely in the field. Learning to fire an M16 and other weapons. Learning about combat and all of its aspects.

The third and final month, is the finishing touches.

It was the hardest and easiest thing I ever did. I look back on those months, remembering how I hated it, and I smile, realizing it wasn't all that bad.

Answer 2

I graduated from Parris Island in March of 1997. I am proud to say that it was one of the most moving experiences of my life. For the first time in my life, I was a part of something larger than myself. I was in the best shape I had ever been in, and had been instilled with more confidence than I had ever known possible.

Boot camp was easy, let me put it in perspective.

You had no resposibility. All you had to do was exactly what you were told. At the same time, you were encouraged to think your way through things. You were sometimes given ambigous orders or asked ridiculous questions for the simple excercise of how you were going to react to it.

There were nearly 80 of us in the beginning, and we quickly formed into a little brotherhood, and all became close. If someone got hurt, or couldn't make it, we closed ranks so that we would all succeed.

Boot camp taught you what you were made of, and you were pushed to your physical, mental and emotional limits every day you were there. After we finished the Crucible, a 54-hour endurance test with all kinds of teamwork excercises, stregth tests and combat training, we all stood on the parade deck, and the drill instructor that I hated the most looked me in the eye, shook my hand, gave me my first Eagle Globe and Anchor, and called me a Marine, adressed me as an equal. I knew that I had succeeded.

I learned discipline, I quickly learned to let go of the little things and focus on what was important.

In short, I became a man. (Not in the macho sense of the word)

Answer 3

Darius nailed it 100%. My youngest brother retired from the Corp last year, he said it was the best AND worst experience of his life but one he will always be glad he went through. I was Navy and while it was tough back when I went through, not as tough as Marine boot. Basically, the same regimen for all the boot camps, some tougher than others based on the duty the personnel encounter. Marines and Army are the first in combat so theirs is the most demanding.

Answer 4

I went to boot camp on Paris Island in May 0f 03. To make it short and sweet, it was about 75% mental. The physical part is not as bad as it is made out to be. As long as you go in decent shape you will make it. Don't get me wrong at certain times it will hurt, and it will make you question your intentions of joining, but it is structured to do just that. If you are sincere in your efforts it will show and your drill instructors will not let you fail. If you put out you will make it, if you lay down and give up they will make your life a living hell until you leave that island. There are a lot of myths about the Marines brain washing people and other crazy theories, I like to call it reprogramming, they teach you to think less about your self and more about the people around you. They emphasise team work in other words. Hope this helps!

Answer 5

My son went through boot camp at MCRD about a year and half ago. He went in as 17 year old kid, was there for his 18th birthday, (he got in trouble because I wrote "happy birthday" on the back of the envelope of the card I sent to him, and he had to do push-ups while singing the birthday song,) and he came out a very polite and fit young man. He said that he loved boot camp and that he was going to miss MCRD. He said that some recruits are afraid of things they have to go through. For instance, they have to go into a gas chamber and put on their gas masks; he said that some recruits panicked and grabbed at their drill instructors trying to escape but he just took a few breathes to see what it felt like and then put on his gas mask. So, the boot camp experience really depends upon the individuals personality and attitude.
Boot camp prepared my son to go thru other training, like days in trenches, artillery training and even being sprayed with pepper spray to get used to it - another thing he took in stride. Now he is in the Middle East and hopefully all of his training will help him with the perils he may face there!