Joining the NAVY - 3 random questions?

Question

- What piercings will I have to remove? I have 4 lobes, left cartilage, right industrial, and bellybutton.

- I don't have any tattoos but want one. I've been told to wait until after I go to MEPS. Why?

- Could anyone tell me about their personal experience at boot camp?

An industrial piercing is a barbell that extends through the cartilage of my right ear. It has two puncture holes.

Answer 1

Tattoos are what kids do to make them look cool. Adults do it because they never grew up. Kids, when they grow up, try to find ways to remove or cover the scars of their stupidity.

Piercings are pretty much the same thing. The problem with stuff sticking through parts of your body, is that in combat it'll get ripped out. It could cause an injury that could put you out of action.

When I was in boot camp it was 13 weeks.

The first couple of days were a blur of confusion. I remember getting a couple of hours of sleep the first night. I remember vaguely getting uniforms, hair cuts, eating, and marching.

Somewhere in there we got shots, lost our civilian clothes, wound up in uniforms..And we began learning. We just about memorized the "Bluejacket's Manual."

Somewhere during that time classes began. The easy stuff. The pointy end of the boat is the "bow" of the "ship." Tje back porch is the "stern." If a surface is vertical, it's a "bulkhead." If a surface is horizontal, you have to figure out if you're looking up at it or standing on it. If it's above you, it's "an overhead," and if you're standing on it's "a deck." If it walks, and it's not a recruit, it's "SIR!"

After about a week, you begin to get into the routine. Reveille, dress, clean up the barracks, breakfast, classes, PT, drills, lunch, more classes, pt, and drills, dinner, study, die (sometimes referred to by those who haven't endured it as "sleep"). Oh, yeah... and we learned to wash our clothes...by hand.

There seems to be no end. One wondered how anybody with the ability to walk on their hind legs could be expected to put up with this kind of punishment.

After about a week or two, we moved from the receiving barracks to our company barracks for the duration.

In short order we were given a battery of tests to determine if we were qualified for our chosen area of interest. Based on these tests, the Navy would determine how best to utilized our talents. You will have written a letter home... finally. Ours was dictated to us. Basically it said that we were in boot camp, that we were alive, and extremely busy. I believe we started receiving mail too. As I recall Mail Call was late Friday afternoon. Once a week gave everybody a chance to get at least one letter.

Things weren't so bad. Granted, we were on an endless treadmill, walking, marching, running, and still not getting anywhere. But at least it was bearable.

There was athletic week when the recruit companies competed in track and swimming. The companies also compete in other areas like inspections, and academics. Each week the outstanding company in each of these areas gets a pennant to hang from their company flag. I'd lettered in swimming in my junior and senior years in college and had coached a swim team. We kicked butt in the pool... not necessarily because we had a bunch of good swimmers, but because we used them strategically. I believe that was the only sports pennant we got. We got several academic pennants too.

There was also service week when the recruits worked in various activities necessary to run boot camp. Some got KP. Others worked in the armory. Some of us worked cleaning up the classrooms between classes.

We had to stand watches now, in addition to our other activities. Standing in the cold for from 2 to 4 hours guarding apparently nothing seemed dumber than dirt.

But things were changing. What was a bunch of individuals from all over the country less than a month earlier began to think like a team.

Then, somewhere around the middle of boot camp, something happened. We looked up from the ground on which we'd been marching, and doing push-ups and sit-ups. And there, off in the distance, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. The end was in sight. Son of a guy! We might actually make it.

To prevent us from getting too cocky, a new word was added to our vocabulary, "recycle." If somebody can't make boot camp for some reason, they are "recycled"... they have the pleasure of doing it again. If a company screws up... the whole company can be recycled.

So we worked harder.

Occasionally we'd see new recruits. We watched them stumble along trying to stay in step. Were we ever that clumsy? We gave them a kind of mental pat on the back. "Hang in there, kid. You'll make it." And we walked a little taller, a little straighter, a little prouder.

Maybe you begin to think back on some of the stuff you endured.

At the beginning they took away everything that you thought made you an individual. Everybody got their hair cut the same, they wore the same clothes, the slept in the same kinds of beds all made the same way. You marched together, ate together, studied together. Now you're a team. You might not be the best of friends of all your teammates, but you trust them to be able to do their part of whatever job the Navy may throw at you.

The delay before letting you write home... that was weaning... to get you to look to the Navy for to care for your needs. It's also to get you used to the sporadic mail service that accompanies some Navy duty. A carrier can get mail almost every day. But a sub, only when it's on the surface... and they don't come up a whole lot. And it's also to get you used to long deployments during which family contacts are minimal to non-existent.

All the PT. Well, maybe you've trimmed down a little. And maybe you can do more push-ups, pull-ups than you could when you first stated... maybe you can run faster without getting as tired too.

And all that stuff you had to learn? Well, now you know what the Navy's about. And you know your place in it. And you know enough about your job so you won't be a danger to your shipmates.

About two weeks before graduation, we knew we were going to make it. Our dress blues were sent to the cleaners to be cleaned and pressed. We'd worn them once to check the size, but they still smelled of moth balls. Our dress shoes were shined (that was before synthetic uppers were allowed). We'd had a chance to arrange for boot leave (back then we had two weeks between boot camp and "A" school or our first assignment). We arranged for flights, we arranged for transportation to the airport. And we were finally allowed to phone home... only three minutes... but it was wonderful. Yes family would be there for graduation. Yes they would meet you afterwards for your "boot liberty." Boot liberty is a few hours after graduation when graduates are allowed to leave the base for the first time. The rules are strict and if broken... remember "recycle." Everybody was back at least 30 minutes before the deadline... I think it might have been 2200... we were even thinking in military time... but whenever it was, NOBODY wanted to be late.

I don't know how many days after graduation we left boot camp behind. I believe graduation was on a Saturday. I'm certain we were our of there by Monday... it might have been Sunday. But you were no longer "Recruit Smith." You were "Seaman Apprentice Smith," and there might have been a parenthetical unspoken, "and proud of it."

Answer 2

Take off all your piercings, your DI will really pick on you if you have any stuff on you that isnt supposed to be there.

Having tattoos really closes a lot of doors for you. For example you can't be a DI if you have any tattoos.

Boot camp was hard! There was nothing easy about it! If it was then it wouldn't be boot camp now would it. Always and I mean always expect the worse of things. For exmple you just had a very heavy day of training and expect to get a good nights rest. DONT! Be half awake cuz chances are your DI would use this as a very good opportunity to come in banging 2 trash can lids and make you do PT in the middle of the night.

Answer 3

you will have to remove all piercings, after boot camp you could still wear the belly when not at work but the others no.
the navy is cracking down on tattoos, they will document what you have or don't have at meps so if you do anything drastic after boot camp you will be in trouble.
bootcamp is full of classes, praticals, inspections, and marching and throw in some people yelling at you. you'll be fine unless your a baby

Answer 4

You're only authorized one piercing in each ear while in uniform. (Must be through the fleshy part.) However, when in civies OFF BASE, you can have as many as you want.

Tattoos, go ahead & get it prior to MEPS. They can grandfather them, but don't go overboard on size. And, they cannot be "offensive." (A liberal term for ... must not ditract from the uniform. Location of said "offensive" tattoo doesn't matter. You can't have it.)

Boot camp is a cake walk. Do what you are told, when you are told. No questions, and don't whine. It will be mentally stressful, but everyone in the military has to go through.

Answer 5

Females are allowed ONE set in their ears..normal place and size. all others must be removed.

you may NOT get a tattoo while in DEP. you would have to wait until AFTER boot Camp before you got one.

Answer 6

I think with all that hardware you might be picked up by an enemy radar system...

Answer 7

They should have told you at meps whether you qualified or not.