I went to the Army because 1.) the recruiter was super fine, 2.) Why do 12 weeks, when you can do 8 with equal respect? 3.) 6 weeks was just too short to be considered worthwhile (Air Force)- plus, that's where all the "girls" went from my school~ which shows you how stupid I was for not going where all teh girls went~ and 4.) I can't swim (Navy)

I watched this special on "The Military Channel" Formerly Discovery Wings, and they followed this group of kids through all 12 weeks of Marine Basic on Parris Island. They did everything we did, every obstacle we had (Except that tall ladder looking thing; we didn't have that) except they did it out of order...

Can a Marine on this site kick-it down for us what goes on for the extra 4 weeks beyond what the Army & Navy does?

Army:
1.) D & C, Military customs & courtesy, classes, vaccinations, etc.., mind games.
2.) BRM, more classes, mind games. The lucky ones start getting mail.
3.) BRM, and marching 5, 6, 10 miles a day, Gas Chamber, mind games. Almost everyone gets mail, others realize they aren't missed (just kidding).
4.) BRM, Qualification, mind games, Dear John/Jane letters begin to arrive.
5.) Victory Tower; repelling, shoot, move, communicate, mind games..
6.) Weapons Familiarization (M-60, grenades, claymores, LAW/AT-4, etc..), mind games.
7.) Bivouac, 15-mile force-march, SuperBowl, etc.., mind games.
8.) Graduation and more mind games, mind games..

There was a lot left out- It'd take 8 weeks to tell you all of what we did; but, Basic was fun- I enjoyed it. I hated to leave for AIT, and hated it more once we got there and we realized that we went from being "The S**t" to being s**t again, havign to work our way up, and gain the respect/admiration of another set of Drill Sergeants.

Some of what I saw on that 3-hour/spanning 12-week documentary was incredible. It was amazing to see soft-cuties like Recruit Singh harden up and become a US Marine, and to see others get dropped, wish to be dropped, etc- some of whom also toughened up and made it...

They did everything we did- I'm just curious as to why the extra 4 weeks.. The Marine "Cruicible" is like our "SuperBowl" -minus the team-led obstacle course, our obstacle course(s) were individualized.

 

I did 9 weeks of army basic

31C

 

Well,

When I went through it's completely different then the way things are now.

I went to MCRD, San Diego. The first 2 months was MCRD. The first part of the last month we went to Camp Pen for "field training".

That's when ***** hit the fan. For real.....

During our training in the field, we fired tons of weapons, humped "The Grimm Reaper", Slept in shelter halves the whole time, blah, blah, blah.
I wouldnt go by what you saw on TV as far as the training, I have seen some on TV too, and I always say, "I wish it was that easy in boot when I went".

 

Some guys were there 9 week, some almost 10 weeks, dependign on when you arrived- because the Battallions started & finished basic "together", but- some of those guys were just there getting "climitized" for a week or two before we arrived.

I was there 8 weeks, 4 days, my company was the last to fill up, and that's when basic began for the BN.

"Black Lions- Drill Sergeant"
***Undefeated in the Pugil Pit***

We did "Drag-*** Hill" twice. It was bad, but not as bad as we'd been led to believe. Then again, I played in the band for 5 years, and football for three, and I was in shape before I went to basic, so- it wasn't nearly as hard for me as it was for some of the non-athletes, and for those with no comprehension of marching, standing for long periods of time, marching 5-10 miles, facing movements, etc..

The whoel time some guys were whining about humping a 40 lb ruck sack I was thinking (At least I'm not carrying a Bass-drum, playing and marching at teh same time...)

 

Ahhhh, the good old days......

 

I had basic and then AIT at Ft Knox Ky.(1997) I arrived a 1am march 1st and left august 10th.
I didn't watch the show on discovery but we did a big ladder (Jacobs ladder) It was the same as in Full metal jacket (Awesome movie)
Ky was ok except the humidity, Tornado warnings and the 3 hills we marched and ran (Agony, Misery and Heartbreak)
I would do it all over again if i had to because looking back on it, it was a great experience.

 

Honestly. Army basic was a big let down for me. Way too easy. I had it built up as this big challenge; and, pretty much cruised through. I hear Special Forces training really puts you to the test. I doubt it's as hard as they make out to be in the movies though.

 

Personally I chose the Navy. Ended up going Specwar from 69-73, and YES I can guarantee you that "Special Forces" training is hard, damn hard. Funny thing is though, it seems the first ones to "ring out" were the bad@sses, you know the type, muscle bound jocks that thought they were really tough, well most, but not all I ever encountered in training weren't as tough as they thought. Its definately a mind over matter issue. You really find out what you are made of once you take the plunge.
Oh yea, would I do it again, you bet......

 

Left Knox last year.... I don't miss those hills.... well yeah, if i admit it.... can't believe we'd run those for "fun" before work. I'm sad to see most of the hospital going away... damn BRAC, I really wanted to go back again

 

Marc's right...I think the big guys suffer the most in the tough training. While I can't speak for basic training and SFAS / Q-course, I saw how bad the big muscle guys were sucking it down in Ranger School...no sleep and little chow really put the zap on them. I started Ranger School at 165 lbs and graduated just under 140 lbs...the big guys lost a lot more!

The only advantage I saw that they had was that they tended to be able to hump more weight...until around Day 7 in the mountains or Day 8 in the swamps. By then, everyone was hurting pretty bad.

Paul
Ranger Class 04-97

 

I was never very gung-ho; but, I wish I had made the move to Ranger training while I was in. When I realized just how little we were paid, I knew I was short haul. Now that I'm older, I realize there were other 'intangible' compensations that didn't seem very important at 19-21 years of age.

 

I joined the Air Force after high school, my dad was a coal miner I decided that was not for me, I was going to join the Marines but a friend of mine's dad was in the Air Force, he told me how much better the USAF was (creature comforts) and stuff like that. I retired Nov 03 after almost 21 years in blue, I have to say my 5 trips and 2 wars in the sand box there were no creature comforts. While I was in Iraq for 5 months ( as soon as we moved across the Iraqi border) we all had it rough a can of pepsi was a creature comfort but the USAF basic training was only 6 weeks and easier than I had expected.

 

If I had it to do over again, I'd have run the gammot at the MEPS station, and got Rangers, Airborne & Air Assault schools guaranteed; the only school that really scared me was the thought of going airborne, but- my nutz were bigger than my head back then, so I'd have done it...


G-e-ron-i-moooooooooo.

 

I know the feeling, working at IACH was the only time in the Army that I actually LIKED my job....now its just cruising through trying to not get in trouble

 

Where are all my fellow jar heads?