Week 4

(Nightly inspections before lights out. You say some ridiculous stuff, drink some water, pound on your rack screaming "HONOR, COURAGE, COMMITMENT" and then beautiful sleep!)

Monday starts off very exciting(at least for me) with the confidence course. The confidence course is made up of three main events. The Stairway to heaven, The A-Frame and the Slide for life.

The Stairway is basically just a big ladder. It is about 30 feet high and each step is a big log. It gets harder as you go higher because the steps are further apart. No problem! We grew up on a ladder. I zipped right up and down this bad boy and I'm sure Jared followed suit. Just a funny thought...Staircases in the Marine Corps are called Ladderwells. The Giant ladder is called the Stairway to heaven. This cracks me up every time I think about it. Marines have to be different!

(Coasties on the Stairway to heaven. Recruits don't wear helmets...or silly blue jumpsuits)

The A-frame, apparently, is the hardest of the three.Recruits climb up a rope, maneuver through 3 logs, cross about 20 feet on wooden beams to the end that is shaped like an A. They the climb to the top, swing onto a rope and descend on the rope.

The Slide for life is the funniest. It is a big tower with three cables traversing a pool. Recruits start out inching along the top of the cable like a caterpillar. About midway you are told to swing underneath the cable, Face the end of the pool, kick your legs up and the slide down the rest of the way. A couple recruits from each platoon will fall in the water and it is pretty funny.

(The bottom of the Slide for Life)

All three of these are designed to make recruits force there fears of height. many don't even know they have a fear until they get to the top. On a side note one of the Sgt. here is DEATHLY afraid of heights. Ten feet up and he can get dizzy. However he said that because of Boot he didn't conquer his fear but he knows he can ignore his fears and accomplish a mission if he has to.

Tuesday is their first "Boots and Utes" run. This is you running in you cammies and boot minus the Blouse. It can really suck sometimes but it can also be motivational. Running in boots will make your legs really sore in ways regular running doesn't. It also doesn't seem like much but boots and Utes weighs and extra 8 lbs.

Wednesday is Pugil sticks 2. Refer to the last post. It's violent, it's exciting, it's AWESOME!

Thursday it a 2 mile ability group run. The bunch you into groups based on the time of your 1.5 mile run from initial PFT. The DI leading you knows the pace and is supposed to push you...HARD. When I signed papers to got to Boot the main thing I was worried about was running. I was fat and out of shape. I practiced a 1.5 two times before boot and they were both failing times. I don't know exactly what happened at Boot but I have run three miles in 19 mins since then. I have also run up to 15 miles at a time. It's all in your head!

Friday is your Senior Drill Instructor inspection. You stand in formation and get yelled at by all the Drill Instructors in your company before your senior looks you over. You are asked questions on things such as your rifle serial number, basic knowledge that you have been learning and are graded on your appearance. The inspection is as much about bearing as anything. Can you stand stone faced while someone screams at you. You are often asked questions that they think you don't know the answer to. This is to see what you do when you don't know.

(Officer Candidates at OCS. )

Saturday is a great day...depending on how you place. Initial Drill. You have spent up to 7 hours a day practicing Drill movements for the last three weeks. This is to see where you are. Drill Instructors are graded not only on their performance but the recruits performance. It is a huge load off when it is over. It is even better if you win. My platoon won Initial Drill and our senior was so pleased that he let us make a phone call which is a very big deal!