Week 8

Field Week!

Aside from Range week this was my favorite. A whole week of humping(hiking) heavy packs, sleeping under the stars, combat simulations...the whole nine yards. This week is really everything that little boys dream about...minus the several hundred times you will have to low crawl in the gritty rough dirt, or in Jared's case probably the mud.

Thats about it. You actually hump more miles this week than the Crucible but over an extra day or two.

Saturday Jared is back down at MCRD in San Diego.

In other news Jared shot a 231 out of 250 on the range! That is some serious good shooting! He also did well on the combat marksmanship but it is kinda a joke...targets 15-25 yards away...you don't even have to aim.

Mom says he sounds upbeat in his letters and with a coupled of easy weeks coming he should be just fine and ready for the Crucible!

Happy New Year Recruit Fullmer!

Week 7

This was by far my favorite week.

The rifle range! Monday through Thursday is spent at the rifle range practicing. As opposed to grass week were Jared was just sitting around staring at targets, this week he is actual shooting at targets.

Marine Corps Table 1 shooting consists of three different ranges. The 200 yard, 300 yard, and 500 yard. You start at the 200 with a 15 round slow fire that takes 20 minutes. You start in the sitting firing your first 5 shots. Each individual shot is marked on a the target one at at time. From the sitting you go to the kneeling for 5 more shots, than the standing for the last five.
Then the 200 yard rapid fire. 10 rounds in 60 seconds. Then the target gets pulled and all 10 rounds are marked.

The next set is 5 rounds in the kneeling from the 300 yard line with a 5 minutes. Then another rapid fire. 10 more rounds in the sitting from 300 yards with 60 seconds.

The final set is 10 rounds with 10 minutes from the prone position(laying down) at 500 yards. This one was scary at first because I couldn't even seen the black and white of the targets at 500 yards. Easy enough though. Just aim center mass. At 500 yards your front sight covers up the entire center ring so it can be tricky.

We are the only service that fires at 500 yards. This is because the Marines started out as snipers on Navy ships when we were first formed.

Each round is worth a possible 5 points with a total possible score of 250. Depending on you score you will be awarded 1 of 3 rifle badges that are worn on your dress uniforms.

The right is marksman, center is sharpshooter and left is expert.

As a bit of morbid history...

Charles Whitman killed 12 people from a 28 story tower in Austin Texas from distances up to 400 yards.

Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy from 250 feet at a moving target with an old Italian bolt action rifle. He got off 3 rounds in only 6 seconds scoring 2 hits including a head shot.

The thing they have in common? They learned to shoot in Marine Corps boot camp. While these are both bleak moments in history, Marines carry this as a sort of badge of honor.

"The most dangerous weapon is a Marine and his Rifle."
"No better friend, no worse enemy."

The Marines Rifle creed. We recited this constantly during the second month.

This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.

My rifle, without me, is nothing. Without my rifle, I am nothin. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will...

My rifle and myself know that what counts in this war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit...

My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel. I will ever guard it against the ravages of weather and damage as I will ever guard my legs, my arms, my eyes and my heart against damage. I will keep my rifle clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...

Before God, I swear this creed. My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We
are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but peace!

Weeks 5 and 6

Hydration is key!

Week 5

This week was one of my least favorites. Monday through Wednesday is Combat Swimming. If you want more info on this just ask and I will tell. I talked about it back in June or July on my blog. Anyway it is all the same tests except you have a pool FULL of screaming Drill Instructors. This makes swimming VERY stressful.

Gunny helps a Marine in swim Qual

Female recruits at Paris Island, NC

Thursday is the Pugil Sticks 3. This one is the best because it is held in the Thunder Dome. You can't see your opponent but you start on either ends, war crying until you get to the middle and then duke it out. About the best 3 mins of Boot Camp!

Friday is More History

Saturday is Movement to Edson Range on Camp Pendleton. This is a busy busy day. You have to spit knowledge the whole way there so it is a very miserable trip. The part I remember the most is seeing all the people at the gates. It gave me a huge sense of pride to see all those supporters there.

Week 6
Grass Week. This week is dedicated to learning the fundamentals of firing a rifle. You learn all types of stuff. 4 different firing positions, Standing, Kneeling, Sitting and Prone, which you practice all week. It is called Snapping In. You get in the positions that you DI wants and you practice looking at a barrel with targets on it. Prepare for body parts to fall asleep. You Snap In for hours on end...no exaggeration.

You also do a couple of "Death Marches" but that is up to you DI's. These are used to get you used to your pack for the Humps(hikes). These packs are AWESOME. The best way to describe it is how the supply chief did when I was in Boot. This pack is a Boy Scouts wet dream! You can fit TONS of stuff in it.

ILBE pack

Grass week is one of the easiest weeks there is. It is relatively stress free, not what you or I would call stress free, so that you can learn your fundamentals.

The part I remember the most about grass week, other than snapping in, was my sweater. We have these green Marine sweaters that we have to turn inside out because we haven't earned the EGA yet. We marched all over the place in this sweatshirt and it was the middle of June so naturally we sweated like pigs. The worst part was it wouldn't dry out overnight and you had to put this soggy sweater on every morning. ICK!

By this week you usually get to blouse your boots and unbutton you blouse unless you really tick off your DI's. This may seem like a little thing but it is a huge status symbol, probably the biggest one in boot. If you see recruits with un-bloused boots then you know they just got there. It is a pretty big deal. The worst thing is getting to blouse your boots and THEN tick off your DI's and they will make you undo your boots. It is amazing what can be demoralizing in Boot.

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!

Week 3

This week Jared spent a lot of time learning Close combat skills.

Monday is Upper Strikes in the MCMAP program. Sound easy put punching for hours at a time with DIs all over you is not exactly the funnest of times. The key is to just keep going even when you are tired. If you pause for even a moment a DI will see you and suddenly you will be doing some REALLY stupid stuff.

Tuesday is Pugil Sticks. This is one of those event during boot that most everybody loves. All the aggression and anger you have been building for the last two weeks gets to be used on another person. AWESOME! There are very few rules. You wait for a whistle you run into the center and you try and land a killing blow on your opponent.

Wednesday and Saturday you do the circuit course. This is just a bunch of different exercises that you have to do. It is known simply as "bases" to recruits. There are a bunch of stages that you do for 2 or 3 minutes a piece. Each base is a pretty easy Exercise but put together this makes for a pretty tiring workout.

Thursday is the O (obstacle) course. This can be a lot of fun. Now it is a pretty simple set of obstacles to Marines because we do it a LOT of times in boot and then a couple in Combat Training but let me give you an example on how difficult it can apparently be. Buckley in Colorado has an O course but it is "Closed by order of the Base commander" Apparently 2 different high ranking Air Force officers, a Lieutenant Colonel and a Full bird Colonel, were seriously injured. On e broke his back and the other died from breaking his neck. This is a huge loss of value but seriously... HOW? you are never more than 10 feet off the ground except during the rope climb. Anyway Marine O courses are now closed on ANY and EVERY Air Force installation.

Friday is Counter to Strikes in MCMAP. You learn to block and kill the enemy with his momentum. Once again this isn't difficult until you figure in the boot camp equation. Anything Easy + lots of reps + Drill Instructors = Really stinking hard!

Just a note. All of the pictures are of Marines not Recruits. Recruits wouldn't be standing around just watching. They would be running in place waiting for their turn or "spitting knowledge"(reciting learned info) or getting ITed by a DI. All very high intensity.

Please send Jared letters. He will probably be punished for the holidays instead of getting a break. July 4th was one of the hardest days for me during Boot. Your Kill Hat(junior DI) will probably get stuck with you on the holiday and he will probably "play games" all day because he can't be with his family. Holidays are nasty business in Boot

Week 2

So this week is more fun.

Mom got her first letter from Jared. Sounds like he is doing fine so far. I didn't expect any less.

On monday you get your baby doll and you learn love(and hate) for the first time. You quickly learn there is nothing romantic about an M16. The are not fun to carry in any position your DI can think of. You will hate them during Drill. 7 pounds is a lot when you arm is fully extended and the rifle is held by the pinkie!

Tuesday is Interior Guard class. They teach you how to do Firewatch. Enough said.

Thursday is Intro to MCMAP. Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. Learn how to kick some trash. This program is a combination of the BASICS of a whole bunch of fighting styles. The difference between MCMAP and other fighting styles?

Other fighting styles teach you to incapacitate yout enemy. MCMAP teaches you to KILL yout enemy! The bad news is you only learn enough in Boot Camp to get you butt kicked in a fight! The real stuff comes later. However this helps a lot with your confidence!

Friday is Marine Corps History. I LOVE Marine History. You can see exactly why Marines in general think they are the best. I think it is cool that we teach History. I have asked James before and he said that in the Army you didn't learn history, thats a shame because every Military has great traditions. Marines just have more. You can ask any Marine and he will spit off dates and facts all day long.

You also learn the history of our uniforms. Every piece of uniform is earned and has background stories.

In Jared's case he has to earn everything. Right now his top button on his blouse is buttoned. His boots aren't bloused. He has no name tapes, he has no dog tags, he has no rank. We earn EVERYTHING in boot.

That is all the exciting stuff. He PT's everyday, he practices Drill for HOURS everyday. He is no longer the bottom of the Totem pole.

MOTIVATING!

Yesterday was probably the hardest day In Jared's life. He might be tough but I know it was the hardest in mine.


The first couple of days are pretty easy. The first night/day is kinda a blur. You get picked up from the airport in the middle of the night. I got picked up after 11:30 pm. Each story is a little different from here so I will have to tell my own, Jared can clear anything up in the future. From here you are put on a bus by a very loud Man. He is repeating everything he says with an "Aye Aye Sir" to let us know we are supposed to say it. He made us put our heads between our knees the whole bus ride over. By this time it is at least 12:30 and I thought we were going to go right to sleep. Boy was I WRONG

After what feels like an eternity you stop. A monster of a man got on that bus. He told us in not so kind words that we were at MCRD, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego. He the told us to get off His bus. We were all moving at a pretty quick pace I thought. Once again I was wrong. The first Man and 3 others are all screaming, pushing, pulling, slapping and daring you to move out of turn. You have arrived to the Infamous Yellow Footprints.


You don't know it yet but this is how you will be standing, marching and running for the next three months...and incidently the rest of your Marine Corps Career. There really is a method to the madness

From there you spend the next...4 hours or so in a line. A TIGHT LINE. You are literally touching the Marine in front of and behind you. There is a Drill Instructor constantly running up and down the halls yelling "Heel to Toe" and othe more obscene things. You get your hair raped from your head. These three men are BUTCHERS! You then wait and wait and so on until you get some sort of paperwork filled out. Don't really remember and I bet Jared won't either.

From there you go to a receiving barracks. You think once again that you are finally getting some sleep. You are once again wrong. You have been given a bag with everything you will need. The Senior Receiving Drill Instructor takes you step by step of this next part. You Dump everything out. Not neat, not nice just dump it out. As he calls things off you start putting them in your brand new Sea Bag.

After all this nonsense he finally takes you outside and tells you to get in formation. You, of course, are lost. So he firmly but politely teaches you. Cover to the front, Align to the right. 40 Inches back to chest. You are already facing the way you want to go and he says step it out. We are just walking...like little kids. He takes us to morning chow and a new day has begun.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are boring days. You spend hours trying to stay awake while you sit in a formation. Try sitting Indian style for seven hours at a time without being able to talk. Try staying awake I dare ya. Your back goes numb, your legs go numb, other farts go numb. It sucks. And what are you waiting for. The Gauntlet. A series of six or seven shots in various locations. The worst are the two in the buttocks. You hear Recruits yelping as you get closer to the rear shots. You turn around, drop trousers and wait. You then get a tiny little pinprick shot. YOu start to think that wasn't so bad when you get the other one. It is called the Peanut Butter shot by most recruits 'cause that's what it felt like.

Your hiney hurts...BAD. But now you have to go somewhere else and sit. There are about 5 other things you have to do before you start training. They all take hours and you spend it all on your sore behind.

But it's no so bad. The sleep is good at night, your "Drill Instructors" really aren't that mean. You start to think that this will be an easy 3 months. No problem. You will be wrong again.

Now a Marine Physical Fitness Test, PFT is Pull-ups, Crunches and a 3 mile rune. The Initial Strength test is the same just a 1.5 mile run. This is what recruits run on thursday. It just lets you know where you are. !.5 Killed me I remember it because I hadn't run over a Mile since I was a Freshman. 8 Pull-ups out of 20 and some weak number of crunches out of 100.

I remember getting a little scarred when our receiving D.I muttered under his breath that we would learn some respect when we made him mad one night. He didn't do anything to us. I thought it was a joke.

That night we had to take a Urine sample test. We had been told about it all day so most of us went right away. The ones who didn't...Well this is were I learned what Projectile Vomiting is. If you couldn't pee the Receiving D.I. mad you drink water. You literally held the water bowl(canteen) at a 90 degree with the floor and guzzled until nothing was left. If you still couldn't go you drank another...and so on and so forth. I then say a recruit vomit nothing but water...lots of it. We would see this a lot over the next three months.

You know something is happening tomorrow but you can't imagine.

You wake up, go to morning chow, back to Receiving were you are then marched to your new squadbay.
You then meet you 3 or 4 Drill Instructors and your Senior Drill Instructor. The D.I.s repeat the D.I. creed and you think that is it. After all these men are dress in very nice outfits. Not Cammies like us. When the Series Chief D.I. says "Drill Instructors take charge of these recruits and make them Marines" ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE.


They get right in your face. They spit, they scream, they hit, they yell. They run you into the head, into the shower turn on the showers, back of the squadbay, tear your racks apart throw your belongings everywhere. It is horrific

This is the first of many times you will doubt yourself. It is the worst day of your life so far. It is known to recruits simply as Black Friday. When you get further and further in training you start to make fun of the poor guys who just got picked up, who you know will face the same monster in just a few short days.

Sunday will be bad also. You will have shelled up so far in the last two days that when you get to church and are told to relax...you break down and cry at least a little. Every week that I saw the week 1 recruits...never did I see one with dry eyes.

Most never cried again out of emotion, maybe out of sheer pain. You get REAL tough REAL fast. There is no going back now. Who's stupid Idea was this? All you got to do is hang on to this mean ride for 12 more weeks and you will become something amazing.

The Few, The Proud, The Marines