[freudling]

Anyone been to military bootcamp? Any good stories...

[Tenacious Dyl]

Lol, not myself, but my best friend joined the Marines and went to bootcamp. He was on top of his stuff the whole way, shortly before leaving BC during a training exercise with weighted packs, he rolled and broke his ankle badly. He was then sent to a hospital / med center within the Marines, and told he would no longer be able to continue training. He scheduled a time (for in the future, when healed) to re-do training, and that got messed up (On the Marine's end, not his). He ended up unable to serve, unable to attend camp, with medical bills for his injury once he was pushed out of camp that the Marines wouldn't cover. The little bit of pay he got for joining / training was far less than his medical expendictures. He basically gave them all he had at Camp, and got took after he got injured.

Thankfully he moved to another state, started work at a Hospital, and is doing well. Boot Camp for him was just a load of Sh**.

[ThinkInsane]

Originally Posted by Tenacious Dyl

Lol, not myself, but my best friend joined the Marines and went to bootcamp. He was on top of his stuff the whole way, shortly before leaving BC during a training exercise with weighted packs, he rolled and broke his ankle badly. He was then sent to a hospital / med center within the Marines, and told he would no longer be able to continue training. He scheduled a time (for in the future, when healed) to re-do training, and that got messed up (On the Marine's end, not his). He ended up unable to serve, unable to attend camp, with medical bills for his injury once he was pushed out of camp that the Marines wouldn't cover. The little bit of pay he got for joining / training was far less than his medical expendictures. He basically gave them all he had at Camp, and got took after he got injured.

Thankfully he moved to another state, started work at a Hospital, and is doing well. Boot Camp for him was just a load of Sh**.

Something isn't right there. Once he reported to boot, he's V.A. connected, even if he was unable to finish his contract. Medical discharge doesn't effect that. He shouldn't have had to pay for anything once he was out, unless he chose not to receive care from the VA. I've also never heard of an ankle injury, or any other injury playing out like that.

Something got lost or changed in the telling of this story.

[turtle777]

I thought that you get loaded with benefits if you get medically discharged ?
Something's weird...

-t

[Teronzhul]

Not boot camp per se, but I did go to the 4 week AFROTC "camp." There were many prior enlisted armed forces in my flight, and from what they told me our camp was more mentally stressful than enlisted boot, but not so physically stressful.

We washed out 3 people of a 28 person flight by day 9, and kept the remaining 25 through the end. Even for a physically less stressful training session, it put the hurt on a lot of individuals. Almost everyone in my flight lost weight, I believe I may have been the only one who gained any. By the end of the 4 week camp I had gained nearly 12lbs.

It was pretty normal military stuff for the most part, reveille at 0430, PT from 0500 to 0600. Meals were no more than 8 minutes in length. Days filled with Drill, lots of PT, marching, a little weapons training, and lots of leadership scenarios. Lights out at 2100.

I'm not sure about enlisted boot, but our camp was fully coed. About the only thing the boys and girls didn't do together was shower and bunk. Prior to this experience I was all for women in the military, but afterwards, I really do agree with the current system of not allowing women in certain positions. All too often during the LRC or confidence course our entire flight was held up because the girls weren't emotionally capable of handling the stress we were under. This was pretty basic stuff in my opinion too, not like the stress you would see in a firefight.

I'm not saying there aren't girls that could handle it. We did have one in our flight that was quite capable, moreso than several of the guys probably. For the one strong willed female though, we had 7 who caused consistent problems. There was never a male in the flight who was completely unable to overcome an emotional, not physical hurdle, and cause the flight as a whole to be unable to accomplish a task.

Enough on that little rant.

Food was surprisingly good in my opinion, even though you were limited to 8 minutes to eat. We had salad, with a choice of dressings each meal. One protein, typically fish, meatloaf, or boneless chicken patty. Mashed potatoes or rice with gravy. And as much bread with peanut butter and jelly as you could eat. Our camp record was 11 PB&J sandwhiches in 8 minutes. I don't remember exactly which flight claimed that though.

I was lucky during week 3 and was appointed to group staff for the camp. This meant I was allowed 23 minutes to eat during the lunch/dinner group staff meetings. The first day I ate 5 PB&J sandwhiches on top of all my other food. I have never had that much food in my stomach at one time, nor hurt so badly afterward. At this point in camp I probably weighed no more than 125lbs. Maybe 130 after lunch

Camp was a pain in the ass, but was an extremely worthwhile experience. I'm glad I did it even though I didn't end up going active.

Of course, after the 28 most stressful days of my life, I return home to find out that the girl I'd been trying to hook up with for the past 6 months has gotten busy with my best friend/roommate, that he had also decided to back out on a housing lease for my next semester at school, and has also turned himself into a huge druggie. This is of course another story entirely.

[skipjack]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

I thought that you get loaded with benefits if you get medically discharged ?
Something's weird...
-t

Also, you don't schedule a time to continue training. Typically, you would remain at the medical facility or on temporary duty until healed, and then continue training. Also, a person usually isn't discharged if in need of medical care. I'm sure there have been cases where people would have preferred to have been discharged sooner, but had to wait for a satisfactory medical evaluation. An exception I can think of is retirement, in which case, the person is eligible for treatment through the VA. (In my case, it took them over two years to satisfactorily clear up any problems that occured during service.)

Navy boot camp, over 25 years ago, but I can't think of any interesting stories. There were no female recruits in San Diego and we were separated from the MCRD boot camp by a chain link fence. As I recall, the first few weeks were held on an "island" and eventually the company marched over a bridge and moved into barracks on the main base.

[IceEnclosure]

my brother went to jail boot camp. It turned him around pretty well, they were real hard asses. Waking up at 5AM, jogging 5 miles, push ups, pull ups, jog another 5 miles, etc etc. Go to bed and do it again the next day. Offering yourself for the military is one thing, but I wouldn't wish an 'involuntary' stay at boot camp on anyone. Though, it was surely a better alternative to jail (he spent 5 months or so in boot camp).

[version]

I was in the Royal Marines for a good many years. Was quite the experience (Desert Storm, etc). But also gained a few skills for preparation in the outside world.

[freudling]

Well, I did Military Bootcamp (in Canada) and it was love and hate the whole time. Wasn't all too long ago either. It was one of the most challenging things I have ever had to do. There was, 70% of the time, not a minute to spare and we were ran day and night. After 5 weeks we were allowed to go out on the weekend and actually leave the base. But the first 5 weeks is jail, not allowed to go anywhere: confined to barracks and a 1 block radius around the barracks.

As for the coed thing, I totally agree, while a few girls were really good, better than some of the guys, most were emotionally unstable. I found out later from a staffer that SOPs are to lay off the girls, particularly in the first 2 weeks because they cry and cannot handle the intensity. They are supposed to unload on the guys though. I had a beer with an instructor of another platoon and he said how they all love to deal with guys because we can get yelled at and just take it: we are stronger that way. I remember seeing a girl who failed drill and had to be retested. She was in tears on the parade square doing her retest. I asked the instructor if he had ever seen a male cry during bootcamp and the answer was "no."

Another thing is the physical strength aspect. On the confidence course, while 1 girl really shined and was better than probably 60% of the guys, most weren't. For instance, on the hell wall, where you have a rope that you use to get yourself up and to the top, then over and back down the other side, the strength it takes to pull your body weight is significant. Almost all never made that wall. I did, only because I have pretty good upper body strength. On the 13 KM march, while we pretty much all made it, I know the girls were hurting pretty bad with our ruck sacks hanging off our backs.

Again, I am not saying women shouldn't enlist, it is just that, in my experience, the majority are not as well-suited for it as males. That's cool really because there are some serious roughnecks in the military and existing with them, even as a guy with thick skin, is hard enough.

[Teronzhul]

I really hadn't touched on the physical, but I'll give a couple examples that made me nearly kill the girls in my flight.

Our confidence course had no hell wall, again we had what I would assume to be an easier time physically than enlisted boot camp. I don't think even our strongest girl would have had any success with the hell wall.

The first obstacle we saw a breakdown on was essentially a low set of bleachers, like you might see at a middle school soccer field. You were to run up the bleachers to the top, then leap off into a very thick pile of pine straw at the bottom. The top level of this was perhaps 7-8 feet off of the ground. Girl runs up to the top, sits down, and proceeds to cry her eyes out because she doesn't want to jump. The rest of us had to do pushups/situps until she lept, which she never did as they finally just took her back down because she was holding us up.

Same girl, same day, different obstacle. Knotted rope on each end of a horizontal pole some 10 feet off of the ground. The idea was to go up one rope, hand over hand across the pole, slide down the other rope. The whole thing was perhaps 15 feet across. Now quite a few of the girls were unable to climb the rope solo due to upper body strength (while a couple of the guys did the entire obstacle without using their legs) but this one in particular caused a ruckus. For the ones who were having difficulty, some enlisted soldiers had been helping them out, lifting at the waist and holding their legs as they advanced across the pole. Halfway across she lets go of the pole entirely, and without warning. She comes crashing down, plants her foot into the airmans right knee taking him down. He was supposed to do his final jump the next day for his para wings, but was sufficiently injured that they wouldn't let him go.

Different girl, Leadership reaction course. Here we have to accomplish a goal as a 7 person team, and we're timed. This is more difficult to describe in detail, but essentially we had to move up a rope, across a horizontal pole, and over a wall on the other side.

--- -------
--- / |--- | \
-- /- |--- |- \
- /-- |--- |-- \
x ------------- start

Well, I get to go first being the lightest, so up the rope I go, fasten the pole in place with a 6 foot rope, assist the next guy up the rope so he can hold the pole for me. They pass an ammo box up to me, I take it in one hand, sling my legs over and flip upside down, haul butt across the pole, toss the ammo box over the wall, and secure the pole on the other side. At this point we just need to get the other people across and over the wall. So we get 2 guys over, and this girl is next. Every person thus far has taken no more than 15 seconds to get across the pole as it isn't more than about 10 feet long. She insists on not going upside down however, and hugs her body against it as tight as possible while remaining upright. She inches along, and after about 2 minutes time has made it halfway across the pole where she breaks down, starts crying, and wastes all the rest of our time causing us to fail.

There were quite a few other instances during the LRCs that we didn't pass due to the guys having to pull double duty, and carry not only equipment but the girls as well.

[freudling]

It is obvious men are stronger and faster than women, not just a little bit. This is by definition going to make a military better (i.e. having more males than females).

[brassplayersrock²]

^ awaits the flameing

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock

^ awaits the flameing

Why would he get flamed for that? For the most part it's a simple fact of life.

What people don't realize about boot camp from what I have been told, it takes more than just physical ability.

I myself could handle that part. It's the mental games that would do me in.

They do it to weed out those of us that can't handle such things.

I have much respect for those who go through bootcamp.

Woman OR Men.

[freudling]

Thanks Kevin! Wasn't easy.

[brassplayersrock²]

the entire men are always stronger than women thing. oh well, i wasnt saying what he did was flame bait, i was saying his "It is obvious men are stronger and faster than women, not just a little bit. This is by definition going to make a military better (i.e. having more males than females)." is what is going to get flaimed. sorry if i wasnt clear

[Spliff]

Originally Posted by Teronzhul

Food was surprisingly good in my opinion, even though you were limited to 8 minutes to eat. We had salad, with a choice of dressings each meal. One protein, typically fish, meatloaf, or boneless chicken patty. Mashed potatoes or rice with gravy. And as much bread with peanut butter and jelly as you could eat. Our camp record was 11 PB&J sandwhiches in 8 minutes. I don't remember exactly which flight claimed that though.

What if you're a vegetarian (e.g., Seventh-Day Adventist) or Jewish? Do they offer vegetarian or kosher meals or do they just scream at you and call you a sissy maggot?

[Teronzhul]

Originally Posted by Spliff

What if you're a vegetarian (e.g., Seventh-Day Adventist) or Jewish? Do they offer vegetarian or kosher meals or do they just scream at you and call you a sissy maggot?

I did say there was Peanut butter and Jelly






Really though, I'm not sure. I was too intent on stuffing my face with whatever they gave me. In either case the mess workers were all civilians and wouldn't ever have called us sissy maggots.

Considering that there are vegetarian MREs I would assume that there was something for non meat eaters as well.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by ThinkInsane

Something isn't right there. Once he reported to boot, he's V.A. connected, even if he was unable to finish his contract. Medical discharge doesn't effect that. He shouldn't have had to pay for anything once he was out, unless he chose not to receive care from the VA. I've also never heard of an ankle injury, or any other injury playing out like that.

Something got lost or changed in the telling of this story.

You MUST serve 6 months to be eligible for VA benefits; it's in the law. I've seen far too many kids who could not adapt push for early discharges during the fifth month since their enlistment, effectively cheating themselves out of all benefits. All they wind up with is a General discharge and a record that says they don't fit in. Bad plan, kids!

I went through Air Force basic training in September and October 1978 at Lackland AFB, Tx. As I grew up in Southeast Michigan, I though "September and October" meant "getting cool out and even cold." (Some Michiganians remember having their Halloween costumes built around the possibility of the need for a snowsuit...) Anyway, that is NOT the case here in San Antonio; it was hot, followed by HOT most of the time, with occasional cool days.

I got issued dress shoes, combat boots and these things called "chucka boots" that were basically leather high tops-and which were apparently made by disturbed chimpansees on bad drugs. These things fit NOBODY, and were only good for hurting your feet to the point you had to go to sick call. Note that this is time away from training and thus discouraged. So when the TI SENDS you to sick call, that means something serious is happening.

I wrote a paper in Sociology on the subject of desocialization and resocialization in military basic training (got an A on it), particularly because I had an inside view that the prof lacked-and his lesson plan took it for granted that ALL basic training was degrading and dehumanizing. Nope. Not nearly. It ain't FUN, for crying out loud (at least not while you're in it), but it is not at all "Full Metal Jacket" stuff, either.

[freudling]

Yes, they have vegetarian meals. There was lots of food choices here in Canada anyway.