4 Steps to Increase Your Chances of Surviving Marine Corps Boot Camp

Article by Sam Johnson

4 Steps to Increase Your Chances of Surviving Marine Corps Boot Camp – Other

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Marine Corps Boot Camp will most likely be the most grueling 13 weeks of your entire life and if you want to survive you will need to start preparing so that your chances of graduating increase dramatically. So…

What steps can you take, starting right now, to increase your chances of surviving Marine Corps Boot Camp? Here are 4 Steps you can take right now that will increase your chances of completing Marine Recruit Training dramatically…

1) Get in shape physically. The physical training in Marine Corps Boot Camp is very demanding. If you’re overweight lose it. If your upper body strength is poor – get strong. If your endurance is lacking – improve it. You’ll need to be able to:

* Accomplish at least 3 pull-ups * 80 sit-ups in 2 minutes * Run 3 miles in less than 28 minutes.

Those were MINIMUM requirements in 1972 when I went through recruit training at MCRD, San Diego. They have changed the requirements somewhat but IF you can meet those 3 PFT requirements now, you’ll be that much farther ahead and find the physical training to be a lot easier to swallow.

2) Get in shape mentally. For many recruits the mental abuse you will be subjected to during Marine Corps Boot Camp far outweighs the physical training demands in regards to difficulty. Keep in mind there are important reasons for the mental conditioning.

* To weed out those who can’t take it * To inspire unconditional discipline * To mentally transform each recruit into a team member

Remember, once you graduate you will be a U.S. Marine. What that means is that you could very likely see combat which requires teamwork, quick thinking, nerves of steel and unconditional discipline to stay alive. Your life and the life of your fellow Marines may very well depend upon your mental stability and courage.

3) Learn USMC history.

* What the Corps stands for (core values) * Who the Corps’ heroes are and why * Famous battles

4) Learn basic USMC knowledge. By taking the initiative to learn these things in advance you’ll find you are much farther ahead of the other recruits you’ll meet during your 13 weeks of Marine Corps Boot Camp. Learn:

* 11 General Orders for Marines. * USMC Code of Conduct * The USMC Rifle Creed * USMC Quotes and Jargon * USMC Leadership Traits * Commandants of the USMC * The Marine Corps Prayer

By taking the initiative to prepare in advance for Marine Corps Boot Camp you’ll begin to learn the qualities of leadership and you’ll also find you are much farther ahead of the other recruits you’ll meet during Marine Corps Boot Camp and your recruit training adventure.

Top Tip – Surviving Marine Corps Basic Training

I will explain the top tip for you for surviving Marine Corps basic training. One thing that you have to understand is why you have to go through basic training to begin with. Basic training is set up so that you will be broken down into a formidable opponent for the enemies in a wartime situation. In essence, you will be transformed into a powerful fighting robot. You will no longer be an individual, you will become part of a very powerful and strong unit that will be perfectly trained to fight and to survive. Here is the best tip that I can provide you with for preparing yourself for boot camp.

Mental Preparation Is Necessary:

Understand that you have an internal ability to deal with things that you never had to deal with before and that you probably presently feel are impossible to deal with. The brain is an amazing thing, and actually you only use a portion of of our brain on a daily basis.

Going through basic training, you learn to deal with situations that the normal human being is unable to do with mentally or physically. In other words, my major tip for you is that you should start to prepare yourself mentally before arriving at boot camp in order to breeze through the training sessions.

This mental preparation can be done in numerous ways. Nevertheless, learning to meditate, to focus, and to concentrate on a level that you never had to accomplish previously is a great plan of action. Once you deal with something mentally through visualization, then the physical part will just be secondary.

Good luck with your goal of surviving Marine Corps basic training camp. I know that you will be successful as long as you put your mind to it and understand that your instructors are not there to hurt you mentally, they are there to turn you into the best Marine possible.

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Hardcore Marine Corps

US Marine Corps (USMC) boot camp training is a 12-week training program that acts as a selection process that identifies those who are qualified to join the Marines and those who applied but are unfit for enlistment. For those who are qualified, the marine boot camp also serves as training grounds for the necessary skills needed by a Marine.

USMC boot camps in the United States include a training facility located at Parris Island in South Carolina namely Recruit Training Depot, and another Recruit Training Depot located at San Diego, California. The Parris Island training grounds is notable because here women are given the chance to train and become a member of the US Marine Corps.

USMC boot camp retains some of the staples in the basic boot camp, like physical training (PT) elements such as sit-ups and pull-ups, basic swimming skills and basic drill and ceremony skills.

USMC boot camps are a notch higher in difficulty in training compared to other training camps.

Here the average capacity of a prospective Marine for running should be three miles and for marches ten mile, non-stop. Indeed, physical strength and overall conditioning is of paramount importance. Overweight and underperforming cadets are ordered to serve time at the Physical Conditioning Platoon (PCP), which will submit a cadet to a 21 day training program commencing with a physical strength and endurance capability examination which a cadet can only pass if he or she is able to accomplish 5 pull ups and 50 sit ups in two minutes and run three miles in 24:30 minutes or less. Anything slower than that makes you unfit for the Marines.

There are things other than physical fitness which is considered as a necessity as well when it comes to training inside a Marine boot camp.

Mind power is also important if a cadet should remain and survive the training, and to put this to test, cadets are required to memorize the USMC Rank, the 11 General Orders for a Sentry, the Marine Rifle Creed, USMC Core Values, the Code of Conduct and the characteristics of the M16A2 Rifle, the marines basic weapon. Cadets are also expected to study and master the USMC history as well.

Real footage of Marine Corps recruit training at Boot Camp. Part 1 (1-6 weeks). Week 01 – Receiving: 2 am new recruits arrive at Parris Island, SC. Week 02 – In the Barracks: Bringing discipline into the recruits routine. Week 03 – Bayonet Assault Course: Turning instruction into intensity. Week 04 – Pugil Sticks: Facing opponents for the first time. Week 05 – MCMAP: Learning Marine Corps Martial Arts. Week 06 – Rappelling: Overcoming fear.

Find More Marine Core Training Articles

Hardcore Marine Corps

US Marine Corps (USMC) boot camp training is a 12-week training program that acts as a selection process that identifies those who are qualified to join the Marines and those who applied but are unfit for enlistment. For those who are qualified, the marine boot camp also serves as training grounds for the necessary skills needed by a Marine.

USMC boot camps in the United States include a training facility located at Parris Island in South Carolina namely Recruit Training Depot, and another Recruit Training Depot located at San Diego, California. The Parris Island training grounds is notable because here women are given the chance to train and become a member of the US Marine Corps.

USMC boot camp retains some of the staples in the basic boot camp, like physical training (PT) elements such as sit-ups and pull-ups, basic swimming skills and basic drill and ceremony skills.

USMC boot camps are a notch higher in difficulty in training compared to other training camps.

Here the average capacity of a prospective Marine for running should be three miles and for marches ten mile, non-stop. Indeed, physical strength and overall conditioning is of paramount importance. Overweight and underperforming cadets are ordered to serve time at the Physical Conditioning Platoon (PCP), which will submit a cadet to a 21 day training program commencing with a physical strength and endurance capability examination which a cadet can only pass if he or she is able to accomplish 5 pull ups and 50 sit ups in two minutes and run three miles in 24:30 minutes or less. Anything slower than that makes you unfit for the Marines.

There are things other than physical fitness which is considered as a necessity as well when it comes to training inside a Marine boot camp.

Mind power is also important if a cadet should remain and survive the training, and to put this to test, cadets are required to memorize the USMC Rank, the 11 General Orders for a Sentry, the Marine Rifle Creed, USMC Core Values, the Code of Conduct and the characteristics of the M16A2 Rifle, the marines basic weapon. Cadets are also expected to study and master the USMC history as well.

How does a Marine get selected for Marine Corps Recruiting Duty?

Article by Christina

Marine recruiting duty is not for everyone, but in the Marine Corps career Marines are expected to complete a job outside of their Military Occupational Specialty or MOS. This position is referred to as a B billet and includes Recruiting Duty, Embassy Duty, Drill Instructor Duty, Military Combat Training Instructor, and similar positions. There is a team within the United States Marine Corps called the HQMC Recruiting Screening Team or HRST. The HRST team’s responsibility is to screen applicants in the Marine Corps and determine if they are basically qualified for Recruiting Duty.

There is no way of knowing if your name will show up on the HRST list or not until it is there. Once a year the team travels to every command in the Marine Corps. If your name shows up on the list for that year you are required to attend the screening process. You must also complete a screening packet that lists information about yourself, your medical history, your family and their medical history, and your financial assets and debts.

The screening consists of having your Service Record Book screened for any punitive punishments or awards. They look to see what problems you may have had in your career as well as what assignments you were on. They are looking to see if you can handle yourself on an independent duty assignment away from a military installation.

Next you and your family must be screened medically for Marine recruiting. Any chronic conditions or mental health diseases should be noted as many duty stations are out of range of a military treatment facility. Any condition that requires frequent doctors’ visits or medications has the potential to be disqualifying as it could cause an undue financial burden on the family. However disqualifying medical conditions regarding the service member can hinder advancement in his military career.

Your financial assets and debt will need to be assessed as with any independent duty station. You should not have excessive money owed or live outside of your budget. There have been reports of individuals who purposely attained a high debt to income ratio to avoid Marine Recruiting Duty. Those individuals where punished and sent to Recruiters School anyway.

When all the paperwork has been cleared the Marine will interview with a member of the HRST team. The interview is used to decide how a Marine speaks and expresses him or herself. The team member will make a determination. If the person is qualified for Marine Recruiting, a class date will set and orders will be issued.

Some individuals try to avoid being selected for Marine Corps Recruiting Duty. This can actually be detrimental to their career. Being disqualified for Recruiting duty can also disqualify a Marine from other assignments. This in turn can result in the inability to reenlist after the current contract expires.

Recruiting duty also supersedes other assignments. This means that even if a Marine has a package in for another B billet he may still be given orders to become a Recruiter. Marines who were scheduled to deploy have also had their orders canceled for them to attend school.

Marine Recruiting duty is not an easy assignment but it is only temporary. For individuals who do not wish to become a Recruiter it is best to submit an application for a different B billet before you show up on the HRST list. You can talk to your career planner for more information regarding becoming a drill instructor, Combat instructor, or other position.

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Marine Corps Training More Officers

Marine Corps has set a goal growing the force to 202,000 Marines, which has been going smoothly on the enlisted side, but it is more time consuming to produce Marine officers, and the Corps has been trying to keep pace.

It takes about one year before a Marine officer can finish all their schooling and be assigned to the fleet as a 2nd Lieutenant in charge of a Marine platoon. The Marine Corps puts its officers through intense training to ensure they are ready to lead Marines.

Ground zero for training Marine officers is The Basic School (TBS) at Quantico, VA. TBS normally graduates about 1,600 lieutenants each year; right now they are on target to graduate 2,000 officers, which has not lessened the quality of the training, but has put a lot of stress on the NCOs who train the men and women.

The Corps is expected to reach its new size by looking to take on 2,050 officer candidates in 2009 and 2,108 by 2010.

Despite the increased numbers, the goal of TBS is still the same: teach these new Marine officers the basics of weapons, tactics and how to manage small units like platoons and companies.

There are four ways for men and women to become Marine officers: Officer Candidate Course, Platoon Leaders Class, enlisted to officer programs and finally through graduating from the Naval Academy or the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. A full 64% of Marine officers currently come through the first two options.

The path into the Marine Corps is more direct for enlisted Marines. After graduating from a 12-week basic training known as “boot camp” they can officially call themselves Marines. From there they go to their advanced school to study whatever it is they will do in the Corps: artillery, infantry, intelligence, etc.

Once an enlisted Marine gets settled, he can then further his civilian educational training by using Marine Tuition Assistance (TA), which he can use at any accredited vocational school, community college or university of his choice.

And since many Marines are deployed abroad or are on Naval ships all over the world, they can also using their TA benefit at an accredited online school, so that they can prepare for their civilian career from anywhere in the world.

And the best thing about TA is that Marines pay nothing-out-of-pocket – the military pays the schools directly.

Some schools also offer military spouse scholarship to the spouses of active-duty Marines. Some scholarships allow a Marine spouse to enroll in a training program at no cost when the Marine uses TA to enroll at that particular school.

Online schools come in all shapes and sizes, so Marines should make sure that the school is nationally accredited. The Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) is a government-approved accrediting body that many online schools look to.

Students should also look for live student support, so they can call up a school representative when they have questions about their course or program. Many online schools also work with service members on a consistent basis and can be very helpful with TA paperwork.

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