As a civilian, ever wonder what happens to military recruits when they arrive at boot camp? Which service branch is the toughest/hardest? You can't just show up to see what goes on. It's not on any adventure outing offered by local guides. You have to be invited. I hoped to find out when I took advantage of an opportunity presented this week.
I was asked by the Office of Military and Veteran Affairs at Marshall to attend the District 4 Marine Corp Educator's Workshop. The Workshop is designed to expose educators, advisers, coaches, and administrators to experiences recruits encounter while completing their 13 weeks at Marine Corp Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC. The hope is to give these groups better information to guide students who profess an interest in military service. The Marines claim to have the toughest training. The Corp does have the longest duration training for enlisted service members at 13 weeks followed by another 13 weeks at the School of Infantry. The new Marine will receive infantry and marine combat training at SOI. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all last approximately 9 weeks. The Corp follows the principle that every marine, regardless of job duty, is a rifleman. This concept has been in place since 1775 when the Marine Corp was conceived.
I was asked by the Office of Military and Veteran Affairs at Marshall to attend the District 4 Marine Corp Educator's Workshop. The Workshop is designed to expose educators, advisers, coaches, and administrators to experiences recruits encounter while completing their 13 weeks at Marine Corp Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC. The hope is to give these groups better information to guide students who profess an interest in military service. The Marines claim to have the toughest training. The Corp does have the longest duration training for enlisted service members at 13 weeks followed by another 13 weeks at the School of Infantry. The new Marine will receive infantry and marine combat training at SOI. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all last approximately 9 weeks. The Corp follows the principle that every marine, regardless of job duty, is a rifleman. This concept has been in place since 1775 when the Marine Corp was conceived.
The adventure began with an early morning pick-up, drive and drop off at the airport by one of the local recruiters. At the airport, I met SSgt. G., senior recruiter for the area. They fed me breakfast and put me on a plane with a lanyard identifying me as a Marine Educator for the recruiter I was meeting in Savannah. My understand at first was that we would have lots of briefs and do lots of watching. Ummm....not so much. We actually got to experience many of the situations the recruits do. From the yellow foot prints to graduation, we were exposed to all facets of recruit training. Not just with the recruits, we had time with drill instructors, martial arts instructors, weapons instructors, recruiters, and high ranking officers. It was an amazing experience.
The days started "late" by Marine standards....breakfast at 5 AM with first activity at 6. Most recruits have been up since 4 AM. No matter what you hear or think you know of Recruit Intake, it doesn't prepare you for the experience. It is very disorienting and intense. You are confused. Overwhelmed. Scared to speak. Scared not to speak. Scared to move. Scared not to move. We loaded the white buses and rode to the depot and waited in the bus; much like the recruits. The DI came on and gave us a great welcome and got us off the bus and on to the yellow foot prints.She wasn't demeaning or disrespectful to us. She was intense! We were expected to respond with the following: "Aye Ma'am", or "Yes Ma'am." I don' think "no" was an option. Holy crap! This is just a taste? I wanted to bail within 5 minutes. I asked myself "why would any one put up with this?" and "what the hell did I agree to?" The DI then instructed us to get off the bus and on to the footprints as quickly as possible. We got organized on the footprints and then we were rewarded with the inspiring Welcome Speech that is given to all recruits: “You are now aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, and you have just taken the first step toward becoming a member of the world’s finest fighting force, the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps’ success depends upon teamwork, therefore teamwork will be an essential part of your training here at Parris Island. Starting now, you will train as a team. You will live, eat, sleep, train as a team. The words ‘I,’ ‘me,’ ‘we’ are no longer part of your vocabulary. You will use words like, ‘these recruits’ ‘this recruit’ ‘that recruit’ and ‘those recruits.’ Do you understand? Tens of thousands of Marines have begun their service to our country on the very footprints on which you stand today. You will carry on their proud tradition. Do you understand?”
This experience was humbling among many things previously mentioned for mature adults. I can't imagine what a 17-20 year old individual experiences. Many misunderstand the tactics used by DI's and the military. The mental and physical stressors.The Corp is not about humiliation. It is about breaking bad habits, enhancing qualities, and developing the ability handle intense situations. These 17-20 somethings are not being broken down to change them. They are being broken down to fine tune them. Improve character. Break bad habits. Perform commands without hesitation or question. Recruits have committed to this in order to develop into one of the best military units in the world. We, the adults. We, the educators only get a taste. There is no penalty for misstep or misspeak. For us, there is no permanency in this. We are just here temporarily. We get to leave at the end of the week.
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