Being A Marine

Part 4

Hey what's up guys, I'm back! I just finished MCT (marine combat training) and got my phone back today, soooooo I can start posting again :)

New edit: been almost a whole month since I've had my phone back but been kinda busy so I haven't had much time to sit down and type away my life story haha

SO

Let's talk about the next topic. The most popular topic that everyone talks about, the topic that everyone wonders about...

Bootcamp.

The place that will test you mentally and physically.

The place that will make you want to kill yourself.

The place that makes you regret every decision you made in your life.

Ah, bootcamp....I dont even know where to begin.

So you arrive to bootcamp on a bus, and a drill instructor steps on the bus and says the infamous words of "step on my yellow footprints".

You scream "AYE SIR,'' and step off the bus to fall onto his yellow footprints spray painted onto the pavement. Scarily, I was one of the first ones sitting in the front of the bus and the first ones to come off the bus. I was terrified for my life. No just kidding. But I WAS scared. Once we stepped everyone off the bus, we filed into a what we call the receiving building and women and men were split up. We received blue bags and instructors told us what to write on them. Our names and platoon number. Inside that blue bag is your most valuable thing you brought with you: your ID/drivers liscense, credit card if you have one, and social security card.

Then we line up and call our parents, but we dont talk to them. There is this small paragraph of scripted words you have to say that is taped in the inside door of the phone booth and then you hang up.

It's a very emotional moment, Hearing your parents say "hello?" And by being able to respond hit deep. I almost cried.

Then we sit in a classroom for 3 days with no shower, no sleep, eating MRES (meal ready packaged food, it's real nasty. Well some of them are actually good...) only napping for like 2 hours, getting yelled at, signing a bunch of papers, labeling all the clothes and items you receive. Nasty thing is, well aside from we all smelled like onions and we were always sweaty, every girl was getting their periods and bleeding through their trousers and oh my God it was a mess.

It's very chaotic.

We've had girls literally poop and pee themselves. And that's the thing, girls are always so scared to speak to drill instructors because- well, you have to speak in third person, and then you have to request to speak to the drill instructor, and that's if they even wanna talk to you, they dont have to.

I was actually a little scared to talk to drill instructors because I wasn't too well versed in speaking in third person, but once I tried to request to use the head and the drill instructor just kept saying "what? I can't hear you!" So I ended up peeing myself. True story.

The yelling never bothered me, and it never stressed me out because my family yells a lot so I'm used to it.

If you're a person who has OCD and you're thinking about joining the marine corps-

DO NOT DO IT.

There will be many times where you crawl through dirt, swim in mud, roll in sand, and you still won't shower for like 2-3 days. You're "hygiene time" will be wiping yourself down with baby wipes and that's your shower. You'll sleep covered in dirt/sand/sweat/grime.

But anyways, you'll be taught how to dress, look, how your hair should always be done, how firewatch works- fire watch is just two people posted for like 2 hours watching everyone while you sleep and roving the sleeping quarters. They clean and write in a book of everyone's whereabouts. You'll be taught teamwork, how to shoot a rifle, manners, respect, honesty, how to swim, float, take off equipment underwater so you dont drown like an idiot.

You'll do 3 hikes when you're there: a 5k, 12k, and 15k. You'll run obstacle courses, you'll have drill competitions, and be taught martial arts. You'll also go through the gas chamber and repel down a tower.

You'll also run a pft (physical fitness test) and a cft (combat fitness test). You'll have tons of classes that you'll fall asleep on, and you'll drill for hours. It's an endless exhausting hell.

Hold up, I'll actually post a photo down below of the schedule for bootcamp and you'll see that amount of things we do.

Any questions? I feel like I'm not saying a lot at all...

Just know that bootcamp WILL MESS YOU UP. like I thought it wouldn't, and it sure as hell did. I swear I have PTSD because of bootcamp, no joke.

You'll change so much as a person when you're there. It's crazy how just 3 months of this really changes you. I didn't believe my drill instructors when they said that you'll lose all of your friends because your views and values will be different from theirs, your attitude will be different-just, everything. When you get out of bootcamp you'll see the world differently. They were right. I sure did see everything differently. When I tried talking to my old friends I was just like, yeaaaa we can't be friends anymore because look where I'm going at in life and then theres you still doing the same boring things before I left, still dealing with the same drama, still this shitty ass person, not improving your life at all.

So just be prepared for that. You'll think I'm kidding. You'll think "nah my friends will be my friends forever, even when I get outta boot camp-"

NOPE.

so, I think that's all I have for now....I cant really think of anything else at the moment.

-PFC Rodriguez