Marine Corps Boot Camp

James R. McDonough sets a spectacular example of what it is to be a second lieutenant in the United States Army and what it is truly like to lead a group of enlisted soldiers for the first time. Lieutenant McDonough, a graduate of West Point, was deployed as a platoon leader in a small fort with the mission of holding a Vietnamese village out of the hands of the Viet Cong. When he arrived, Lieutenant McDonough discovered that the former Lieutenant and platoon leader of the 2d Platoon, Bravo Company, 4th Battalion, 503d Infantry (Airborne) hardly ever left his

I feel that marines of all ranks should read this book. Near the end of boot camp, I remember my Drill Instructors telling my platoon about how terrible marines sometimes acted when they were clearly taught otherwise in boot camp. I remember them telling me that they wanted to be a Drill Instructor because they wanted to make a positive and long lasting impact on people. They also told us that no matter how hard they’ve trained and honed us in the way they wanted us to be, as soon as we leave, we would still be whoever we wanted to be, it would be our choice whether or not to keep those teachings with us. And they were right, I’ve met a lot of marines that have abandoned them. This book emphasizes on the importance of keeping our transformation, not only for our Marine Corps career but also for the good of our

Among these leaders was Bravo Company’s 1st platoon’s SFC Robert Gallagher. The platoon endured terrible living conditions including no running water and filthy living space. These inadequate living conditions must be met with some relaxation on the standards they were expected to follow. Company leadership viewed this as a bribe to keep the soldiers in high spirits. In reality, they set the stage for the erosion of the morals the enlisted soldiers are supposed to possess. While the morals were being chipped away, so was the original plan the battalion had hoped to follow. Fragmentation orders became a pseudo-standard for the boys of Bravo Company. What had originally started as short-term overnight patrol bases turned into fortified traffic control points with the exception of any form of fortification other than in notion only. Despite the fact that platoon-level leadership requested for supplies they were repeatedly turned down. A major breakdown in the communication between the leadership created a loss in faith in the higher leadership for the lower-enlisted soldiers on the ground. Very soon into deployment, Bravo Company began to experience contact with unseen enemy forces. The enemy was able to engage and plant IED’s and cause casualties while remaining elusive. After the first few casualties within the company, the mission to start set up traffic control points was to begin. While conducting patrols down the road time and time

The Marine Corps Experience, pp. 12 – 31 The Corps today, pp 318 – 335

There are many different cultures or social groups that have a language barrier whether that is because of religion, race, or social differences. These language barriers eventually will have to be overcome so that we can all communicate with each other. Out of these social groups, comes the greatest fighting force in the World, The Marine Corps. Marines have a very unique language dialog that has been preserved for hundreds of years Unfortunately, there comes a point in time when a Marine must transition out of the Marine Corps into the “Civilian World” (as we call it). Transitioning is a very exciting time for Marines but it also is very difficult time due to the strong language community that we belong to.

Upon completion of the my bachelor’s degree, acceptance through the ECP, Officer Candidate School, The Basic School, Initial Intelligence Training, and Military Occupational Specialty Intelligence Training, I will receive orders back to the Fleet Marine Forces. The move from the enlisted ranks to the officer ranks may be very confusing, but this goal can be accomplished as long as I stay focused and move one step at a time.

When I went on mobilization to Fort Lewis, Washington and left my son in the care of my parents, I thought my parental duties would be set aside until I returned home. Unfortunately, the soldiers of 351st Ordnance Company would prove me wrong with their excessive alcohol consumption, commonly term “binge drinking,” and destructive behaviors. I would then spend the next year sharing the responsibility with four other junior noncommission officers in the task of taking care of soldiers. Despite the efforts of myself and the others we were not fully prepared to handle some of the outrageous events and lack of engagement from the leadership that would challenge us during the tour. My abilities as a junior noncommission officer and the understanding of leadership were redefined and I learned exactly what it meant to ensure soldiers have proper guidance, leadership, positive morale, and well-being.

I left for basic training on July 30, 2008, and arrived in Fort Leonard Wood Missouri on July 31, 2008. Before we entered into our extreme training, we processed into the Army for a whole week at reception. On the day of actual basic training, we realized our great lives changed to instructions all day, miserable feelings, separation from family, and extreme exhaustion. Although, this was our life much more horrifying things were about to happen. We finally realized all the negative feelings we were having seemed to get worse, such as receiving a shark attack from our drill sergeants, we were told

A gritty sand-sweat mixture clung to the creases of Bettina Baca’s hands as she crawled using only her upper body through a sand volleyball field by Lake Claire. Three army drill sergeants screamed at her to keep moving.

It is the primary mission of the United States Military Training Mission to provide training, assistance and advice to the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The entire point of this cooperation is to be able to jointly protect and uphold the interests of the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.

Ever since I joined the Marine Corps, I couldn’t wait to do my first deployment located in the combat zone. I have deployed once before, in 2013 where I was stationed in Rota, Spain but it felt more like a vacation than an actual deployment. Having to listen to everyone else talk about being in the dirt, the real action, those stories represent all that I signed up for as an infantryman. I had put my name down for every deployment once I arrived at my new command, I asked for recommendations and nagged people to no end. When I finally got picked up for deployment to the Middle East, my excitement was unexplainable,

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There’s a story of a young man who was in love, so he thought, with his high school sweetheart. Upon graduating, he went off to Marine Corp boot camp in Parris Island, SC. The training was intense with 5am PT (physical training) exercises, obstacle courses and continual inspections. The one thing that made this experience more bearable was the fact that he would be reunited with his first love at the end of training. You see folks; this young man reasoned in his mind that this girl might be THE ONE. Isn’t it funny how being away from a person can drive you crazy? He thought of her constantly. He wrote her letters and read her letters at night when all the other recruits were fast asleep.

After constantly waking up to get ready for school it's finally over. What now? Time to live life as a real adult. Everything we feared just came to reality. Most of us are going to college, some of us are going into the military, and others are going straight to work. After all we are going to miss it.

I had no idea what I had gotten myself into when I signed that dotted line. I stared out of the bus’s window, stomach in knots afraid she would catch me looking. I decided to put my head back down into my green laundry bag and take a nap. “Maybe it would be as bad as I think it will be,” I said to myself trying to calm my nerves. I was wrong.